Despite the considerable distance between Lithuania and Taiwan, both are “practically neighbors” given their shared democratic values, visiting Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen said in an interview with the Central News Agency yesterday.
Lithuanians are becoming more familiar with Taiwan amid warming bilateral relations, Cmilyte-Nielsen said.
One example is a newly opened “Taiwanese corner” at the National Library of Lithuania in Vilnius, she said.
Photo: CNA
“I think such small details that bring people together, that present us to each other, are very important. And there is definitely, we are in the process of learning more and more,” she said.
The Lithuanian politician said her country sees Taiwan “as a friendly democracy.”
“In Lithuania, we feel very strongly that geographical distances matter much less than the way you think about things, the value you base your society on, what you believe is right, your respect for democracy, for freedom, for human rights, for the rule of law,” she said.
“So, these things make us practically neighbors ... [as] geographical distances matter so much less than your attitude to things,” she added.
Cmilyte-Nielsen said she believed these shared values provide a good foundation for collaboration, which is why she is making stops in Taiwan and Japan during her ongoing trip to the Indo-Pacific region.
“This region is very important for us in terms of diversifying, of generally promoting the international rules-based order that we see this region so important in, and democracies in this region,” she said.
Cmilyte-Nielsen arrived in Taiwan on Sunday night for a four-day visit, leading a delegation that includes business representatives. Her visit to Taiwan is the first by a speaker of the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament.
She is scheduled to address the Legislative Yuan, which is to confer an honorary medal on her, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Lithuanian dignitaries attended a banquet hosted by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday. They also met with Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) later yesterday.
The delegation is also to participate in a financial technology forum and visit the Ultrafast Laser Technology Research and Innovation Center in Tainan, which was established jointly last month by Taiwan and Lithuania, a global leader in that type of technology, it said.
Asked about specific areas for future cooperation, the speaker said that other than the main focus on fintech, both sides also aim to cooperate on lasers and semiconductors.
“So, if there is something that I regret, it is that Taiwan and Lithuania have started to develop their relations a bit later than with many other European countries. But right now, I believe that we have the potential to become a success story for also that other countries would follow in Europe,” she said.
Relations between Taiwan and Lithuania have warmed over the past two years, with both sides signing an agreement in July 2021 to open reciprocal representative offices.
Taiwan opened its office in Vilnius on Nov. 18, 2021.
However, the Baltic state has come under heavy political and economic pressure from Beijing following a decision to let Taiwan’s office in Vilnius include the word “Taiwanese” in its name.
In the aftermath of the move, China recalled its ambassador to Lithuania and expelled Vilnius’ envoy in Beijing, while also suspending direct freight rail services and certain Lithuanian imports.
Asked if she has faced any pressure from Beijing over her visit to Taipei, Cmilyte-Nielsen said: “This trip is not directed against any country.”
“It is part of our clear strategy to develop cooperation with democracies and also to focus on the Indo-Pacific region, and I am not especially expecting any pressure or sort of problems with that,” she said.
With the opening of reciprocal offices in Lithuania and Taiwan, the speaker said she knows that many European countries “are a bit hesitant, and they are looking at our example in order to make their own decisions” about cooperating with Taiwan.
“So that is important for both sides to register concrete achievements that we can show to our people, and that, of course, is important in democracies where electoral cycles change,” she added.
“I think the good example and a success story of Lithuanian and Taiwanese cooperation could be a good reason for more European colleagues to hopefully follow in this path,” she said.
‘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