Taiwan has not been asked to change the name of the Lithuania office
TAIPEI: Taiwan has not received a request to change the name
of its de facto embassy in Lithuania, its foreign ministry said on Wednesday
(Jan 26), after Reuters reported Lithuanian officials are discussing whether to
ask Taiwan to modify the name.
The self-ruled island that China views as part of its
territory opened the office last year, called the Taiwanese Representative
Office in Lithuania, rather than using the word Taipei as is more common.
China, angered by the move, has downgraded its diplomatic
relationship with Lithuania and pressed multinationals to sever ties with the
country or face exclusion from its market.
Modifying the Chinese version of the representation name to
refer to "Taiwanese people" rather than to Taiwan, was last week
proposed by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis to President
Gitanas Nauseda as a way to reduce the tensions with China, sources said.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said there has been no request to
change the name.
"Neither our country's Taiwanese Representative Office
in Lithuania nor the Foreign Ministry has ever received a request from the
Lithuanian government to change the Chinese or English name," it said.
The office's name was set during bilateral consultations and
there has been no change in Taiwan and Lithuania's positions that they will
continue to strengthen relations, the ministry added.
"Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners who share
the values of freedom and democracy," it said.
"In the future, our country will continue to work with
international democratic allies to support Lithuania; even in difficult
circumstances, Taiwan will continue to demonstrate the resilience and
perseverance of a democratic country."
Lithuania, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic
ties with Taiwan. China routinely objects to any moves that suggests Taiwan is
its own country.
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