[Epoch Times August 12, 2021]Hello, everyone, it is 6:30 pm on August 11th, Eastern Time, and August 12th, Beijing Time. Welcome to chat about current affairs every day. This is Qin Peng.
Today’s focus: Lithuania fired the first shot to challenge the CCP, supported by the United States and Europe, scholars: more countries will follow; the specter behind Vilnius is caught, the CCP has become a cocoon, or it may contribute to the “Icelandic Moment.”
On August 10, the Chinese Communist Party announced that it would withdraw its ambassador to Lithuania, and the President of the country coldly replied “feeling regret.” The United States and the European Union support Lithuania’s choice, and scholars say that more countries will follow Lithuania to fight against the CCP.
So, what is the real reason for Lithuania to challenge the CCP? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China claimed that it was because of the support of Europe and the United States. The fact is that the Chinese Communist Party was caught behind a major event in the capital of Lithuania. And such a move by the CCP is likely to trigger an “Icelandic Moment” that will shock the world soon!
The Chinese Communist Party Announces the Recall of Lithuania’s Ambassador to Cold-Handle European and American Support
On July 20, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that after EU member Lithuania announced that it would set up an office in Taiwan in October, Taiwan will also set up a branch in Lithuania under the name “Taiwan Representative Office”, which is in “Africa”. After “Horn of the Horn” Somaliland established a representative office under the name of Taiwan, Taiwan’s second new office in a non-diplomatic country under the name of Taiwan was the first time that Taiwan set up an office under the name of “Taiwan” in a country with diplomatic relations with the Chinese Communist Party.
Of course, this was strongly opposed by the CCP. On August 10, China announced the recall of its ambassador to Lithuania and asked Lithuania to also recall its ambassador to China. However, we saw that this did not frighten Lithuania, and it also led to the condemnation and hard-line treatment of the CCP by the United States and the European Union.
The United States condemns Beijing’s retaliatory actions. Every country should be able to “determine its own “One China” policy profile without external coercion.” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, “Supporting European Partners and allies develop mutually beneficial relations with Taiwan and resist the coercive actions of the People’s Republic of China.”
Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for the European Union’s Ministry of External Affairs (EEAS), said that the European Union does not believe that Taiwan or Taiwan’s presence in Europe violates the EU’s “One China” policy.
Taiwan’s representative to the United States, Xiao Meiqin, retorted Hu Xijin on Twitter, saying: “This’crazy little country’ is a freedom-loving country. It is just doing what other EU countries have already done-opening an office in Taiwan.”
“Yes, a small country can be courageous, principled, and more respected than a giant bully.”
Lithuania has dealt with the CCP’s anger and threats indifferently.
Currently, only 15 countries have established formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan (Republic of China), but many other countries have de facto embassies, usually called trade offices. For example, the European Union where Lithuania is located, on March 10, 2003 On the same day, it officially announced the establishment of the “European Economic and Trade Office in Taipei” (European Economic and Trade Office in Taipei) in Taipei. The American Association in Taiwan AIT is also a typical embassy structure.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs produced a notice for the establishment of the Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania
Lithuania is the only country in the world that has formal relations with Beijing, allowing the opening of a Taipei office with the name of Taiwan. This is the only difference from 67 other countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania issued a statement stating that it regretted the actions of the Chinese Communist Party and reiterated Lithuania’s determination to develop mutually beneficial relations with Taiwan, “just like other countries in the European Union and other countries in the world.”
Lithuanian President Nauseda stated that as a sovereign and independent country, Lithuania can decide on its own which countries to develop relations with. State-to-state relations that lack mutual respect cannot be accepted.
He told the “Baltic News Service” (Baltic News Service, BNS) that day that Lithuania has implemented the “One China Policy” since 1991 when it established formal diplomatic relations with the Chinese Communist Party. But he emphasized that the relationship between Lithuania and the Chinese Communist Party should be based on “mutual respect”, otherwise “dialogue” will become a unilateral ultimatum, “this is unacceptable in international relations.”
