https://ift.tt/2jF5PoI has pledged $1 billion to Lithuania in its latest move to counter China’s pressure on the small Baltic nation — the first European Union member to allow Taipei to use its name on a de facto embassy.
Taiwan’s promise made Tuesday will help fund joint projects in half a dozen sectors and comes after a January 5 agreement to invest $200 million in Lithuanian industry.
The combined $1.2 billion investment aims to counter China’s increasing pressure on Vilnius since November 18, when Lithuanian authorities allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in its capital under the name “Taiwan” instead of “Chinese Taipei.”
That gesture upset China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory. In the past two months, China has recalled its ambassador from Vilnius while ordering Lithuania’s ambassador to leave Beijing, and it has implemented an embargo against Lithuania, boycotting all of its exports as well as any EU products that use Lithuanian-made components.
In a press conference Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin called the $1.2 billion investment “the Taiwan authorities’ attempts to expand space for Taiwan independence activities with dollar diplomacy.”
China sees Taiwan eventually returning to its control, even though many Taiwanese perceive themselves as a self-governing nation.
“None of us thought the trade volume between Lithuania and China was that large, so we figured China wouldn’t use economic sanctions against them,” Chang Fu-chang, an associate professor with the Graduate Institute of European Studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told VOA Mandarin. “But we were wrong.”
Bor Yunchang, an economics professor at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, is pessimistic about Taiwan’s investments. He told VOA Mandarin: “Any investment made for political gains will be on thin ice. It just can’t be as effective in connecting the two countries as capital flows among private sectors.”