Lithuanian PM says Taiwanese office could use Taipei name

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said on Wednesday she saw no reason why the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius could not be renamed the Taipei Representative Office.

"I see no reason why, for example, it could not be called the Taipei Representative Office. That would not negate our support for the democratic process (…). We support democracy and freedom in Belarus, as well as in Ukraine and other countries, and equally in Taiwan," she told a news conference.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province that must eventually be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. When other countries develop ties with Taipei, Beijing repeatedly reminds them this can only be done in line with the "one China" policy.

"I do not see a major problem with renaming the office, but this is not a five-minute decision. Such an issue should be coordinated with our strategic partners and discussed more broadly. "We rushed it, that is a fact," the prime minister added.

In an interview with BNS last week, Ruginiene said Lithuania had "jumped in front of a train and lost" by allowing the opening of the representative office in Vilnius with "Taiwanese" in its name rather than "Taipei," without coordinating the move with the EU and the US.

For its part, China has urged Lithuania to correct what Beijing calls mistakes in developing ties with Taiwan to pave the way for normalizing bilateral relations.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Taipei was not discussing any change to the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania with Vilnius and continued to promote cooperation with Lithuania in lasers, semiconductors and finance.

However, the prime minister said the opening of Taiwan's office had not been a mistake in itself.

"Not the opening of the office, because other EU countries have done the same, but standing out from the broader context, knowing the name would trigger certain consequences — that was a rushed step, and I believe we could correct it," she said.

According to Ruginiene, foreign policy must be oriented toward Lithuania's interests rather than toward "supposed values."

"We have spent too much time talking in vain about supposed values and unrelated matters instead of considering what benefits this country and its people," the prime minister added.

As reported by BNS, Vilnius and Beijing have been at odds for the past few years over how to restore diplomatic representation in both countries following their dispute over the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius.

Since mid-May 2025, there have been no accredited Chinese diplomats or other staff members in Lithuania. After the opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office in 2021, bilateral trade also fell sharply.

The Ruginiene government's program includes the goal of "restoring diplomatic relations with China to the same diplomatic level as in other European Union countries."