TAIPEI: China has removed Lithuania from its custom’s registry list because of it making ties with Taiwan. Now a lot of Lithuanian goods is stranded at sea.
On Thursday (Dec. 2), 15min.lt cited a Lithuanian wood exporter as saying their company’s products were barred from entering Shanghai port because Lithuania is no longer in the computer system. Vidmantas Janulevicius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, told the news agency that “Lithuania has been crossed out … it seems that there’s no such country in China’s customs system.”
This means that firms such as the wood exporter, which has 300 containers sailing to China, now have their products floating in limbo. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry confirmed with the Baltic News Service (BNS) that the country’s exporters have encountered problems exporting goods to the communist country.
The ministry said it has received reports about “possible disruptions for Lithuanian production in China” and has contacted Lithuanian companies. It is also gathering information from Chinese officials about the new restrictions, reported the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT). It added that it is also communicating with the European Commission “about a reaction on the EU level.”
Beijing has sought to punish Lithuania for allowing Taiwan to set up a representative office in Vilnius, while also planning to open a representative office of its own in Taiwan next year. On Nov. 21, China downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania by demoting the Baltic country’s ambassador in Beijing to the position of charge d’affaires.
Also, according to the Lithuania-China Trade Association, although exports of agricultural, forestry, and animal husbandry goods have been impacted by Chinese restrictions, high-tech products in areas such as biotechnology have been largely unaffected.
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