China removes Lithuania from customs registry over Taiwan ties; imposes block on goods

As the bilateral spat between Beijing and Lithuania intensified over the latter’s opening of the de facto embassy under the name ‘Taiwan’ in its capital Vilnius, Chinese customs ‘removed’ Lithuania from the registry that led to their goods being stranded. Lithuania on Saturday was unable to clear its goods through the Chinese customs after the country scrapped its name from customs record and Lithuanian products were barred from entering Shanghai port, a wood exporter told Taiwan news. Lithuania is no longer in China’s trading computer system and the goods bound to China from Lithuania were not allowed to unload at one of Beijing’s ports. This implies that the Lithuanian wood exporter with over 300 containers that sailed to China now has the products floating in the sea in limbo.

Vidmantas Janulevicius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, told the Taiwanese news agency that “Lithuania has been crossed out, it seems that there's no such country in China's customs system. This causes problems for exporters, who cannot ship their remaining cargo.”

Lithuania collecting information from the Chinese side

In a statement to Baltic News Service (BNS) Lithuanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that the country's exporters have encountered problems in relation to the exporting of goods to China. “The ministry has been informed about possible disruptions for Lithuanian production in China, we are in contact with Lithuanian firms, we are collecting information from the Chinese side about the restrictions, we are also in touch with the European Commission about a reaction on the EU level,” the Foreign Ministry said in the statement. 

The Lithuanian ministry received the reports about "possible disruptions for Lithuanian production in China" from the exporters and has scrambled to contact the Lithuanian companies. Lithuanian foreign ministry officials are in touch with Beijing to gather more information about the uninformed ban, as well as has been communicating with the European Commission "about a reaction on the EU level."  Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported.

China had downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania after Taiwan opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania, a move that has angered China. In a retaliatory move, CPC demoted the Baltic country's ambassador in Beijing to the position of charge d’affaires. Self-ruled democratic island Taiwan is claimed by China as its own breakaway province under the ‘One China' policy, and CPC has since threatened to use force against the ‘independent’ forces and had threatened Lithuania of ‘undisclosed’ retaliatory measures. 

Image: AP