US Urges Lithuania to Rename Taiwan Representative Office to Ease Row With China, Reports Say

Moscow (Russia), January 21: The United States has urged Lithuania to change the name of the Taiwanese official representative office in its capital, Vilnius, to narrow differences with China, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources.
In 2021, relations between Lithuania and China deteriorated considerably after the official representative office of Taiwan was opened in Vilnius. China recalled its ambassador from Vilnius, thus lowering the level of diplomatic relations between the countries to that of charge d'affaires.
According to the newspaper's sources, US officials advised Lithuania to change the "Taiwanese representative office" to the "Taipei representative office," a name that is used in the majority of countries.
However, the White House officially denied the information about the proposal to rename the office.
The source added that Washington had assured Lithuania that it would support its sovereign decisions.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also stressed that the information about the US proposal to rename the Taiwanese office was a "disinformation campaign."
The United States has repeatedly expressed concern over reports that the Chinese authorities do not allow Lithuanian goods or goods with Lithuanian components into the country and reject applications for imports from Vilnius.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949. Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan - a territory with its own democratically-elected government - maintains that it is an autonomous country but stops short of declaring independence.
Source: Sputnik