China has not yet officially notified the Lithuanian Transport Ministry that it is severing transport ties with the country, Transport Minister Marius Skuodis said on August 18.
“There are no official announcements, so I am reacting to this as a kind of rhetoric, which, in our opinion, is unjustified,” he said.
In response to Deputy Transport Minister Agne Vaiciukeviciute’s visit to Taiwan last week, China said that it was imposing sanctions on her and suspending “all forms of exchange” with the ministry and “exchange and cooperation with Lithuania in the field of international road transport”.
Skuodis said that the delegation went to Taiwan “purely for the reason of economic ties”.
“There were no talks on any sensitive political aspects,” he said, adding that “the visit is fully in line with Lithuania’s position”.
Lithuanian deputy ministers’ visits have been acceptable to China so far, and only the last one has been met with a strong reaction, according to the minister.
Lithuania’s economic relations with China have been minimal for a year now, and “little can be done” to affect them further, Skuodis said.
Lithuania is planning to open a trade office in Taipei in September. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