He also stated that as a sovereign and independent country, Lithuania can decide on its own which countries or regions to develop relations with in the economic and cultural fields without violating international obligations. He hoped that the CCP would change its decision to recall the ambassador to Lithuania.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Lanceberg has something in his words, “We are considering our next move.”
“Obviously we got the information (from the Chinese side), but we also indicated our information that Lithuania will continue its policy, because this is not only the policy we pursue, but also the policy of many European countries.”
CCP experts claim that Lithuania has offended China’s core interests and recalled the ambassador—a rare operation for Beijing—in order to send a message that the move is unacceptable and warn other countries not to follow suit.
However, we know that since July, Taiwan and Lithuania announced that they would set up representative offices in each other. It was only on August 10 that the CCP announced the withdrawal of its ambassador to Lithuania. What does this mean? The CCP’s secret diplomatic strategy with Lithuania failed. Intimidation and temptation have not been able to impress the Lithuanian government.
So, what might the CCP do next? Considering that the CCP is facing the 20th National Congress, it is eager to show the toughness of its top leaders and give other countries a warning. Let’s analyze it and see what it will do and what effect it may achieve.
1. Continue to work hard to buy Lithuania, and launch economic and trade retaliation if it fails.
However, I think this trick will not work. There are two reasons for this:
First, this year, Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wu Zhaoxie announced on July 20 that Taiwan will set up a representative office in Lithuania called the “Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania.” The CCP only announced its revenge after 20 days. Obviously, during this period, the CCP had already done a lot of work in the economic and political fields. The coercion and lure obviously did not work. The CCP had no choice but to announce the recall of the ambassador.
Second, it has something to do with the national character of Lithuania. Many people have heard of the “Baltic Road” that shocked the world. Lithuania has a population of only 3 million. It was annexed by the Soviet Communist Party in the 1940s and was forced to become a republic of the Soviet Union after World War II. But the Lithuanians never succumbed. On August 23, 1989, the three Baltic countries-Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, with a total of about two million people holding hands, formed a 675-kilometer long dragon that strung Tallinn and Riga. The capitals of the three countries of Vilnius and Vilnius expressed their protest against the illegal secret clauses of Germany and the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviet Union recognize the independent status of the three countries. Finally achieved his own freedom.
Now that such a nation has taken an important step, I don’t think they will succumb anymore.
2. The Chinese Communist Party broke off diplomatic relations with Lithuania. Former CCP diplomat Wang Yiwei choked. The CCP is now a warning to other EU countries. If Lithuania dared to move further, it would not rule out that China would sever diplomatic relations with it. Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of the Global Times of the Communist Party of China, also threatened on the 10th that he would not rule out the severance of diplomatic relations with Lithuania.
If the CCP dared to do so, the most likely result would be to promote the establishment of official diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Taiwan, and it could also trigger the Baltic Sea and other countries to follow suit. In February this year, the Lithuanian Parliament passed a resolution to withdraw from the “17+1” organization. In March, the CCP kicked a steel plate in Europe. Xi Jinping personally attended the summit of the leaders of 17 Central and Eastern European countries. However, six countries did not show face and only sent ministers to the meeting. On May 22, Lithuania officially announced its withdrawal from the “17+1” organization that the CCP cooperates with 17 Central and Eastern European countries. At that time, it also called on other EU countries to follow up. Later, although other countries did not follow up, it apparently gave other countries the courage to confront the CCP and shaken the CCP’s position in Europe. Subsequently, the European Union and the United States joined forces to retaliate against the CCP’s persecution of human rights in Xinjiang.
3. The CCP may take this step by poaching away the remaining 15 countries with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but this means a high price.
In summary, the CCP will work hard to take the first path and try to take the third path to dig corners. It is very unlikely that the CCP will directly adopt the mode of breaking diplomatic relations.
