Lithuania Voices Regret Over Chinas Decision To Downgrade Diplomatic Relations - UrduPoint

 Lithuania regrets China's decision to downgrade diplomatic relations to the level of charge d'affaires over the opening of a representative office of Taiwan in Vilnius, which does not contradict the "One China" principle, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"Lithuania reaffirms its adherence to the 'One China' policy, but at the same time has the right to expand cooperation with Taiwan and to receive and establish non-diplomatic representations for ensuring the practical development of such ties, the way many other countries do," the ministry said in a statement.

The opening of the Taiwanese representative office was dictated by purely economic reasons, the ministry added.

The official representative office of Taiwan opened in Lithuania's capital on Thursday. Eric Huang, who is currently the Acting Head of the Taiwan Mission to Latvia, was appointed as the head of the office.

In response, Beijing decided not to return its ambassador to Lithuania and downgraded diplomatic relations between the two countries to the level of charge d'affaires earlier on Sunday.