BEIJING/VILNIUS (Reuters) – Lithuania’s diplomatic delegation to China left the country on Wednesday, diplomatic sources said, amid worsening relations over Taiwan which opened a de facto embassy in Vilnius last month.
Lithuania said in a statement it had summoned its top diplomat back from China for “consultations” and that the embassy would operate remotely for the time being.
A diplomatic source told Reuters that all 19 Lithuanian embassy personnel and their dependents had left Beijing en route to Paris.
One diplomatic source familiar with the situation said there were “safety concerns” about the Lithuanian diplomats, and described their leaving as a response to “intimidation”.
China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania last month, days after the opening of Taiwan’s representative office in Vilnius.
China earlier told Lithuania that its representation in Beijing was downgraded from an embassy to a charge d’affaires’ office, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis told Reuters.
China views self-ruled and democratically governed Taiwan as its territory and has stepped up pressure on countries to downgrade or sever their relations with the island.
(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian and Andrius Sytas; Editing by David Goodman and Andrew Heavens)
