Earlier this week, Ruginienė said Lithuania had „jumped in front of the train“ by pursuing closer diplomatic and economic ties with Taiwan, and suggested in comments to local media that Vilnius could take „small first steps“ towards restoring relations with Beijing.
“China’s door to communication with Lithuania remains open,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian told Reuters in a press conference on Friday.
“China hopes Lithuania will translate the willingness to improve ties with China into action and redress the mistakes as early as possible, return to the right course of upholding the one-China principle and build conditions for normalising relations with China,” he stated.
Relations between Lithuania and China went sour in late 2021, after the Taiwanese Representative Office was opened in Vilnius. Beijing claimed that Lithuania violated the „one China principle“ and started pressuring the country economically. It also downgraded the level of diplomatic representation from ambassadorial to the chargé d’affaires.
Tensions had also existed before, after Lithuania withdrew from the 17+1 cooperation format between Central and Eastern European countries and China.
Lithuania’s Social Democrat Government under Gintautas Paluckas, who stepped down in the summer of 2025, had identified China as a challenge to the country’s foreign and security policy. The current Cabinet, led by Inga Ruginienė, removed that wording from its programme, pledging instead to seek the restoration of diplomatic relations with Beijing.
President Gitanas Nausėda said on Tuesday it was unfortunate that Lithuania currently had no diplomatic relations with China, but stressed that both sides must be willing to restore ties while carefully assessing potential threats.