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Seimas speaker says Vilnius is making progress towards normalising ties with Beijing (www.lrt.lt)
submitted 18 hours ago by schizoidman@lemmy.zip to c/europe@feddit.org
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Lithuania is making progress toward normalising relations with China, Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas said after meeting with Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys.

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[-] tardigrade@scribe.disroot.org 2 points 18 hours ago

I would really like to know what exactly 'normalizing' means as China has likely a different view which is not limited to, but includes the Baltic states.

In 2023, China's then Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, created a “we told you so” moment for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania,

The French TV interview with China’s Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, was already raising eyebrows real-time as the diplomat hesitated to respond to the host’s request to clarify the ambassador’s, and implicitly, China’s position: “Is Crimea, in your eyes, Ukraine?” After a short pause, Lu Shaye snickered and said: “It depends on how one perceives this problem. There’s history, isn’t it?”

What happened in the next seconds caused an international scandal: to drive his point on Ukraine home, the ambassador questioned the sovereignty of all countries that re-established or established independence as the USSR collapsed, as he said: “under the international law, even these countries of the ex-Soviet Union don’t have the effective status”.

It drew ire also from the Baltic states. And even though China rowed back soon later on its diplomat's remarks and eventually found a replacement for the embassy in France, many label Beijing's move as rhetoric as in February 2025, Lu Shaye was named Special Representative of the Chinese Government for European Affairs, a position he has been holding since.

So Vilnius may normalize the ties, but it will understand that the regime in Beijing isn't a friend.

this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2026
9 points (90.9% liked)

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