VILNIUS (TASS): Vilnius has prepared documents on the basis of which the European Commission will be able to apply to the court of the World Trade Org-anization (WTO) regarding the pressure of China on Lithuanian entrepreneurs, provoked by the opening of a representative office of Taiwan in Lithuania. This was announced on Wedn-esday by the Foreign Mini-stry of the Baltic republic.
“Information from business representatives about the problems they faced because of China’s actions has been systematized and submitted to the European Commission, which, based on these materials, can file a claim with the WTO court,” the message says.
The case against the PRC, according to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, may be initiated in connection with the violation of the principles of transparency and non-discrimination. “The Foreign Ministry, together with the EC, the WTO, the Organ-ization for Economic Coo-peration and Development, the governments of other countries, is actively working to ensure that normal trade with China resumes,” the statement says.
A sharp deterioration in relations between Vilnius and Beijing was provoked by the opening of a representative office of Taiwan in Lithuania on November 18, 2021. China, opposing the office with this name (Beijing agrees that it, as in other countries, was a representative office of Taipei), recalled its ambassador from Vilnius and offered Lithuania to do the same. On November 21, the PRC government decided to lower diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the level of a chargé d’affaires, and on November 26 sent a note on the change in the status of the Chinese diplomatic mission in Vilnius from the embassy to the PRC mission.
Beijing also used economic levers: it suspended freight rail transportation to Lithuania, reduced the credit limit for Lithuanian companies operating in the Chinese market, and stopped issuing permits for the export of food products. In early December, the PRC struck Lithuania as a state from the database of its customs system. As a result, Lithuanian exporters could not legally register the goods delivered to the PRC. A week later, Lithuania reappeared in the Chinese customs systems. Beijing also warned international companies about the undesirability of supplying China with products manufactured with the participation of Lithuanian partners.
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