China’s “haunting” causes deterioration in relations between the two countries, Iceland’s moment may come
On August 11, the Xinhua News Agency’s international headline WeChat public account “Global Deep One Degree” published an article “Why is Lithuania Going Farther and Farther on the Road of Anti-China?” “Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland and the Baltic States, regard Russia as a major concern and rely on the security provided by the United States. In order to submit a vote to the Biden government, they chose to approach Taiwan.
However, this statement is obviously not valid, because the relationship between Lithuania and the CCP has deteriorated, not one or two days: as early as February 2019, the Lithuanian security department referred to China as a “national security threat” in the report. In July 2019, Lithuanian President Nauseda stated that he did not support attracting CCP investment in the construction of the Klaipeda port, saying that this “may threaten Lithuanian national security.” In October 2020, Lithuania’s parliamentary elections led to a policy towards the Chinese Communist Party.
The real reason why Lithuania and the CCP are moving away from each other?
So, what is the real reason for the distance between Lithuania and the CCP?
On August 9, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas said in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt that in August 2019, the capital Vilnius (Vilnius) was in solidarity with Hong Kong in sending back The movement’s rallies, suspected to be instigated by the CCP embassy, made Lithuania alert to the CCP for the first time.
The title and introduction of the German article of this interview are particularly interesting. I think it is worth sharing with you: the title “How Lithuania Against Beijing”, and the introduction: “David and Goliath: No European country is better than Lithuania against China. Attitude is more confident. Vilnius opposes all usual means of pressure-it has clear demands on Europe and Germany.”
The article also said that the deputy foreign minister is actually a classical linguist trained at the University of Vilnius and Cambridge. He holds a Ph.D. from Plato and a former Socratic philosopher and speaks fluent British English. But now, the days when he made a living from aesthetic theory are long gone.
A very powerful character, right?
Ed Menas also emphasized to the Le Monde reporter that these decisions they made had been carefully thought out. After the parliamentary election last October, the Lithuanian government has basically determined its attitude towards the CCP. “Lithuania is a small country that can survive by law and democracy. We resist Beijing’s harm to democracy and law.”
David’s story to Goliath comes from a biblical story, saying that under the guidance and blessing of God, David challenged the giant Goliath. The same name is often used to describe a group of people with strong willpower to challenge a behemoth. Obviously, this article and this interview made the CCP feel the firm will of Lithuania.
I personally have a little suspicion. It was this interview that made the CCP feel terrified, and then on the next day, August 10, it announced its revenge against Lithuania. Because they are afraid that this courage will spread further, allowing more countries to follow suit.
How does the CCP interfere in Lithuania’s internal affairs?
So, what about the CCP’s interference in Lithuania’s internal affairs mentioned by Ed Menus? I checked:
On September 2, 2019, the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania issued a statement stating that they had summoned the Chinese ambassador to Lithuania. Lithuania accused the staff of the Chinese (Communist) Embassy of interfering in a demonstration rally in support of Hong Kong’s democracy held in the capital Vilnius on August 23.
In fact, the CCP embassy often organizes so-called local Chinese in other countries to carry out such sabotage activities to expose the CCP held by people who fled China. For example, in 2008, when the Global Quitting Center held an event in Flushing, New York, Peng Keyu, the consul general of the Chinese Communist Party in New York, personally organized the consulate and local Chinese to make trouble. Peng Keyu personally admitted when being investigated by WOIPFG in the name of the CCP leader. He planned this event. Now, the CCP wants to repeat its trick in Lithuania.
However, they miscalculated the situation and did not understand that Lithuanians were not the dumb and sweet Americans of the year: Lithuania was annexed by the Communist regime of the Soviet Union in the past, and it was not liberated from its rule until 1990 and officially became independent. Therefore, the nationality is generally very strong. Anti-communist consciousness.
At the end of September 2019, the mayor of the capital of Lithuania also banned the plan to display fireworks by the Chinese Embassy. The direct reason was that “Communist countries” were prohibited from setting off fireworks on National Day. At that time, large banners promoting the fireworks event appeared in Vilnius. Many citizens were shocked. The city government urgently demolished it and said that it had not received a notice from the Chinese Embassy and the city government did not approve the event.
