Taiwan awards Lithuania's Landsbergis for his role in deepening relations

  • 2025-01-14
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - Lithuania's former Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis was awarded in Taiwan on Tuesday for his contributions to deepening relations between Vilnius and Taipei.

"My deepest gratitude to the people of Taiwan and their President Chingte Lai for the huge honor of being awarded the Order of the Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon," Landsbergis posted on the X social platform.

"What can I say? I will be with you whatever it takes, Taiwan," he added.

The award was presented by Lai Ching-te, who praised Landsbergis "for standing firmly with Taiwan and remaining a staunch defender of democratic values, yielding fruitful cooperative results", according to the president's office.

Lai Ching-te expressed hope that Lithuania and Taiwan "will engage in even more cooperation and exchanges in such areas as the economy, trade, technology, and culture, and continue to advocate for the values of freedom and democracy".

"On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I thank him for the key role he has played in deepening Taiwan-Lithuania relations," the Taiwanese leader said.

Landsbergis' wife, Austeja Landsbergiene, and Lithuania's representative to Taiwan, Paulius Lukauskas, were also present at the award ceremony.

Landsbergis will stay in Taiwan until Thursday, where he is scheduled to meet with government officials, and give a speech on "Prospects for Lithuania-Taiwan Relations and the Lessons of Russia's War on Ukraine" at National Taiwan University.

During Landsbergis' tenure as foreign minister, Lithuania and Taiwan deepened their cooperation, which soured relations with China.

Following the opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office in the Lithuanian capital in 2021, Beijing downgraded diplomatic ties with Vilnius and imposed trade restrictions.

Taipei's office was named "Taiwanese" in Lithuanian and English, but the Chinese version uses the name "Taiwan". Beijing views this as an attempt by the island to act as an independent state.

Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory, accused Vilnius of "seriously violating the one-China principle".

In its program, the government of Social Democratic Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, which took office in December, calls China "a growing challenge" to Lithuania's foreign and security policy and vows to develop economic and cultural ties with Taiwan.

Both Paluckas and President Gitanas Nausėda say they are in favor of normalizing relations with the East Asian country, but agree that this will be a difficult process.