WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th August, 2021) The United States stands in solidarity with Lithuania regarding the latter's recent diplomatic dispute with China over Taiwan and condemns Beijing's retaliatory actions, US State Department spokesperson Ned price said on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced it was recalling its ambassador from Vilnius after the Lithuanian authorities allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in the country.
"We do stand in solidarity with our NATO ally Lithuania, and we condemn the PRC's [China's] recent retaliatory actions, including the recall of Beijing's ambassador from Vilnius and demanding Lithuania recall its ambassador from Beijing. We support our European partners and our allies, as they develop mutually beneficial relations with Taiwan and resist the PRCs course of behavior," Price said during a press briefing.
The United States holds the view that each country in the world should be able to determine its own way of engagement with Taiwan, Price added.
Official relations between China and Taiwan were severed in 1949, when the Kuomintang government led by Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taipei after being defeated by the Chinese Communist Party in the country's civil war. In the 1980s, Beijing and Taipei resumed informal contacts, and the central government proposed a "one country - two systems" model, which has been rejected by Taiwan.
