Baltic tensions rise as Lithuania kicks out Chinese embassy workers
Lithuania made three Chinese diplomats leave the country during an ongoing undersea cable investigation. This step adds to the already-cold relations between both countries since Taiwan office dispute
In a bold-move last week Lithuania told three of Chinas embassy workers to pack their bags and leave the country (they got seven days to do so) The baltic nation didnt give specific reasons for this decision but mentioned international diplomatic rules
The timing matches with a curious incident in the Baltic Sea - someone cut two undersea data-cables that connect Lithuania and Sweden. A chinese ship might have something to do with it; Sweden already asked Beijing to help figure out what happened
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson fired back: “This is a provocative move without any reason“ they stated. China promised to think about some counter-steps and told Lithuania to stop making things worse
Back in late-21 these two countries already had a big fall-out. Lithuania let Taiwan open its office in their capital which made Beijing really mad - they see Taiwan as their territory. After that China cut down its diplomatic presence in Lithuania
The baltic countryʼs foreign ministry keeps quiet about who exactly needs to leave‚ but theyʼre looking at other chinese diplomats too. They mentioned something about the Vienna Convention rules: which means these people probably did something that doesnt fit with normal diplomatic work
China calls on Lithuania to immediately stop undermining Chinas sovereignty
