China says Lithuania can resolve the issue by sticking to one-China principle

China urged Lithuania on Saturday to honor its commitments made when establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing and get back to the framework of one-China principle.

Wang Lutong, director-general of the Department of European Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, made the remark at a news briefing, when asked if the Lithuania issue was discussed during the China-EU leaders' meeting on Friday.

"It is a bilateral issue between China and Lithuania and not an issue between China and the EU," Wang said.

Lithuania had in August decided to allow the Taiwan authority to open a "representative office" under the name of "Taiwan", which severely undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. In response, Beijing had recalled its envoy to Vilnius.

The essence of the issue is that Lithuania broke political pledge it made when establishing diplomatic ties with China, Wang said.

If Lithuania goes back to the framework of one-China principle, he said "everything will be back to normal".

Wang also noted that the Lithuanian issue is a political issue, not an economic one. "There is no such thing as the 'economic coercion'."

Lithuania has repeatedly asked the so-called "like-minded countries" to counter China's "economic coercion". The EU in January filed a case in the World Trade Organization regarding the alleged China's restrictions on trade with the Baltic state.

Wang said to his knowledge there was very serious negotiations between China and the EU in WTO. "We will see what will come out of that discussion," he added.

Wang said China encountered double standards on the Lithuanian issue, which should be rejected.

Some people talk about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine when speaking of the Ukraine issue but they ignore China's sovereignty and territorial integrity when it comes to the Lithuanian issue, he said.