With goods from Lithuania blocked from entering China, Lithuanian Vice Minister of Agriculture Egidijus Giedraitis expressed hopes of ramping up exports to Taiwan while visiting Taipei on Friday.
Giedraitis, who arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday for a three-day visit, said Lithuania looks forward to introducing its beef, poultry, fish, dairy and egg products to Taiwan.
Taiwanese government officials have agreed to grant import permissions for these products within the next few months, he said.
Photo: Ann Wang/Reuters
The Chinese government has been accused of imposing a de facto embargo following Vilnius’ decision to allow the opening there of a representative office with the word “Taiwanese” in its name.
As such, the Taiwan market has become increasingly important as a substitute for Lithuanian exports, Giedraitis said.
China imported US$270 million of goods from Lithuania last year, according to the UN Comtrade Database.
Speaking about the punitive measures launched by the likes of China and Russia against Lithuanian exporters, Giedraitis underlined the importance of increasing economic cooperation between democratic countries, where markets are predictable and governed by the rule of law.
Beijing downgraded diplomatic relations with Lithuania last year over the representative office naming issue, and Vilnius said in February that China had suspended imports of its beef, dairy and beer.
This came about one month after Taiwan purchased a shipment of Lithuanian rum that the Baltic nation had feared would be rejected by China.
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺) on Friday met with Giedraitis to discuss bilateral trade and business, the ministry said a statement.
Chen said during the meeting that the ministry would strive to strengthen the country’s trade relationship with Lithuania, and help it promote its products in Taiwan and throughout Asia.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS