Lithuania slammed over Taiwan move

Lithuania will have to bear the consequences of allowing the Taiwan authorities to set up a so-called representative office in the Baltic country despite strong opposition and repeated dissuasion by China, Beijing warned on Friday.

China will take all necessary measures to ensure its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Lithuania will have to be responsible for all the ensuing consequences, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily news briefing.

When establishing diplomatic ties with China in 1991, Lithuania said its government "undertakes the obligation not to establish official relations or engage in official contacts with Taiwan", according to a joint communique available on the website of China's Foreign Ministry.

Pointing out that Lithuania has now "turned its back on the political commitment", Zhao said Lithuania "will surely reap what it has sown", and asked the country to "immediately correct its wrong decision".

Zhao also warned Taiwan authorities that seeking "Taiwan independence" by soliciting foreign support "is doomed to fail".

Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Friday that Beijing has always opposed any form of official exchanges between Taiwan and any countries that have diplomatic relations with China.

Zhu urged Lithuania to observe the one-China principle, handle Taiwan-related matters carefully and not further support or indulge "Taiwan independence".

Also, "we will crack down firmly" on the actions the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have carried out to seek "Taiwan independence", Zhu said.

Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese mission to the European Union, said in an interview on Tuesday that the one-China principle is the political foundation for China's bilateral relations with other countries, including the EU and its member states.

China established diplomatic ties with the European Economic Community, the predecessor to the EU, in 1975 during Christopher Soames' visit to China.

Soames, then vice-president of the EEC Commission, confirmed at the time that the community does not entertain any official relations with Taiwan or have any agreements with it, according to Zhang.

"Such are binding legal obligations of the EU and its member states. And they should be honored with sincerity. We regret to see that recently some people seem to find the Taiwan question an easy and handy card to play," Zhang said.

Lithuania joined the EU in 2004.

Winter Olympics

In another development, Zhao said on Friday it's against the Olympic spirit and undermines the interests of athletes of all countries to politicize the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, after United States President Joe Biden recently said the US is considering a diplomatic boycott of the Games.

"The affairs of Xinjiang belong purely to China's domestic affairs and allow no interference by any external forces under any name in any way," Zhao said.

"The US slanders that there is 'genocide' and 'forced labor' in Xinjiang are simply a joke to the Chinese people. Its other accusations against China over human rights issues are even more out of line with facts and totally groundless," he said.