2023-12-01 19:39:49
China has canceled the trade war initiated with Lithuania over the dispute over Taiwan. Beijing has ended the attempt at “economic coercion,” said Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. In the first half of the year, Lithuania’s exports had already increased fourfold compared to the same period last year – to 40.7 million euros, compared to 7.8 billion euros to the EU. The tiny number in the Chinese trade balance makes it clear that Beijing is hardly interested in importing urgently needed parts that are not available elsewhere.
Andreas Mihm
Economic correspondent for Austria, East Central and Southeast Europe and Turkey based in Vienna.
Gustav Theile
Business correspondent for China based in Shanghai.
The state-controlled media in mainland China gave little attention to normalization. Asked about Landsbergis’ comments, spokespersons for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Economy continued to demand that Lithuania “correct its mistakes and return to the one-China principle.” Some popular patriotic influencers wrote on social media that Lithuania was giving in due to economic problems. However, the reason for this is likely to be different: the improvement of the strained relations with the EU. It wouldn’t be the only example. Economist Jens Bastian, who has been following China’s relations, especially with Eastern Europe, for years, points out that the proceedings initiated by the EU Commission against China over subsidized electric cars have not yet led to Chinese countermeasures.
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