This time, the CCP was greatly embarrassed. Although the Chinese Embassy appealed not to politicize the fireworks celebrations they planned to hold in the city, they pointed out that it was purely a cultural event, and said that they had already submitted the application documents to the city government and said that if the city government does not approve the event, Vilnius The residents of Sri Lanka missed an opportunity to enjoy the fireworks.
However, some Lithuanian politicians criticized that celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China is like celebrating the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, and celebrating the “Eleventh” in Lithuania is equivalent to provoking Lithuania.
At the end of December 2019, the Catholic holy place and the symbol of the Lithuanian people’s resistance to Soviet rule, the “Mountain of Crosses”, the cross with the words “Recover Hong Kong, Revolution of the Times” written in solidarity with Hong Kong was destroyed by Chinese tourists, and it made Lithuanian society reflect on the influence of Beijing. .
At that time, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister also issued a statement condemning the sabotage as ugly, shameful and intolerable, and the local police also launched an investigation.
Lithuania has taken many tough measures against the CCP
Xinhua News Agency also listed many tough measures taken by Lithuania against the CCP this year. However, after a little analysis, it is known that “the sores on the feet are ground by itself.” Taking increasingly tough measures against the CCP:
In February, the Lithuanian parliament passed a resolution to withdraw from the CCP’s “17+1” Central and Eastern European cooperation mechanism, stating that this mechanism “almost no benefit to Lithuania” and that different countries have different positions towards the CCP, which will further lead to the division of Europe. This is because the mechanism set up by the CCP outside the EU is in itself to differentiate European countries, and it is basically nameless and non-existent.
Xinhua News Agency also said, “On May 20, the Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to interfere in Xinjiang.” As we all know, it is the Chinese Communist Party who set up concentration camps in Xinjiang to imprison and persecute millions of Uyghurs, which has aroused public outrage around the world. Therefore, in March, more than 30 countries including the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada jointly sanctioned the CCP. The CCP doesn’t want to repent, but it beats it.
The columnist Konstantin Eggert of the “Voice of Germany” once praised Lithuania’s willingness to abandon its material interests and protect its ideals and values in the face of the increasingly tough CCP regime. This has indeed set a rare example for Europe.
The above is an important reason why Lithuania is getting closer and closer to Taiwan. Another reason is that Taiwan’s Republic of China government played an important role in assisting Lithuania’s national independence.
“During the Cold War, the government of the Republic of China did not recognize the Baltic states such as Lithuania as part of the Soviet Union. Lithuanians still remember this.” Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Ed Menas said in a recent interview with Central News Agency.
On August 10th, Taiwan’s political parties expressed support for the Lithuanian government on Twitter. They highly affirmed that Lithuania had withstood China’s diplomatic pressure and did not recall the country’s ambassador to China. It is believed that the courage of the country has won the respect of most Taiwanese. He also said that he hoped that Taiwan would one day have an Iceland moment like the 1991 Iceland moment.
Iceland moment in 1991
This “Icelandic Moment” means that when Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, Iceland was the first country to recognize Lithuania’s independence.
Is it possible that one day Taiwan will be officially recognized? I think it is still possible. No worries about having an accelerator. As we have analyzed earlier, there are several possibilities that the CCP’s treatment of Lithuania may lead to a breakdown in relations, prompting Lithuania and its allies to move closer to Taiwan.
From the perspective of the CCP, we have all seen now that the CCP has done a lot of things completely irrationally, almost every day, smashing different industries, possessing foreign war wolves, and attacking the United States and allies for many days; and On August 11, two Canadians were sentenced to 11 years and one death sentence. As a result, ambassadors from 25 countries gathered at the Canadian embassies in China to protest…. The accelerated results of the CCP will surely lead to more and more countries. Opposing the CCP, so it is not a fantasy that a moment when the iceberg breaks and Taiwan is recognized. It is entirely possible.
Production Team of “Qin Peng Live”
Editor in charge: Li Hao #
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