China Recalls Ambassador From Lithuania Over Taiwan Spat

Beijing has announced that it is recalling its ambassador from Lithuania after the Lithuanian gov't announced that the Taiwanese authorities would be allowed to open a 'representative office' in Vilnius under the name of Taiwan.

• A statement from the foreign ministry spokesman states that "The decision brazenly violates the spirit of the communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Lithuania and severely undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity." and that "We urge the Lithuanian side to immediately rectify its wrong decision, take concrete measures to undo the damage, and not to move further down the wrong path."
• The decision to offer Taiwan a representative office comes weeks after Lithuania pulled out of the EU-China '17+1' bloc, a decades-old forum for China to improve ties with the EU's central and eastern member states formerly behind the Iron Curtain.
• At the time of withdrawal, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stated in an interview with Politico that, "From our perspective, it is high time for the EU to move from a dividing 16+1 format to a more uniting and therefore much more efficient 27+1...The EU is strongest when all 27 member states act together along with EU institutions."
• While Lithuania is leading the charge in the EU for a more hawkish and arms-length relationship with China (and indeed Russia), there appears little sign at present that any of the EU's larger economies, or indeed the bloc's institutions, are willing to risk Chinese investment in order to make a political point.