Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry said on Friday it had sanctioned Lithuania’s Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Agne Vaiciukeviciute for a visit to Taiwan, the latest development in Beijing’s diplomatic spat with the European Union country. The foreign ministry said China would also suspend cooperation with Vaiciukeviciute’s ministry and transport cooperation with Lithuania, a small Baltic republic. Lithuania’s Ministry of Transport and Communications said it regretted China’s announcement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “Beijing chooses to continue and intensify the course of illegal actions against (an) EU member state,” the Lithuanian ministry said in a statement to Reuters. “This not only does not favor the development of China’s relations with the democratic world, but also reverses Beijing’s hitherto stated policy of not hindering the development of a mutually beneficial relationship with Taiwan, one of the world’s most progressive economies.” China claims Taiwan as its territory and is against foreign politicians visiting the island. Democratically-ruled Taiwan rejects China’s claims. Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned the sanctions, saying they amounted to “unreasonable retaliation” by China. “Taiwan is committed to continuing to do everything it can to help Lithuania deal with the Chinese government’s unreasonable and arbitrary crackdown,” the ministry said in a statement. Lithuania’s recent strengthening of relations with Taiwan has angered Beijing and led to a drop in Lithuanian exports to China in the first quarter of this year to almost zero. Vaiciukeviciute said on Twitter on Friday that she visited three cities and two seaports and had 14 meetings in Taiwan over five days. “A productive week in Taiwan looking for more ways for LT Transport to work with shipping, shipping and TW airlines,” he tweeted, referring to Lithuania and Taiwan by their abbreviations. Vaiciukeviciute visited Taiwan a few days after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did. In response to Pelosi’s visit, China launched massive military exercises around Taiwan, imposed sanctions on Pelosi, and imposed trade restrictions with Taiwan. When Jovita Neliupsiene, Lithuania’s deputy minister of economy and innovation, visited Taipei in June, she said that Lithuania plans to open a representative office in Taiwan in September. Lithuania has been under constant Chinese pressure to reverse last year’s decision to allow Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in the capital Vilnius under its name. China has downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania and pressured multinationals to cut ties with it. In January, the EU launched a challenge at the World Trade Organization accusing China of discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania and arguing that this threatened the integrity of the bloc’s single market. China said it has always followed WTO rules and that its problem with Lithuania is political, not economic. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Yew Lun Tian in Beijing and Augustas Stankevicius in Vilnius. Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in London. Editing by Mark Heinrich, Paul Simao and William Mallard Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
