The world’s harborers of Chinese Communist Party diplomats should take a cue from Lithuania and expel Chinese diplomats from their own territories as well (“China condemns Lithuania’s expulsion of its diplomats,” Associated Press, December 2, 2024).
Only three though?
Lithuania on Friday announced it had notified Beijing of declaring “three members of the non-accredited staff” of China’s diplomatic mission persona non grata, and that they had to leave the Baltic nation within a week.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry did not specify who the people were or what they had done but cited provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and other international laws.
When asked to clarify what had happened, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry referred The Associated Press to its original notice.
Lithuania says that the fate of other members of China’s diplomatic mission will be decided “in the near future.”
Difficulty
China is angered and baffled by this inexplicable turn of events. The Chinese Foreign Ministry accuses Lithuania of booting the diplomats “without any reason…. China calls on Lithuania to immediately stop undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and stop creating difficulty for bilateral relations.”
Undermining China’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”? There has been no Lithuanian invasion of China. Perhaps China regards itself as the natural overlord of the smaller country.
The latter’s démarche actually falls into the category of “long overdue and eminently worthy of emulation.” The three Chinese diplomats may have done something or other, or they may have been picked at random to express Lithuania’s displeasure.
Is Lithuania displeased with the Chinese government in general or with its doing of something recent and specific?
Something specific has indeed happened to which Lithuania may be responding. As AP points out, a Chinese ship is being investigated for possibly “severing two undersea data cables, one of which runs under the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Sweden.” Sweden’s president, Ulf Kristersson, has asked China to help with the investigation. “We expect China will choose to work together as we have requested.”
China will get right on that.
Let Lithuania be Lithuania
Tibetan Review notes a suggestion by Reuters that “the latest development apparently had its beginning in March, when the chief of Lithuania’s counter-intelligence said Chinese interference in this year’s elections” motivated by “the EU and NATO member’s support for Taiwan” was a possibility.
A few years ago, China’s thug-government downgraded its diplomatic relations with Lithuania for letting the Republic of China open a de facto embassy in Lithuania.
Now the People’s Republic of China condemns Lithuania for doing one part of what Lithuania should do to its China-downgraded relations with China. World, let’s condemn China right back.
