“Lithuania is the ninth country it’s done this to, and every time it’s exactly like this. It’s designed to be impossible to get your head around,” says Dr Wilson. Chinese officials have also said that Lithuania would pay a price for its mistake of challenging China’s sovereignty.” “But in light of growing risks, Chinese traders and industry insiders are diversifying their import sources after reducing or halting trading with Lithuania to fend off potential risks posed by political tensions. “A Global Times investigation … found that Lithuanian products are still listed in official customs systems as of Sunday, contrary to what some media reports suggested,” an editorial reads. But the outspoken Communist Party-controlled Global Times denies any such embargo exists. Companies adapt.”īeijing has yet issued no official comment on the trade embargo. “But it is short term because markets adapt. “In the short term, it is painful for any country when your contracts are cut,” foreign minister Landsbergis said. It then downgraded relations to that of a simple charge d’affaires. So it last month recalled its ambassador to Lithuania. The name plaque at the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, Vilnius. It’s a foothold Beijing cannot bring itself to tolerate. Vilnius is the only European country to host a Taiwanese representative office. “Finally, the United States is prepared to support Lithuania in its endeavours: the Baltic state could help to nudge older EU countries toward more anti-Chinese positions, as well as serve as an acid test to see how far Beijing is prepared to go in response to harsh criticism and cozying up to Taiwan.” “It combines the politics of values, anti-communism, the quest to keep Washington’s attention on the region, and the desire to grow beyond the narrow niche of Russia’s eternal critic. “Vilnius now considers criticism of Beijing to be one of the most effective forms of defence against Moscow,” he says. It’s been facing almost daily intimidation from its testy neighbour ever since seceding from the Soviet Union in 1990.Ĭarnegie Moscow analyst Denis Kishinevsky says Vilnius is sticking its neck out to win the support of the West. The tiny state’s Baltic ports have long been an object of desire for Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Trade sanctions will have “no fundamental impact” on its economy, says Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste. Less than 1 per cent of Lithuania’s exports go to China.
Beijing knows this gives it immense leverage. Picture: Jim WATSON / AFP.Ĭhina is the world’s second-largest economy and the world’s largest exporter. “The point is, can China literally just cross a country off the global economic map and still be a member of the World Trade Organisation? Can the rest of the world just be cool with that? And can China just keep doing it?”įoreign Minister of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis called China childish. It’s not like these reactions can be written-off as one-offs,” Dr Wilson says. Others include Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Norway, Canada and Mongolia. Lithuania is not the only other nation to face Beijing’s economic wrath. And that bodes poorly for the rest of the world as global trade is a global problem.” Instead, they’re going in even harder against Lithuania. “They haven’t learnt any lessons from us.
“What it tells us is that China is not in a de-escalation mood after trying and failing with Australia,” Dr Wilson told ton Monday. The international backlash against it is likely to be far more damaging to itself than any economic pain inflicted upon Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.
For Lithuania, it’s about one per cent.Īnd that’s what’s so odd about this draconian move by Beijing. In total, about one-quarter of Australia’s total exports go to China.
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