Lithuania wants to normalize ties with China. Does that mean divorcing Taiwan?
Lithuania’s new government wants to restore diplomatic relations with China as quickly as possible. But what would that mean for the country’s relationship with Taiwan, if the Taiwanese Representative Office that has operated in Vilnius for the past five years is renamed the Taipei Representative Office?
August 21, 2026 –
Tomas Valiūnas
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Articles and Commentary
Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania. Photo: Domantas Umbrasas / LRT
Taiwan typically maintains relations abroad through offices bearing the name ‘Taipei’ rather than ‘Taiwan’ – a diplomatic convention designed to avoid antagonizing Beijing.
Lithuania broke with that convention in 2021, when it allowed a “Taiwanese Representative Office” to open in Vilnius. Beijing regarded the name as an implicit recognition of the island’s independence and responded with severe economic and political sanctions against Lithuania. Still, the move also drew considerable attention and goodwill from Taiwan itself.
For more than seven decades, Taiwan – officially the Republic of China – has functioned as a de facto sovereign state, though Beijing regards it as part of the People’s Republic of China and considers the government in Beijing the only legitimate authority over it.
Baltics, China, China in CEE, Lithuania, Lithuanian foreign policy, Taiwan