Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) Taiwan and the United States expressed their support for Lithuania after it announced Wednesday it had closed its Chinese embassy and pulled its last diplomat out of Beijing in an escalating dispute over warming relations between the Baltic nation and Taipei.
In a statement issued by its foreign ministry, Lithuania said it had recalled its charge d'affaires for consultations and that the embassy would be operated "remotely."
"Lithuania is ready to continue the dialogue with China and restore the functions of the Embassy to their full extent once a mutually beneficial agreement has been reached," it added.
Beijing, which maintains irredentist claims over Taiwan, has sought to impose a political cost on Lithuania for its decision to allow the use of "Taiwanese" in the name of Taiwan's office, seeing such a move as encouraging a formal declaration of independence.
China had previously expelled the Lithuanian ambassador and withdrew its diplomats from Lithuania over the issue.
It also restricted diplomatic contacts with Lithuania, stopped issuing visas to the country, and suspended direct freight train services to the Baltic state in protest.
In response, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Wednesday commended Lithuania for its "non-negotiable stance on pursuing ties with Taiwan in the face of mounting diplomatic and economic coercion by China."
"Our country will stand with Lithuania while galvanizing support from across the free world for the courageous EU state," MOFA said in a tweet.
Asked to comment, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told CNA that the U.S. also stood with its ally Lithuania and condemned Beijing.
"Each country should be able to determine the contours of its own 'one-China' policy without outside coercion. We stand in solidarity with our NATO ally Lithuania and condemn the PRC's coercion against Lithuania," according to the unnamed spokesperson.
The spokesperson also reiterated Washington's stance that it welcomed steps taken by Taiwan and Lithuania to deepen their cooperation, including through Taiwan's opening of a representative office in Vilnius and Lithuania's plans to open a reciprocal office in Taipei.
"We see this as an important step to expand Taiwan's meaningful participation in the international space," it added.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's representative to the U.S. Hsiao Bi-khim told Reuters that Taiwan would deepen economic ties with Lithuania in a "virtuous cycle of goodwill" as the European nation faces pressure from Beijing.
"It is unfortunate that their diplomats are being intimidated," Hsiao told Reuters.
"We will do what we can in terms of deepening our economic chain and technical cooperation with Lithuania," she said.
