In an exclusive interview with WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Lithuania's Vice Minister for Economy and Innovation, Karolis Žemaitis, expressed his country's intention to build bridges with India in high-tech, manufacturing, life sciences, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). He said, "I think both of our both of our countries are very advanced in technology. And we can find the ways how we can work together for you to benefit in Europe and for us to benefit in Asia and Indo-Pacific region."

The conversation also touched upon the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, India's leadership role in the G20, Lithuania's support for Ukraine's membership in NATO and the EU, and the potential for innovation and investment cooperation between India and Lithuania.

Sidhant Sibal: With me is the vice minister for economy and innovation of Lithuania. What is the focus of your India visit?

Karolis Žemaitis: Our focus is to build bridges between Lithuania and India in high-tech, manufacturing, life sciences and ICT. We might be different in our sizes with a three million population in Europe. But we are the same in our ambition for growth. And I think my main intention is to build these bridges.

Sidhant Sibal: So one of the key focus areas for global geopolitics today is the Russia-Ukraine conflict. How has that concept impacted Europe, specifically your country?

Karolis Žemaitis: Well, I think everyone is now even more determined to defend the democratic values, the rule of law and our way of life. We are of course, very serious about the situation that is happening in Ukraine. But it is not changing our determination for democracy and we're working together with our European friends and allies together to defend our values if needed, and to support Ukraine in their war against Russia, the aggressor. And it sends a very strong message to everyone around the world that you know, we, the democracies, have to stick together to defend the values.

Sidhant Sibal: India is the president of the G 20 grouping this year. How do you see India playing a role when it comes to the resolution of the conflict, especially as the chair of the grouping?

Karolis Žemaitis: Well, I think India plays an important role. It's the biggest democracy in the world. So of course, it has the mandate, to represent democratic values and to represent values all around the world. So, for us, we see a lot of potential for India's leadership and India is already a global power in economics and in politics. And we really see that, especially in this region. India can play a role to show the true example of leadership in the region.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/lithuania-our-presence-in-new-delhi-is-a-message-in-itself-505624">WATCH |&nbsp;Lithuania: 'Our presence in New Delhi is a message in itself'</a>

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Sidhant Sibal: And does your country supports Ukraine's membership for NATO?

Karolis Žemaitis: Yes, our country supports the Ukrainian membership for NATO and European Union, as well as all the major reforms they have despite the war happening.

Sidhant Sibal: So shifting gears to the Indo-Pacific region, you coming to Delhi from Taiwan, your relationship with Taiwan, your country's relationship with Taiwan, so do you think that you will be at the receiving end of the Chinese government?

Karolis Žemaitis: Well, you know, our focus will in our relationship with Taiwan is economic. We are already having a lot of bilateral trade, and a lot of work together. And I was leading one of the biggest, the biggest delegation of Lithuanian industrialists in Taiwan, we had a lot of bilateral meetings. You know, when it comes to China, it's up to China to decide on its position.

But for us, it was never the intention to somehow interfere with the Chinese, with the Chinese way of politics. We intend to develop economic relations with Taiwan just like any other European country, or any country in the world.

Sidhant Sibal: And your views when it comes to a very aggressive China. China has been aggressive with your country. It has been aggressive with India as well, especially on the northern border. So your view on the Chinese aggressiveness with India?

Karolis Žemaitis: Well, I think you know, Lithuania is right now having a case in WTO with China, and this is a very good example of how I think the democracies have to stick together. And that is why I'm here in India. That is why we are looking for stable, reliable partners.

And of course, we are always looking to cooperate especially with India, especially with Japan. Korea, and other countries in the region. And we really see India as an emerging global power. And we rely on India's leadership, both political and economic when it comes to the balancing of powers in the region.

Sidhant Sibal: How do you see both countries working on innovation because this is something India has taken a lead on and especially in the backdrop of India, perhaps opening its embassy in your country later this year?

Karolis Žemaitis: I think you know, Lithuania and India are not competitors. We are co-creators, we can work together and have a win-win situation. Lithuania can be a gateway for Indian companies to European markets or 500 million people. And India can be a platform for Lithuanian companies to expand so I don't think we are in any sort of competition.

I think both countries are very advanced in technology. And we can find ways to work together for you [India] to benefit in Europe and for us to benefit in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.

So that is why I'm really, confident about our technology and investment, cooperation. And that is why I'm meeting with the governmental representatives of India. I am also hoping for the Indian embassy to open in Lithuania, which will also boost our bilateral relationship.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;

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In an exclusive interview with WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Lithuania's Vice Minister for Economy and Innovation, Karolis Žemaitis, expressed his country's intention to build bridges with India in high-tech, manufacturing, life sciences, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

In an exclusive interview with WION's diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Lithuania's Vice Minister for Economy and Innovation, Karolis Žemaitis, expressed his country's intention to build bridges with India in high-tech, manufacturing, life sciences, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). He said, "I think both of our both of our countries are very advanced in technology. And we can find the ways how we can work together for you to benefit in Europe and for us to benefit in Asia and Indo-Pacific region." The conversation also touched upon the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, India's leadership role in the G20, Lithuania's support for Ukraine's membership in NATO and the EU, and the potential for innovation and investment cooperation between India and Lithuania. Sidhant Sibal: With me is the vice minister for economy and innovation of Lithuania. What is the focus of your India visit? Karolis Žemaitis: Our focus is to build bridges between Lithuania and India in high-tech, manufacturing, life sciences and ICT. We might be different in our sizes with a three million population in Europe. But we are the same in our ambition for growth. And I think my main intention is to build these bridges. Sidhant Sibal: So one of the key focus areas for global geopolitics today is the Russia-Ukraine conflict. How has that concept impacted Europe, specifically your country? Karolis Žemaitis: Well, I think everyone is now even more determined to defend the democratic values, the rule of law and our way of life. We are of course, very serious about the situation that is happening in Ukraine. But it is not changing our determination for democracy and we're working together with our European friends and allies together to defend our values if needed, and to support Ukraine in their war against Russia, the aggressor. And it sends a very strong message to everyone around the world that you know, we, the democracies, have to stick together to defend the values. Sidhant Sibal: India is the president of the G 20 grouping this year. How do you see India playing a role when it comes to the resolution of the conflict, especially as the chair of the grouping? Karolis Žemaitis: Well, I think India plays an important role. It's the biggest democracy in the world. So of course, it has the mandate, to represent democratic values and to represent values all around the world. So, for us, we see a lot of potential for India's leadership and India is already a global power in economics and in politics. And we really see that, especially in this region. India can play a role to show the true example of leadership in the region. WATCH | Lithuania: 'Our presence in New Delhi is a message in itself' × Sidhant Sibal: And does your country supports Ukraine's membership for NATO? Karolis Žemaitis: Yes, our country supports the Ukrainian membership for NATO and European Union, as well as all the major reforms they have despite the war happening. Sidhant Sibal: So shifting gears to the Indo-Pacific region, you coming to Delhi from Taiwan, your relationship with Taiwan, your country's relationship with Taiwan, so do you think that you will be at the receiving end of the Chinese government? Karolis Žemaitis: Well, you know, our focus will in our relationship with Taiwan is economic. We are already having a lot of bilateral trade, and a lot of work together. And I was leading one of the biggest, the biggest delegation of Lithuanian industrialists in Taiwan, we had a lot of bilateral meetings. You know, when it comes to China, it's up to China to decide on its position. But for us, it was never the intention to somehow interfere with the Chinese, with the Chinese way of politics. We intend to develop economic relations with Taiwan just like any other European country, or any country in the world. Sidhant Sibal: And your views when it comes to a very aggressive China. China has been aggressive with your country. It has been aggressive with India as well, especially on the northern border. So your view on the Chinese aggressiveness with India? Karolis Žemaitis: Well, I think you know, Lithuania is right now having a case in WTO with China, and this is a very good example of how I think the democracies have to stick together. And that is why I'm here in India. That is why we are looking for stable, reliable partners. And of course, we are always looking to cooperate especially with India, especially with Japan. Korea, and other countries in the region. And we really see India as an emerging global power. And we rely on India's leadership, both political and economic when it comes to the balancing of powers in the region. Sidhant Sibal: How do you see both countries working on innovation because this is something India has taken a lead on and especially in the backdrop of India, perhaps opening its embassy in your country later this year? Karolis Žemaitis: I think you know, Lithuania and India are not competitors. We are co-creators, we can work together and have a win-win situation. Lithuania can be a gateway for Indian companies to European markets or 500 million people. And India can be a platform for Lithuanian companies to expand so I don't think we are in any sort of competition. I think both countries are very advanced in technology. And we can find ways to work together for you [India] to benefit in Europe and for us to benefit in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. So that is why I'm really, confident about our technology and investment, cooperation. And that is why I'm meeting with the governmental representatives of India. I am also hoping for the Indian embassy to open in Lithuania, which will also boost our bilateral relationship. WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Lithuania looks to build bridges with India in high-tech and manufacturing: Vice Minister Karolis Žemaitis

A gas pipeline connecting Lithuania and Latvia exploded on Friday. Although, there are no immediate evidence of an attack. Watch further to know more.

Around 250 people evacuated as gas pipeline explodes in Lithuania

An explosion occurred on Friday&nbsp;in the gas pipeline between Lithuania and Latvia, while no immediate evidence of the attack was found after an initial assessment.&nbsp;The “investigation will cover all possible options,”&nbsp;said the Lithuanian gas transmission operator Amber Grid. A video posted by the local media shows fire raging at the blast site in northern Lithuania’s Panevezys County, near the Latvian border. However, it has since been put out by the firefighters who immediately arrived on the scene, said the gas company.&nbsp;

The Chief Executive of Amber Grid, Nemunas Biknius, addressing the media, ruled out the possibility of sabotage and said, “We do not see signs of any potential impact from outside.” He also confirmed that the supply of gas was cut off, at first, after the blast as it damaged one of the two parallel pipelines sending gas to Latvia but was restored hours later. Reports suggest that the repair work on the damaged pipeline will begin on Saturday. &nbsp;

ALSO WATCH |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/around-250-people-evacuated-as-gas-pipeline-explodes-in-lithuania-552547">Around 250 people evacuated as gas pipeline explodes in Lithuania</a>

Meanwhile, the Latvian energy minister, Raimonds Cudars, said that the explosion has so far not affected the country’s natural gas supplies and added that he has been informed that the reason for the explosion was a technical accident, said local media reports. According to the Baltic news agency BNS, the flames initially rose at least 50 metres in the air and were seen from a distance of up to 17 kilometres, but no injuries or fatalities were reported.&nbsp;

However, Latvia’s Defence Minister, Artis Pabriks, took to Twitter and said that the incident must be carefully evaluated and that the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out. On the other hand, Amber Grid’s Biknius, said that the pipeline which is over four decades old recently had gone under some maintenance work and the officials are also working to determine if that contributed to the blast.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nord-stream-leaks-european-leaders-launch-investigation-into-sabotage-520391">Blasts precede Nord Stream leaks, European leaders hint at sabotage, launch investigation</a>

He added, “All reasons will be investigated and clarified in the coming days.”&nbsp;This comes months after the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany were damaged by undersea explosions amid the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Ukraine. Notably, the pipeline carries gas from Lithuania’s port of Klaipeda to Latvia.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;

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An explosion occurred on Friday in the gas pipeline between Lithuania and Latvia, while no immediate evidence of the attack was found after an initial assessment.

An explosion occurred on Friday in the gas pipeline between Lithuania and Latvia, while no immediate evidence of the attack was found after an initial assessment. The “investigation will cover all possible options,” said the Lithuanian gas transmission operator Amber Grid. A video posted by the local media shows fire raging at the blast site in northern Lithuania’s Panevezys County, near the Latvian border. However, it has since been put out by the firefighters who immediately arrived on the scene, said the gas company. The Chief Executive of Amber Grid, Nemunas Biknius, addressing the media, ruled out the possibility of sabotage and said, “We do not see signs of any potential impact from outside.” He also confirmed that the supply of gas was cut off, at first, after the blast as it damaged one of the two parallel pipelines sending gas to Latvia but was restored hours later. Reports suggest that the repair work on the damaged pipeline will begin on Saturday. ALSO WATCH | Around 250 people evacuated as gas pipeline explodes in Lithuania Meanwhile, the Latvian energy minister, Raimonds Cudars, said that the explosion has so far not affected the country’s natural gas supplies and added that he has been informed that the reason for the explosion was a technical accident, said local media reports. According to the Baltic news agency BNS, the flames initially rose at least 50 metres in the air and were seen from a distance of up to 17 kilometres, but no injuries or fatalities were reported. However, Latvia’s Defence Minister, Artis Pabriks, took to Twitter and said that the incident must be carefully evaluated and that the possibility of sabotage cannot be ruled out. On the other hand, Amber Grid’s Biknius, said that the pipeline which is over four decades old recently had gone under some maintenance work and the officials are also working to determine if that contributed to the blast. ALSO READ | Blasts precede Nord Stream leaks, European leaders hint at sabotage, launch investigation He added, “All reasons will be investigated and clarified in the coming days.” This comes months after the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany were damaged by undersea explosions amid the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Ukraine. Notably, the pipeline carries gas from Lithuania’s port of Klaipeda to Latvia. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Explosion in gas pipeline between Lithuania and Latvia sparks scare; sabotage not suspected

Every culture wants to memorialize its dead. Every family needs the missing to be identified to reach closure. Perhaps that is why a wartime mass grave offends something so deep in the human conscience. Little can be said with certainty about the hundreds of bodies discovered last week at Izium, in a pine forest in northeastern Ukraine, other than that they are the beginning of a long story.

Restoring human dignity to the most dehumanising of scenes; heaped anonymous corpses, the reduction of lives to nothing, and the stench of abandonment is a painstaking forensic endeavour.

For many months, perhaps years, the work will continue to match DNA samples, collate the scraps, establish the cause of death, and determine what crimes may have been committed by the Russian forces who fled a week ago.

Any mass grave from Bosnia to Rwanda, from Argentina to Guatemala demands of our humanity the reconstitution of the individual lives ended there.&nbsp;

“On one side in Britain you see the Queen’s dignified burial and on the other this mass grave stemming from mass violence,” said Anjli Parrin, the Kenyan deputy director of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. “They are two extremes that remind us that the idea of someone missing, buried anonymously, is a violation of a fundamental instinct to honor the dead.”

When President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia retreats, evidence of possible atrocities surfaces. That now seems to be a pattern of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, most recently in Izium. The post-apocalyptic scene last spring in Bucha, near Kyiv, of dozens of corpses arrayed in black plastic bags beneath weeping birches laden with mistletoe has proved to be the prelude to another troubling landscape.

The exhumation of a burial site in a pine forest, after more than five months of Russian occupation of Izium, has revealed one mass grave of Ukrainian Army soldiers, seventeen of them, according to an inscription on a cross. There were also 445 mainly unmarked individual graves. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s commissioner for human rights, spoke of “genocide of the Ukrainian population.”

But genocide&nbsp;requiring the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnicial, racial or religious group, as such,” in the words of the 1948 Genocide Convention is not easily proved. Other international crimes, including crimes against humanity and extrajudicial executions, may also have occurred.

It took nine years for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to rule that the 1995 Serbian killing of more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys around Srebrenica constituted genocide. This was the worst single massacre in Europe since 1945. 
It was also a massacre foretold.

For any correspondent covering the war there, as I did, it was clear for a long time that the so-called “safe areas” of Bosnia under the protection of the United Nations were no such thing. The blue helmets of UN troops had become a symbol of impotence. The horror, when it came, was merely a re-enactment, on a different scale, of the eviction and slaughter of the Muslim population of Bosnia by Serbian forces three years earlier, at the start of the war in 1992.

Izium, if the war in Ukraine endures and festers (even for years as seems possible), is unlikely to be the last site of myriad graves lost in the forest. Nor are the horrors emerging in Ukraine new to a nation with a poignant history in this regard, including at Babyn Yar, the ravine in Kyiv where more than 33,000 Jews were massacred in 1941 by the Nazis.

My colleague in Bosnia, Elizabeth Neuffer of the Boston Globe, who was later killed in Iraq, wrote of the Cerska mass grave 27 kilometres&nbsp;northwest of Srebrenica in “Crimes of War,” a book edited by Roy Gutman and David Rieff:

“The corpses were dressed in civilian clothes. They had gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. Their decaying hands were bound behind their back.” She continued: “Each part of the human skeleton,&nbsp;some two hundred bones and thirty-two teeth, has its tale to tell.”

They will come to Izium, the forensic pathologists, the ballistic experts, the forensic odontologists examining teeth, the anthropologists, the radiologists, the police investigators, the national and international authorities intent on establishing what violence produced those graves. Establishing the cause and manner and circumstance of death in war is hard. That much I have learned.

“It’s not just the collection of evidence that is difficult, it is preserving it,” Ms Parrin, who has been working on mass graves in the Central African Republic, said. “You are labeling and numbering and photographing under enormous stress and trauma, and you have to demonstrate the chain of custody...who passed what to whom and who locked it in which office and when.” 
It’s easy to get something wrong. Mistaken identity is not unusual.

Before Bosnia, there was Argentina, which I covered in the mid-1980s. Buenos Aires was awakening then to the scope of a national nightmare. Every conversation seemed to end in tears as parents, haunted by desperate imaginings, recalled their children who had been “disappeared” by the military junta. That many of the tens of thousands of “desaparecidos” had been dumped from planes into the South Atlantic between 1976 and 1983 was not yet known.

So did the Argentine military turn “disappear” into a transitive verb and the ocean into a mass grave. I sat and listened. That’s what journalists do: listen through silence, awaiting a clue, the revealing epiphany, the face that crumples like a dynamited building. 
The grief of bereaved parents was overwhelming. Sudden disappearance was too much to bear. There was no farewell and no adequate means to mourn. This twisted minds toward desperate acts.

I took away the conviction that for the bereaved, disappearance into an anonymous mass grave turns every living being into someone with a possible resemblance to a lost child, whose death can never be entirely accepted.

Before Argentina, there was Lithuania. My grandmother came from Zagare, a small Lithuanian town renowned for its cherries. The last Jew there, Aizikas Mendelsonas, died in 2011. When he was born in 1922, there were almost 2,000 Jews in Zagare, with its seven synagogues.

The Nazis ended all that after pushing into Lithuania in June 1941. On October&nbsp;2, 1941, the Jews of Zagare were ordered into the main square before being taken into the woods for execution.

In 1944, the Soviet Red Army, having fought its way into Lithuania, examined a mass grave in the forest outside Zagare and found 2,402 corpses (530 men, 1,223 women, 625 children, and 24 babies), as I discovered in researching a book on my family. A sign in the woods points to the “Graves of the Victims of the Jewish Genocide,” now also commemorated by a monument on the main square.

The hypothetical European fate of my family, had they not left Zagare in time, was to die nameless in a nameless ditch. Perhaps that is why mass graves have haunted me.

These things linger, subliminally or not. Two decades after Srebrenica, a French photographer, Adrien Selbert, showed me photographs of the town, now gathered in a book called “Srebrenica, From Night to Night.” They captured a town overcome by the weight of the past, unable to shake it off, gripped by a kind of sullen idleness. Stray dogs wander empty streets. Neon signs and streetlights glare into vacancy.

It was clear that all the bullets the Serbs emptied into their male victims constituted equal violence upon their female survivors, who were left with the hurt of the unsayable.

What Russia has done, in Izium and elsewhere, is forge a Ukrainian national identity that is more powerful than ever, along with wounds that will be refracted down through the generations.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE:&nbsp;

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&nbsp;

Every culture wants to memorialize its dead. Every family needs the missing to be identified to reach closure. Perhaps that is why a wartime mass grave offends something so deep in the human conscience.

Every culture wants to memorialize its dead. Every family needs the missing to be identified to reach closure. Perhaps that is why a wartime mass grave offends something so deep in the human conscience. Little can be said with certainty about the hundreds of bodies discovered last week at Izium, in a pine forest in northeastern Ukraine, other than that they are the beginning of a long story. Restoring human dignity to the most dehumanising of scenes; heaped anonymous corpses, the reduction of lives to nothing, and the stench of abandonment is a painstaking forensic endeavour. For many months, perhaps years, the work will continue to match DNA samples, collate the scraps, establish the cause of death, and determine what crimes may have been committed by the Russian forces who fled a week ago. Any mass grave from Bosnia to Rwanda, from Argentina to Guatemala demands of our humanity the reconstitution of the individual lives ended there. “On one side in Britain you see the Queen’s dignified burial and on the other this mass grave stemming from mass violence,” said Anjli Parrin, the Kenyan deputy director of the Human Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. “They are two extremes that remind us that the idea of someone missing, buried anonymously, is a violation of a fundamental instinct to honor the dead.” When President Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia retreats, evidence of possible atrocities surfaces. That now seems to be a pattern of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, most recently in Izium. The post-apocalyptic scene last spring in Bucha, near Kyiv, of dozens of corpses arrayed in black plastic bags beneath weeping birches laden with mistletoe has proved to be the prelude to another troubling landscape. The exhumation of a burial site in a pine forest, after more than five months of Russian occupation of Izium, has revealed one mass grave of Ukrainian Army soldiers, seventeen of them, according to an inscription on a cross. There were also 445 mainly unmarked individual graves. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s commissioner for human rights, spoke of “genocide of the Ukrainian population.” But genocide requiring the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnicial, racial or religious group, as such,” in the words of the 1948 Genocide Convention is not easily proved. Other international crimes, including crimes against humanity and extrajudicial executions, may also have occurred. It took nine years for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to rule that the 1995 Serbian killing of more than 8,000 Bosnian men and boys around Srebrenica constituted genocide. This was the worst single massacre in Europe since 1945. It was also a massacre foretold. For any correspondent covering the war there, as I did, it was clear for a long time that the so-called “safe areas” of Bosnia under the protection of the United Nations were no such thing. The blue helmets of UN troops had become a symbol of impotence. The horror, when it came, was merely a re-enactment, on a different scale, of the eviction and slaughter of the Muslim population of Bosnia by Serbian forces three years earlier, at the start of the war in 1992. Izium, if the war in Ukraine endures and festers (even for years as seems possible), is unlikely to be the last site of myriad graves lost in the forest. Nor are the horrors emerging in Ukraine new to a nation with a poignant history in this regard, including at Babyn Yar, the ravine in Kyiv where more than 33,000 Jews were massacred in 1941 by the Nazis. My colleague in Bosnia, Elizabeth Neuffer of the Boston Globe, who was later killed in Iraq, wrote of the Cerska mass grave 27 kilometres northwest of Srebrenica in “Crimes of War,” a book edited by Roy Gutman and David Rieff: “The corpses were dressed in civilian clothes. They had gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. Their decaying hands were bound behind their back.” She continued: “Each part of the human skeleton, some two hundred bones and thirty-two teeth, has its tale to tell.” They will come to Izium, the forensic pathologists, the ballistic experts, the forensic odontologists examining teeth, the anthropologists, the radiologists, the police investigators, the national and international authorities intent on establishing what violence produced those graves. Establishing the cause and manner and circumstance of death in war is hard. That much I have learned. “It’s not just the collection of evidence that is difficult, it is preserving it,” Ms Parrin, who has been working on mass graves in the Central African Republic, said. “You are labeling and numbering and photographing under enormous stress and trauma, and you have to demonstrate the chain of custody...who passed what to whom and who locked it in which office and when.” It’s easy to get something wrong. Mistaken identity is not unusual. Before Bosnia, there was Argentina, which I covered in the mid-1980s. Buenos Aires was awakening then to the scope of a national nightmare. Every conversation seemed to end in tears as parents, haunted by desperate imaginings, recalled their children who had been “disappeared” by the military junta. That many of the tens of thousands of “desaparecidos” had been dumped from planes into the South Atlantic between 1976 and 1983 was not yet known. So did the Argentine military turn “disappear” into a transitive verb and the ocean into a mass grave. I sat and listened. That’s what journalists do: listen through silence, awaiting a clue, the revealing epiphany, the face that crumples like a dynamited building. The grief of bereaved parents was overwhelming. Sudden disappearance was too much to bear. There was no farewell and no adequate means to mourn. This twisted minds toward desperate acts. I took away the conviction that for the bereaved, disappearance into an anonymous mass grave turns every living being into someone with a possible resemblance to a lost child, whose death can never be entirely accepted. Before Argentina, there was Lithuania. My grandmother came from Zagare, a small Lithuanian town renowned for its cherries. The last Jew there, Aizikas Mendelsonas, died in 2011. When he was born in 1922, there were almost 2,000 Jews in Zagare, with its seven synagogues. The Nazis ended all that after pushing into Lithuania in June 1941. On October 2, 1941, the Jews of Zagare were ordered into the main square before being taken into the woods for execution. In 1944, the Soviet Red Army, having fought its way into Lithuania, examined a mass grave in the forest outside Zagare and found 2,402 corpses (530 men, 1,223 women, 625 children, and 24 babies), as I discovered in researching a book on my family. A sign in the woods points to the “Graves of the Victims of the Jewish Genocide,” now also commemorated by a monument on the main square. The hypothetical European fate of my family, had they not left Zagare in time, was to die nameless in a nameless ditch. Perhaps that is why mass graves have haunted me. These things linger, subliminally or not. Two decades after Srebrenica, a French photographer, Adrien Selbert, showed me photographs of the town, now gathered in a book called “Srebrenica, From Night to Night.” They captured a town overcome by the weight of the past, unable to shake it off, gripped by a kind of sullen idleness. Stray dogs wander empty streets. Neon signs and streetlights glare into vacancy. It was clear that all the bullets the Serbs emptied into their male victims constituted equal violence upon their female survivors, who were left with the hurt of the unsayable. What Russia has done, in Izium and elsewhere, is forge a Ukrainian national identity that is more powerful than ever, along with wounds that will be refracted down through the generations. (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

The singular offense of the mass grave: Story of Izium and beyond

As China increases military pressure on Taiwan, an island it claims as its own territory, and deepens connections with Russia even as the invasion of Ukraine continue, Latvia and Estonia withdrew from a China cooperation group on Thursday.

The two countries followed in the footsteps of Baltic neighbour Lithuania which withdrew last year.&nbsp;

Lithuania's ties with China had deteriorated after the former permitted Taiwan to establish a de facto embassy last&nbsp;year. The nation also endorsed US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. A move which China called "erroneous" accusing the Baltic NATO nation of violating the one-China principle.

Watch |&nbsp;Taiwan rejects China's 'one country, two systems' plan

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Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia are some of the nations that are still part of the cooperation arrangement.

Both Latvia and Estonia said in comments released on Thursday that they will keep pursuing "constructive and pragmatic relations with China" while upholding the rules-based global order and human rights.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/volodymyr-zelensky-tells-officials-if-you-want-victory-for-ukraine-stop-talking-to-press-506073" hreflang="en">Volodymyr Zelensky tells officials, 'if you want victory for Ukraine' stop talking to press</a>

In recent days, western criticism of China's escalating military pressure on democratically ruled Taiwan has risen.&nbsp;

Latvia's&nbsp;continued membership in the China group, according to the country's&nbsp;foreign ministry, is&nbsp;"no longer in line with our strategic objectives in the current international environment."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/xi-jinpings-visit-to-saudi-arabia-chinese-foreign-ministry-says-no-information-to-offer-505993" hreflang="en">Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia: Chinese foreign ministry says no information to offer</a>

The country recently on Thursday adopted a vote recognising "Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism," while calling on other like-minded countries to express the same view.

Latvian MPs also declared that Russia's actions in Ukraine amount to "targeted genocide against the Ukrainian people".

(With inputs from agencies)

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As China increases military pressure on Taiwan, an island it claims as its own territory, and deepens connections with Russia even as the invasion of Ukraine continue, Latvia and Estonia withdrew from a China cooperation group on Thursday.

As China increases military pressure on Taiwan, an island it claims as its own territory, and deepens connections with Russia even as the invasion of Ukraine continue, Latvia and Estonia withdrew from a China cooperation group on Thursday. The two countries followed in the footsteps of Baltic neighbour Lithuania which withdrew last year. Lithuania's ties with China had deteriorated after the former permitted Taiwan to establish a de facto embassy last year. The nation also endorsed US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. A move which China called "erroneous" accusing the Baltic NATO nation of violating the one-China principle. Watch | Taiwan rejects China's 'one country, two systems' plan Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia are some of the nations that are still part of the cooperation arrangement. Both Latvia and Estonia said in comments released on Thursday that they will keep pursuing "constructive and pragmatic relations with China" while upholding the rules-based global order and human rights. Also read | Volodymyr Zelensky tells officials, 'if you want victory for Ukraine' stop talking to press In recent days, western criticism of China's escalating military pressure on democratically ruled Taiwan has risen. Latvia's continued membership in the China group, according to the country's foreign ministry, is "no longer in line with our strategic objectives in the current international environment." Also read | Xi Jinping's visit to Saudi Arabia: Chinese foreign ministry says no information to offer The country recently on Thursday adopted a vote recognising "Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism," while calling on other like-minded countries to express the same view. Latvian MPs also declared that Russia's actions in Ukraine amount to "targeted genocide against the Ukrainian people". (With inputs from agencies) Watch WION LIVE HERE: You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

After Lithuania, now Latvia and Estonia quit China cooperation group

Amid the Taiwan crisis, a Lithuanian inter-parliamentary delegation consisting of two ministers of parliament are in New Delhi and are holding talks with several stakeholders with a focus on strengthening ties with India.

Lithuania: 'Our presence in New Delhi is a message in itself'

Few days after Lithuania decided to ban the transit of sanctioned goods to Russia's Kaliningrad region, the European commission has now said it is working overnight on plans to diffuse the growing Kaliningrad's crisis.

EU officials scramble to douse Kaliningrad tensions

After Russia warned&nbsp;Lithuania over restrictions imposed on rail traffic to Kaliningrad, the US said it "stands by Lithuania".

"Specifically our commitment to NATO's Article Five the premise that an attack on one would constitute an attack on all that commitment on the part of the United States is ironclad," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/vladimir-putin-says-he-is-proud-of-russian-troops-in-ukraine-490300">Also Read:&nbsp;Putin says SARMAT missile would be commissioned by year's end</a>

Russia warned of serious consequences over Lithuania's decision restricting rail traffic calling it a "hostile action". Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea located between Lithuania and Poland.

The US backed the move by Lithuania over its "unprecedented economic measures" while declaring that it does not want to give "Russian saber-rattling or Russian bluster and don't even want to give it additional airtime."

Watch:&nbsp;Zelensky says Russia to intensify attacks on Ukraine

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Putin's regime summoned EU envoy Markus Ederer to the foreign ministry. Lithuania while citing EU sanctions had banned the transit of goods&nbsp;to the enclave.&nbsp;Lithuania is a NATO and EU member.&nbsp;

"It's ironic to hear rhetoric about alleged violations of international treaties from a country which has violated possibly every single international treaty," Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said.

"There is no Kaliningrad blockade," Lithuania's prime minister said, adding, "Lithuania is implementing EU sanctions."

However, Russia demanded "immediate restoration of normal Kaliningrad transit".

(With inputs from Agencies)

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After Russia warned Lithuania over restrictions imposed on rail traffic to Kaliningrad, the US said it "stands by Lithuania". "Specifically our commitment to NATO's Article Five the premise that an attack on one would constitute an attack on all that commitment on the part of the United States is ironclad," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

After Russia warned Lithuania over restrictions imposed on rail traffic to Kaliningrad, the US said it "stands by Lithuania". "Specifically our commitment to NATO's Article Five the premise that an attack on one would constitute an attack on all that commitment on the part of the United States is ironclad," State Department spokesman Ned Price said. Also Read: Putin says SARMAT missile would be commissioned by year's end Russia warned of serious consequences over Lithuania's decision restricting rail traffic calling it a "hostile action". Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea located between Lithuania and Poland. The US backed the move by Lithuania over its "unprecedented economic measures" while declaring that it does not want to give "Russian saber-rattling or Russian bluster and don't even want to give it additional airtime." Watch: Zelensky says Russia to intensify attacks on Ukraine Putin's regime summoned EU envoy Markus Ederer to the foreign ministry. Lithuania while citing EU sanctions had banned the transit of goods to the enclave. Lithuania is a NATO and EU member. "It's ironic to hear rhetoric about alleged violations of international treaties from a country which has violated possibly every single international treaty," Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said. "There is no Kaliningrad blockade," Lithuania's prime minister said, adding, "Lithuania is implementing EU sanctions." However, Russia demanded "immediate restoration of normal Kaliningrad transit". (With inputs from Agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Kaliningrad rail transit row: US backs Lithuania as Russia warns of 'consequences'

Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania has imposed a transit ban to Kaliningrad. In a recent update, Russia told to Lithuania that your citizens will feel the pain.

Moscow fumes over Lithuanian ban: 'Your citizens will feel the pain,' says Russia

Kaliningrad – a Russian region between two European Union nations Poland and Lithuania – has been caught in a row between Russia and Lithuania. How does the row affect the Russian region?

Why is Kaliningrad at center of row between Russia and Lithuania?

Hundreds of&nbsp;Lithuanians&nbsp;are&nbsp;clubbing&nbsp;together&nbsp;to&nbsp;buy&nbsp;an advanced military&nbsp;drone&nbsp;for&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;in its war against Russia, in a show of solidarity with a fellow country formerly under Moscow's rule.

Some 3 million euros ($3.2 million) have been raised in just three days - out of the 5 million euros needed - largely in small amounts, according to Laisves TV, a Lithuanian internet broadcaster that launched the drive.

"Before this war started, none of us thought that we would be&nbsp;buying guns. But it's a normal thing now. Something must be done for the world to get better," said Agne Belickaite, 32, who sent 100 euros as soon as the fundraising launched on Wednesday.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukrainian-troops-may-retreat-from-luhansk-says-regions-governor-482802">Ukrainian troops may retreat from Luhansk, says region's governor</a>

"I've been donating to&nbsp;buy&nbsp;guns for&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;for a while now. And will do so until the victory," she told Reuters, adding she was motivated in part by fears Russia could attack Lithuania.

The&nbsp;drone&nbsp;has proven effective in recent years against Russian forces and their allies in conflicts in Syria and Libya, and its purchase is being orchestrated by Lithuania's Ministry of Defence, which told Reuters it planned to sign a letter of intent to&nbsp;buy&nbsp;the craft from Turkey next week.

Watch |&nbsp;Russia-Ukraine Crisis: 9 killed, dozens injured in fresh shelling in Kharkiv

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Ukraine&nbsp;has bought more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed&nbsp;drones from Turkish company Baykar in recent years and ordered a further 16 on Jan. 27. That batch was delivered in early March.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ukraine-war-pro-russian-forces-claim-to-have-captured-strategic-town-lyman-482653">Ukrainian officials say Russia-backed forces captured strategic town Lyman</a>

"This is the first case in history when ordinary people raise money to&nbsp;buy&nbsp;something like a Bayraktar. It is unprecedented, it is unbelievable," Beshta Petro,&nbsp;Ukraine's ambassador to Lithuania, told Laisves TV.

Most of the heavy weapons that NATO countries have sent to&nbsp;Ukraine&nbsp;so far are Soviet-built arms still in the inventories of eastern European NATO member states, but some have recently started to supply Western howitzers.

"While governments of the&nbsp;world's largest countries are endlessly deliberating ... Lithuanian society simply comes&nbsp;together&nbsp;and, you know, is about to fundraise 5 million euros and&nbsp;buy&nbsp;the&nbsp;drone&nbsp;- which is an impressive message to the world," said Belickaite.

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Hundreds of Lithuanians are clubbing together to buy an advanced military drone for Ukraine in its war against Russia, in a show of solidarity with a fellow country formerly under Moscow's rule.

Hundreds of Lithuanians are clubbing together to buy an advanced military drone for Ukraine in its war against Russia, in a show of solidarity with a fellow country formerly under Moscow's rule. Some 3 million euros ($3.2 million) have been raised in just three days - out of the 5 million euros needed - largely in small amounts, according to Laisves TV, a Lithuanian internet broadcaster that launched the drive. "Before this war started, none of us thought that we would be buying guns. But it's a normal thing now. Something must be done for the world to get better," said Agne Belickaite, 32, who sent 100 euros as soon as the fundraising launched on Wednesday. Also read | Ukrainian troops may retreat from Luhansk, says region's governor "I've been donating to buy guns for Ukraine for a while now. And will do so until the victory," she told Reuters, adding she was motivated in part by fears Russia could attack Lithuania. The drone has proven effective in recent years against Russian forces and their allies in conflicts in Syria and Libya, and its purchase is being orchestrated by Lithuania's Ministry of Defence, which told Reuters it planned to sign a letter of intent to buy the craft from Turkey next week. Watch | Russia-Ukraine Crisis: 9 killed, dozens injured in fresh shelling in Kharkiv Ukraine has bought more than 20 Bayraktar TB2 armed drones from Turkish company Baykar in recent years and ordered a further 16 on Jan. 27. That batch was delivered in early March. Also read | Ukrainian officials say Russia-backed forces captured strategic town Lyman "This is the first case in history when ordinary people raise money to buy something like a Bayraktar. It is unprecedented, it is unbelievable," Beshta Petro, Ukraine's ambassador to Lithuania, told Laisves TV. Most of the heavy weapons that NATO countries have sent to Ukraine so far are Soviet-built arms still in the inventories of eastern European NATO member states, but some have recently started to supply Western howitzers. "While governments of the world's largest countries are endlessly deliberating ... Lithuanian society simply comes together and, you know, is about to fundraise 5 million euros and buy the drone - which is an impressive message to the world," said Belickaite. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

'Message to the world' - Lithuanians club together to buy drone for Ukraine

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis believes that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a dangerous precedent in modern history. In an exclusive interview with Executive Editor of WION Palki Sharma, he explained that Baltic nations are worried about a possible Russian aggression.

“If a big country and a nuclear power is allowed to cross another country’s border and stay there, it changes the meaning of the security architecture that was probably built after the second World War. That means that if you are allowed to do it once, what stops you from doing it more times?”

“There are countries in the vicinity who are at risk. One is Moldova and there was some military movement in Transnistria which is actually between Ukraine and Moldova. But the question is whether NATO borders will be enough to stop Russia and there are people in a number of Baltic states who are thinking that maybe it will not be enough,” Landsbergis said in the interview.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/karachi-university-blast-woman-suicide-bomber-was-graduate-student-at-pakistani-university-474259" hreflang="en">Karachi blast: Suicide bomber was graduate student at Pakistani university</a>

Ukraine has received a lot of help from NATO nations since the Russian invasion started in February 24 and the Lithuanian FM praised the ‘unprecedented’ response from the world.

“Before the 24th of February, you would have heard more about the disagreements and the difficult road towards a consensus when it comes to the European Union. Now, we have not only managed to secure the 27 around the European table but also to expand it. The global response to the Russian aggression was unprecedented and this is what caught Mr Putin by surprise,” he explained.

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Has Europe's response to Ukraine war been satisfactory? 
 
Why does Lithuania reject migrants from West Asia?<a href="https://twitter.com/palkisu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@palkisu</a> speaks to Lithuanian foreign minister <a href="https://twitter.com/GLandsbergis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GLandsbergis</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TheInterview?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TheInterview</a> <a href="https://t.co/Rx0oZXZcLk">https://t.co/Rx0oZXZcLk</a>
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Lithuania was one of the first countries in Europe to massively decrease their reliance on Russia when it comes to oil and gas imports and Landsbergis believes that along with all the economic sanctions, a ban on oil and gas is the right move in order to hurt Russia’s economic interests.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/jaishankar-better-to-engage-with-world-on-own-terms-than-try-to-please-it-474304">Jaishankar: Better to engage with world on own terms than try to please it</a>

German economy minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday that they are looking for ways to replace Russian oil and the Lithuanian FM believes that this is a great step towards finding a consensus.

“The sanctions are extremely important if we need to stop the war from going on for one or two years. But what more can be done is to ban the imports of oil and gas. This is what Lithuania has been asking for and certain announcements from German government gives us hope.”

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis believes that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a dangerous precedent in modern history. In an exclusive interview with Executive Editor of WION Palki Sharma, he explained that Baltic nations are worried about a possible Russian aggression.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis believes that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a dangerous precedent in modern history. In an exclusive interview with Executive Editor of WION Palki Sharma, he explained that Baltic nations are worried about a possible Russian aggression. “If a big country and a nuclear power is allowed to cross another country’s border and stay there, it changes the meaning of the security architecture that was probably built after the second World War. That means that if you are allowed to do it once, what stops you from doing it more times?” “There are countries in the vicinity who are at risk. One is Moldova and there was some military movement in Transnistria which is actually between Ukraine and Moldova. But the question is whether NATO borders will be enough to stop Russia and there are people in a number of Baltic states who are thinking that maybe it will not be enough,” Landsbergis said in the interview. Also read | Karachi blast: Suicide bomber was graduate student at Pakistani university Ukraine has received a lot of help from NATO nations since the Russian invasion started in February 24 and the Lithuanian FM praised the ‘unprecedented’ response from the world. “Before the 24th of February, you would have heard more about the disagreements and the difficult road towards a consensus when it comes to the European Union. Now, we have not only managed to secure the 27 around the European table but also to expand it. The global response to the Russian aggression was unprecedented and this is what caught Mr Putin by surprise,” he explained. #LIVE | Can Europe stand up to Russia's energy blackmail? Has Europe's response to Ukraine war been satisfactory? Why does Lithuania reject migrants from West Asia?@palkisu speaks to Lithuanian foreign minister @GLandsbergis on #TheInterview https://t.co/Rx0oZXZcLk — WION (@WIONews) April 27, 2022 × Lithuania was one of the first countries in Europe to massively decrease their reliance on Russia when it comes to oil and gas imports and Landsbergis believes that along with all the economic sanctions, a ban on oil and gas is the right move in order to hurt Russia’s economic interests. Also read | Jaishankar: Better to engage with world on own terms than try to please it German economy minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday that they are looking for ways to replace Russian oil and the Lithuanian FM believes that this is a great step towards finding a consensus. “The sanctions are extremely important if we need to stop the war from going on for one or two years. But what more can be done is to ban the imports of oil and gas. This is what Lithuania has been asking for and certain announcements from German government gives us hope.”

Exclusive | Europe needs to find consensus on banning Russian oil and gas, says Lithuanian Foreign Minister

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda. The leaders expressed their strongest condemnation of the decision by the Russian Federation to recognise the so-called “DPR” and “LPR”.

Ukrainian President Zelensky holds joint presser with Polish and Lithuanian counterparts

A family-owned semiconductor company in Lithuania sold nothing to China, so it did not worry much last year when Beijing, furious at the Baltic nation for cozying up to Taiwan, began blocking imports of milk products, peat and anything else it could find with a “Made in Lithuania” label.

Closing the door on Lithuanian exports, however, was just the start.

Today, said Kristijonas Vizbaras, a founder of the successful chipmaker Brolis Group, anything with a “Lithuanian smell,” no matter how faint — say, a German car with a small Lithuanian-made component — risks getting blocked by China.

“Unfortunately, Lithuania has become a toxic label,” he said, lamenting that China’s economic power has given it irresistible leverage over global supply chains — and as a result, the ability to strike wherever these chains intersect with his tiny Baltic country or any other nation that causes offense to Beijing.

Mindful that foreign customers for laser sensor chips produced by Brolis Group want to avoid ending up on China’s blacklist, the company recently scrapped plans to build a $50 million factory at home and wants to set it up in Belgium instead.

The lopsided fight between Lithuania, with a population of under 3 million, and China started last summer over a representative office that Taiwan, a thriving democracy that Beijing claims as Chinese territory, was opening in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital.

That feud has now expanded. The German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce warned Lithuania in December that its members working in high-tech sectors had been hit by the “Chinese-Lithuanian trade blockage in an existential way.”

Beijing has taken aim at foreign economies before. In 2010, it halted salmon imports from Norway after the Oslo-based Nobel Peace Prize committee honored a Chinese dissident writer. And in 2020, it blocked agricultural products from Australia after it called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, which was first detected in China.

But the ferocity and scope of China’s drive to punish Lithuania is a new level of vindictiveness.

The European Union in January filed a complaint against China with the World Trade Organization, calling its actions against Lithuania “illegal and discriminatory,” but has otherwise largely left one of its smallest and weakest members to fend for itself. While publicly pledging solidarity with Lithuania, Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, has privately urged it to appease Beijing by having the office represent “Taipei” instead of Taiwan.

China has sent a blunt message not only to Lithuania but to the entire European bloc, at a time when recent elections tossed out reliably China-friendly governments and brought to power more China skeptics, like the German Greens, who now control the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, and the Czech Pirate Party, now in charge of foreign policy in Prague.

Adding to China’s alarm is a recent decision by Slovenia to let Taiwan open a representative office. China responded by saying it was “deeply shocked” and warned Slovenia that it was taking a “dangerous” road. Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry quickly clarified that the office would use the name “Taipei,” not “Taiwan.”

“To use a Chinese phrase, they are killing the chicken to scare the monkey, particularly the big German monkey,” said Theresa Fallon, director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels. “Many European leaders look at Lithuania and say, ‘My God, we are not going to do anything to upset China.’”

Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign minister and the driving force behind its closer ties with Taiwan, traveled to France in January for a meeting of EU foreign ministers, but secured little support beyond vague promises of solidarity. There was no discernible movement on long-stalled European proposals for a so-called anti-coercion instrument against foreign bullying.

Making a concerted response is difficult because while China regularly berates and belittles Lithuania through Communist Party-controlled media outlets — The Global Times, a belligerent party mouthpiece, mocked the country as “just a mouse, or even a flea, under the feet of a fighting elephant” — it has not formally declared any sanctions or other punitive measures against the Baltic country or its economic partners.

“Global Times is their main tool of communication with us,” said Jovita Neliupsiene, Lithuania’s deputy economy minister. Lithuania’s trade with China, she added, vanished almost overnight, but “nothing has been declared.”

It came as no real surprise when China demonstrated its anger over the Taiwan office, and an earlier Lithuanian decision to spurn a Chinese-led diplomatic forum, by halting imports from Lithuania, which amounted to just 1% of the Baltic country’s total exports.

Unexpected, however, was that China would also halt its own exports to Lithuania, depriving manufacturers of the components and materials they need.

“Rationally, it is very unusual that a country bans its own exports,” Neliupsiene said.

Sigitas Besagirskas, head of the Vilnius Industry and Business Association and owner of a small glider manufacturer, gets most of his materials from Germany but also needs a few small but vital Chinese parts. When his Chinese supplier refused to sell to him, he said, he turned to a company in Estonia to order the parts. But the supplier quickly figured out that the end buyer was in Lithuania and stopped sales.

“Anybody connected to Lithuania can’t export to or import from China,” Besagirskas said.

The constant blows from China have led even Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nauseda, to question his country’s policy toward Taiwan. The president said in a radio interview in January that it was a “mistake” to let the office use the Taiwan name.

Many ordinary Lithuanians, while intensely proud of their country’s central role in the collapse of the Soviet Union, think it foolish to take on China, another big communist power. An opinion poll commissioned by the Foreign Ministry found that only 13% of those surveyed supported the government’s Taiwan policy.

Besagirskas derided the outreach to Taiwan as well intentioned but doomed. “Of course, we would all like China to be different. It is totally undemocratic. But we are a small country, and changing China is mission impossible for us.”

A poll done by his business association found that nearly three-quarters of all member companies were suffering from China’s undeclared economic blockade.

“They are trying to cut Lithuania from the economic map of the world,” said Laurynas Kasciunas, chair of Parliament’s national security and defense committee.

Even Chinese goods that Lithuanian companies have already paid for and whose shipping had been arranged are now stuck at Chinese ports, caught up in red tape, sudden spot inspections and other obstacles.

“It is all very sophisticated and targeted very precisely,” said Vidmantas Janulevicius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, who has had dozens of containers of materials for his solar panel making company blocked for months in Chinese ports.

The Federation of German Industries complained in a statement late last year: “China’s recent measures against Lithuania are having the effect of a trade boycott with repercussions throughout the EU.&nbsp;Imports from China that are needed in German production facilities in Lithuania and exports from Germany to China that contain Lithuanian components are also affected.”

The European Union, however, is deeply divided between countries like Hungary, which routinely blocks statements against Beijing, and those that favor a tougher line. France has pledged to get legislation for the “anti-coercion instrument” moving, but few expect it to become a reality anytime soon.

The United States has also pledged to stand with Lithuania against Beijing but offered little in the way of concrete support.

The only place offering anything solid so far is Taiwan, which in January announced that it was setting up a $200 million fund to invest in Lithuania and other needy countries in the region and a separate $1 billion program to finance joint projects, including in high-end semiconductors. Taiwan has also started importing large quantities of Lithuanian goods, mostly food products and rum.

Eric Huang, head of Taiwan’s newly opened office in Vilnius, located on the top floor of a high-rise office tower, said his government wants to help blunt the pain of China’s strikes against Lithuania.

“Democratic countries should work together, otherwise we will set a precedent,” he said. “If China is not happy today with a certain country over a certain issue, it will be the same story all over again on a different issue tomorrow.”

A family-owned semiconductor company in Lithuania sold nothing to China, so it did not worry much last year when Beijing, furious at the Baltic nation for cozying up to Taiwan, began blocking imports of milk products, peat and anything else it could find with a “Made in Lithuania” label.

A family-owned semiconductor company in Lithuania sold nothing to China, so it did not worry much last year when Beijing, furious at the Baltic nation for cozying up to Taiwan, began blocking imports of milk products, peat and anything else it could find with a “Made in Lithuania” label. Closing the door on Lithuanian exports, however, was just the start. Today, said Kristijonas Vizbaras, a founder of the successful chipmaker Brolis Group, anything with a “Lithuanian smell,” no matter how faint — say, a German car with a small Lithuanian-made component — risks getting blocked by China. “Unfortunately, Lithuania has become a toxic label,” he said, lamenting that China’s economic power has given it irresistible leverage over global supply chains — and as a result, the ability to strike wherever these chains intersect with his tiny Baltic country or any other nation that causes offense to Beijing. Mindful that foreign customers for laser sensor chips produced by Brolis Group want to avoid ending up on China’s blacklist, the company recently scrapped plans to build a $50 million factory at home and wants to set it up in Belgium instead. The lopsided fight between Lithuania, with a population of under 3 million, and China started last summer over a representative office that Taiwan, a thriving democracy that Beijing claims as Chinese territory, was opening in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. That feud has now expanded. The German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce warned Lithuania in December that its members working in high-tech sectors had been hit by the “Chinese-Lithuanian trade blockage in an existential way.” Beijing has taken aim at foreign economies before. In 2010, it halted salmon imports from Norway after the Oslo-based Nobel Peace Prize committee honored a Chinese dissident writer. And in 2020, it blocked agricultural products from Australia after it called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, which was first detected in China. But the ferocity and scope of China’s drive to punish Lithuania is a new level of vindictiveness. The European Union in January filed a complaint against China with the World Trade Organization, calling its actions against Lithuania “illegal and discriminatory,” but has otherwise largely left one of its smallest and weakest members to fend for itself. While publicly pledging solidarity with Lithuania, Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, has privately urged it to appease Beijing by having the office represent “Taipei” instead of Taiwan. China has sent a blunt message not only to Lithuania but to the entire European bloc, at a time when recent elections tossed out reliably China-friendly governments and brought to power more China skeptics, like the German Greens, who now control the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, and the Czech Pirate Party, now in charge of foreign policy in Prague. Adding to China’s alarm is a recent decision by Slovenia to let Taiwan open a representative office. China responded by saying it was “deeply shocked” and warned Slovenia that it was taking a “dangerous” road. Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry quickly clarified that the office would use the name “Taipei,” not “Taiwan.” “To use a Chinese phrase, they are killing the chicken to scare the monkey, particularly the big German monkey,” said Theresa Fallon, director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies in Brussels. “Many European leaders look at Lithuania and say, ‘My God, we are not going to do anything to upset China.’” Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s foreign minister and the driving force behind its closer ties with Taiwan, traveled to France in January for a meeting of EU foreign ministers, but secured little support beyond vague promises of solidarity. There was no discernible movement on long-stalled European proposals for a so-called anti-coercion instrument against foreign bullying. Making a concerted response is difficult because while China regularly berates and belittles Lithuania through Communist Party-controlled media outlets — The Global Times, a belligerent party mouthpiece, mocked the country as “just a mouse, or even a flea, under the feet of a fighting elephant” — it has not formally declared any sanctions or other punitive measures against the Baltic country or its economic partners. “Global Times is their main tool of communication with us,” said Jovita Neliupsiene, Lithuania’s deputy economy minister. Lithuania’s trade with China, she added, vanished almost overnight, but “nothing has been declared.” It came as no real surprise when China demonstrated its anger over the Taiwan office, and an earlier Lithuanian decision to spurn a Chinese-led diplomatic forum, by halting imports from Lithuania, which amounted to just 1% of the Baltic country’s total exports. Unexpected, however, was that China would also halt its own exports to Lithuania, depriving manufacturers of the components and materials they need. “Rationally, it is very unusual that a country bans its own exports,” Neliupsiene said. Sigitas Besagirskas, head of the Vilnius Industry and Business Association and owner of a small glider manufacturer, gets most of his materials from Germany but also needs a few small but vital Chinese parts. When his Chinese supplier refused to sell to him, he said, he turned to a company in Estonia to order the parts. But the supplier quickly figured out that the end buyer was in Lithuania and stopped sales. “Anybody connected to Lithuania can’t export to or import from China,” Besagirskas said. The constant blows from China have led even Lithuania’s president, Gitanas Nauseda, to question his country’s policy toward Taiwan. The president said in a radio interview in January that it was a “mistake” to let the office use the Taiwan name. Many ordinary Lithuanians, while intensely proud of their country’s central role in the collapse of the Soviet Union, think it foolish to take on China, another big communist power. An opinion poll commissioned by the Foreign Ministry found that only 13% of those surveyed supported the government’s Taiwan policy. Besagirskas derided the outreach to Taiwan as well intentioned but doomed. “Of course, we would all like China to be different. It is totally undemocratic. But we are a small country, and changing China is mission impossible for us.” A poll done by his business association found that nearly three-quarters of all member companies were suffering from China’s undeclared economic blockade. “They are trying to cut Lithuania from the economic map of the world,” said Laurynas Kasciunas, chair of Parliament’s national security and defense committee. Even Chinese goods that Lithuanian companies have already paid for and whose shipping had been arranged are now stuck at Chinese ports, caught up in red tape, sudden spot inspections and other obstacles. “It is all very sophisticated and targeted very precisely,” said Vidmantas Janulevicius, president of the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, who has had dozens of containers of materials for his solar panel making company blocked for months in Chinese ports. The Federation of German Industries complained in a statement late last year: “China’s recent measures against Lithuania are having the effect of a trade boycott with repercussions throughout the EU. Imports from China that are needed in German production facilities in Lithuania and exports from Germany to China that contain Lithuanian components are also affected.” The European Union, however, is deeply divided between countries like Hungary, which routinely blocks statements against Beijing, and those that favor a tougher line. France has pledged to get legislation for the “anti-coercion instrument” moving, but few expect it to become a reality anytime soon. The United States has also pledged to stand with Lithuania against Beijing but offered little in the way of concrete support. The only place offering anything solid so far is Taiwan, which in January announced that it was setting up a $200 million fund to invest in Lithuania and other needy countries in the region and a separate $1 billion program to finance joint projects, including in high-end semiconductors. Taiwan has also started importing large quantities of Lithuanian goods, mostly food products and rum. Eric Huang, head of Taiwan’s newly opened office in Vilnius, located on the top floor of a high-rise office tower, said his government wants to help blunt the pain of China’s strikes against Lithuania. “Democratic countries should work together, otherwise we will set a precedent,” he said. “If China is not happy today with a certain country over a certain issue, it will be the same story all over again on a different issue tomorrow.”

In an uneven fight with China, a tiny country’s brand becomes toxic

China suspended imports of&nbsp;beef, dairy and beer from Lithuania this week, Lithuania's veterinary control agency said on Thursday, amid a growing trade dispute over the Baltic nation's relations with Taiwan.

China's General Administration of Customs had informed the country it was halting the exports due to "lack of documentation", the agency said in a statement.

It added that "this is first such notification we ever received, because the importing countries usually start by asking for any missing information".

The Chinese agency said earlier on Thursday it had stopped imports of Lithuanian&nbsp;beef&nbsp;but gave no specific reason.

Relations frayed after Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital Vilnius last year, angering Beijing which regards the democratically-ruled island as its own territory.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday during a visit to Australia that nations seeking to use trade as a retaliatory measure must be reminded that "like-minded countries have tools and regulations that help withstand the coercion".

Britain said on Monday it will join the United States and Australia in backing an EU trade case against China at the World Trade Organization over Beijing's alleged trade curbs on Lithuania.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-looks-to-send-lithuania-to-garbage-bin-of-history-find-out-why-439603">Also read |&nbsp;China looks to send Lithuania to 'garbage bin of history'. Find out why?</a>

The European Commission says overall exports from Lithuania, an EU member, to China fell 91% in December compared to the same month in 2020.

The Lithuanian agency said the country hasn't exported food products, including&nbsp;beef, to China since early December 2021. It did not immediately give further details.

"As far as I know, the Chinese move does not create practical problems, because we do not export these products to China now. The exporters have moved on to other markets", Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte told reporters on Thursday.

"If the problem is procedural and bureaucratic, as China says, then it will get solved very easily", she added.

CORRECT 'MISTAKES'

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian declined to elaborate on the&nbsp;beef&nbsp;suspension, but said Lithuania should correct its "mistakes".

"What Lithuania should do is face up to facts, redress its own mistakes, and come back to the right track of adhering to the one China principle, instead of confusing right with wrong," Zhao said, referring to China's policy demanding countries recognise its claim to Taiwan.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/now-chinese-agency-says-it-can-intervene-in-abortions-among-unmarried-women-452278">Also read |&nbsp;Now, Chinese agency says it can intervene in abortions among unmarried women</a>

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou condemned the latest Chinese move, calling it "unilateral" and "bullying" and the latest example of Beijing trying to change Lithuania's foreign policy.

China is the world's top importer of&nbsp;beef&nbsp;but shipments from Lithuania are minimal. It imported just 775 tonnes of&nbsp;beef&nbsp;from Lithuania in 2021, out of a total 2.36 million tonnes of&nbsp;beef&nbsp;imports that year, according to Chinese customs data.

Taiwan has stepped up its food imports from Lithuania to help ease the impact of Chinese curbs, most recently rum.

China suspended imports of beef, dairy and beer from Lithuania this week, Lithuania's veterinary control agency said on Thursday, amid a growing trade dispute over the Baltic nation's relations with Taiwan.

China suspended imports of beef, dairy and beer from Lithuania this week, Lithuania's veterinary control agency said on Thursday, amid a growing trade dispute over the Baltic nation's relations with Taiwan. China's General Administration of Customs had informed the country it was halting the exports due to "lack of documentation", the agency said in a statement. It added that "this is first such notification we ever received, because the importing countries usually start by asking for any missing information". The Chinese agency said earlier on Thursday it had stopped imports of Lithuanian beef but gave no specific reason. Relations frayed after Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital Vilnius last year, angering Beijing which regards the democratically-ruled island as its own territory. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday during a visit to Australia that nations seeking to use trade as a retaliatory measure must be reminded that "like-minded countries have tools and regulations that help withstand the coercion". Britain said on Monday it will join the United States and Australia in backing an EU trade case against China at the World Trade Organization over Beijing's alleged trade curbs on Lithuania. Also read | China looks to send Lithuania to 'garbage bin of history'. Find out why? The European Commission says overall exports from Lithuania, an EU member, to China fell 91% in December compared to the same month in 2020. The Lithuanian agency said the country hasn't exported food products, including beef, to China since early December 2021. It did not immediately give further details. "As far as I know, the Chinese move does not create practical problems, because we do not export these products to China now. The exporters have moved on to other markets", Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte told reporters on Thursday. "If the problem is procedural and bureaucratic, as China says, then it will get solved very easily", she added. CORRECT 'MISTAKES' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian declined to elaborate on the beef suspension, but said Lithuania should correct its "mistakes". "What Lithuania should do is face up to facts, redress its own mistakes, and come back to the right track of adhering to the one China principle, instead of confusing right with wrong," Zhao said, referring to China's policy demanding countries recognise its claim to Taiwan. Also read | Now, Chinese agency says it can intervene in abortions among unmarried women Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou condemned the latest Chinese move, calling it "unilateral" and "bullying" and the latest example of Beijing trying to change Lithuania's foreign policy. China is the world's top importer of beef but shipments from Lithuania are minimal. It imported just 775 tonnes of beef from Lithuania in 2021, out of a total 2.36 million tonnes of beef imports that year, according to Chinese customs data. Taiwan has stepped up its food imports from Lithuania to help ease the impact of Chinese curbs, most recently rum.

China suspends Lithuanian beef, dairy, beer imports amid Taiwan row

Germany is leading a NATO operation in Lithuania and has stationed around 500 soldiers there. Also, the German chancellor Olaf Scholz has offered a clarification on why Germany is not supplying weapons to the Ukraine.

Germany leads NATO operation in Lithuania, sends troops

Some people in Lithuania have received hidden letters after more than 50 years. The letters were discovered during reconstruction work and have now been restored to their rightful owners.

Lost letters arrive at their rightful owners after 50 years in Lithuania

Lost letters arrive at their rightful owners after 50 years

German car-makers are pressing Lithuania to seek a compromise with China. Reports say Lithuania could ask Taiwan to rename their office in Vilnius to placate Beijing. Why are Europe's big powers abandoning spirited Lithuania? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: German businesses press Lithuania to seek compromise with China

Lithuanian officials, seeking to defuse a row with China, are discussing whether to ask their Taiwanese counterparts to modify the Chinese translation of the name of Taiwan's de-facto embassy in Vilnius, two sources told Reuters.

The self-ruled island that China views as part of its territory has other offices in Europe and the United States but they use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding reference to the island itself.

The row erupted after the Baltic state allowed the opening of the Taiwanese Representation office in Vilnius.

China has downgraded its diplomatic relationship with Lithuania and pressed multinationals to sever ties with the country or face exclusion from its market.

That is an unusually harsh move that has dragged companies into a political dispute and placed Beijing on a collision course with the European Union.&nbsp;

Modifying the Chinese version of the representation name to refer to "Taiwanese people" rather than to Taiwan, was last week proposed by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis to President Gitanas Nauseda as a way to reduce the tensions with China, sources said.

Watch | Gravitas: German businesses press Lithuania to seek compromise with China

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-why-europe-is-afraid-to-take-on-putin-447948/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The change, which would bring the name in line with those used in Lithuanian and English, would need Taiwan's agreement.

The President's office refused to comment. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply to a request for comment.

It is not possible for any single gesture by Lithuania to change China's attitude, said Linas Kojala, who heads the Vilnius Eastern European Studies Centre think-tank. 
"The government probably wants to emphasise that the office represents not Taiwan as a political entity, but the Taiwanese people with whom Lithuania wants to establish cultural, economic and other relationships," he said.

Chinese tabloid newspaper the Global Times published an article on Saturday saying that "it will take much more than just renaming the office" for Lithuania to mend its relationship with China.

"Lithuania needs to make substantial adjustments to its overall China policy, rather than completely follow the US' agenda," said the article in The Global Times, which is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party.

Lithuanian officials, seeking to defuse a row with China, are discussing whether to ask their Taiwanese counterparts to modify the Chinese translation of the name of Taiwan's de-facto embassy in Vilnius, two sources told Reuters.

Lithuanian officials, seeking to defuse a row with China, are discussing whether to ask their Taiwanese counterparts to modify the Chinese translation of the name of Taiwan's de-facto embassy in Vilnius, two sources told Reuters. The self-ruled island that China views as part of its territory has other offices in Europe and the United States but they use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding reference to the island itself. The row erupted after the Baltic state allowed the opening of the Taiwanese Representation office in Vilnius. China has downgraded its diplomatic relationship with Lithuania and pressed multinationals to sever ties with the country or face exclusion from its market. That is an unusually harsh move that has dragged companies into a political dispute and placed Beijing on a collision course with the European Union. Modifying the Chinese version of the representation name to refer to "Taiwanese people" rather than to Taiwan, was last week proposed by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis to President Gitanas Nauseda as a way to reduce the tensions with China, sources said. Watch | Gravitas: German businesses press Lithuania to seek compromise with China The change, which would bring the name in line with those used in Lithuanian and English, would need Taiwan's agreement. The President's office refused to comment. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not reply to a request for comment. It is not possible for any single gesture by Lithuania to change China's attitude, said Linas Kojala, who heads the Vilnius Eastern European Studies Centre think-tank. "The government probably wants to emphasise that the office represents not Taiwan as a political entity, but the Taiwanese people with whom Lithuania wants to establish cultural, economic and other relationships," he said. Chinese tabloid newspaper the Global Times published an article on Saturday saying that "it will take much more than just renaming the office" for Lithuania to mend its relationship with China. "Lithuania needs to make substantial adjustments to its overall China policy, rather than completely follow the US' agenda," said the article in The Global Times, which is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party.

Lithuania considers modifying Taiwan representation name to defuse row with China

A real estate property will be put for sale soon in Lithuania. What is unique&nbsp;about it that it earlier used to be a ‘black site’. &nbsp;

At this notorious site, terror suspects used to be kept in solitary confinement by the spy agency of the US, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

According to the terminology, a black site means a place, where an unacknowledged black operation is conducted.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/war-may-loom-but-are-there-off-ramps-447405" hreflang="en">War may loom, but are there off-ramps?</a>

The menacing steel barn, which is also known as Project No 2 or Detention Site Violet, is located outside Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. &nbsp; &nbsp;

On Monday, the government’s real estate fund said that it was preparing to sell the former “black site” for an unknown price. This fund handles assets that are no longer needed by the state. &nbsp;&nbsp;

It was a part of Washington’s secret 'extraordinary rendition' programme, where suspected Islamist militants from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq were captured and held in jails outside the US. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/watch-us-president-joe-biden-calls-reporter-stupid-son-of-a-b-on-hot-mic-find-out-why-447299" hreflang="en">Watch: US President Joe Biden calls reporter 'stupid son of a b****' on hot mic. Find out why</a>

The 10-room building served as a detention centre in 2005 and 2006 for the US. It was closed in 2006. It has windowless and soundproofed rooms. This facility has its own power generator and water supply. &nbsp;

The now-empty rooms in this facility are dominated by fluorescent lighting and the hum of air conditioning. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

A real estate property will be put for sale soon in Lithuania. What is unique about it that it earlier used to be a ‘black site’. At this notorious site, terror suspects used to be kept in solitary confinement by the spy agency of the US, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

A real estate property will be put for sale soon in Lithuania. What is unique about it that it earlier used to be a ‘black site’. At this notorious site, terror suspects used to be kept in solitary confinement by the spy agency of the US, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to the terminology, a black site means a place, where an unacknowledged black operation is conducted. Also Read: War may loom, but are there off-ramps? The menacing steel barn, which is also known as Project No 2 or Detention Site Violet, is located outside Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. On Monday, the government’s real estate fund said that it was preparing to sell the former “black site” for an unknown price. This fund handles assets that are no longer needed by the state. It was a part of Washington’s secret 'extraordinary rendition' programme, where suspected Islamist militants from conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq were captured and held in jails outside the US. Also Read: Watch: US President Joe Biden calls reporter 'stupid son of a b****' on hot mic. Find out why The 10-room building served as a detention centre in 2005 and 2006 for the US. It was closed in 2006. It has windowless and soundproofed rooms. This facility has its own power generator and water supply. The now-empty rooms in this facility are dominated by fluorescent lighting and the hum of air conditioning. (With inputs from agencies)

A ‘black site’ to go up for sale in Lithuania. Find out what is it

Taiwan is in talks to set up a representative office in Slovenia. China has slammed the move as 'dangerous' and 'shocking'. Why are more Central and East European states picking Taiwan over China? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: Slovenia joins Lithuania in taking on China

Amid China's unofficial trade blockade on Lithuania, Taiwan has announced a $200 million investment fund for the Baltic nation. Palki Sharma tells you what global powers can learn from this partnership.

Gravitas: Taiwan announces $200 million investment for Lithuania

Lithuania is doing what many so-called superpowers have failed to do. They invited Taiwan to open a de-facto embassy in Vilnius and is asking their citizens to dump Chinese phones. Palki Sharma tells you why this Baltic minnow is taking on Beijing.

Gravitas: Tiny Lithuania takes on China

Tensions between Lithuania and China are Also escalating. Lithuania’s decision to let Taiwan open a representative office in its country some time back seems to have not gone down well with China.

China looks to send Lithuania to 'garbage bin of history', but why?

Lithuania’s decision to let Taiwan open a representative office in its country some time back seems to have not gone down well with China. The Asian giant seems to be making concerted efforts to take stringent action to ensure other nations do not follow suit. &nbsp;

At first, it downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation to below ambassador level. Then, to add to the coercion, China seems to have been threatening to send the nation to the 'garbage bin of history'. &nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hong-kong-more-universities-remove-tiananmen-monuments-439556" hreflang="en">Hong Kong: More universities remove Tiananmen monuments</a>

"Lithuania stands on the opposite side of universal principles, which will never end well. Those, who insist on acting in collusion with Taiwan secessionist forces, will eventually be swept into the garbage bin of history," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters. Global Times, a Chinese state-run newspaper, said in its report. &nbsp;

Earlier, China had also expelled the ambassador of Lithuania and withdrew its own envoy to the country. &nbsp; &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/intel-apologises-to-chinese-population-for-hurting-their-sentiments-over-xinjiang-comments-439553" hreflang="en">Intel apologises to Chinese population for hurting their sentiments over Xinjiang comments</a>

At that time, the foreign ministry had said that relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d'affaires, an embassy's No 2 official. &nbsp; &nbsp;

In a diplomatic breakthrough, Taiwan had opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania. The move was a significant departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Lithuania’s decision to let Taiwan open a representative office in its country some time back seems to have not gone down well with China. The Asian giant seems to be making concerted efforts to take stringent action to ensure other nations do not follow suit.

Lithuania’s decision to let Taiwan open a representative office in its country some time back seems to have not gone down well with China. The Asian giant seems to be making concerted efforts to take stringent action to ensure other nations do not follow suit. At first, it downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation to below ambassador level. Then, to add to the coercion, China seems to have been threatening to send the nation to the 'garbage bin of history'. Also Read | Hong Kong: More universities remove Tiananmen monuments "Lithuania stands on the opposite side of universal principles, which will never end well. Those, who insist on acting in collusion with Taiwan secessionist forces, will eventually be swept into the garbage bin of history," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters. Global Times, a Chinese state-run newspaper, said in its report. Earlier, China had also expelled the ambassador of Lithuania and withdrew its own envoy to the country. Also Read: Intel apologises to Chinese population for hurting their sentiments over Xinjiang comments At that time, the foreign ministry had said that relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d'affaires, an embassy's No 2 official. In a diplomatic breakthrough, Taiwan had opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania. The move was a significant departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. (With inputs from agencies)

China looks to send Lithuania to 'garbage bin of history'. Find out why?

Lithuania&nbsp;will adapt to "short-term" economic pain dealt by China over its moves to enhance ties with Taiwan, foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday, while urging Europe to brace against Beijing's economic "coercion" by getting more involved in the Indo-Pacific.

China downgraded diplomatic ties with&nbsp;Lithuania&nbsp;on Sunday over the Baltic country's move to allow self-ruled Taiwan to open a de facto embassy there.&nbsp;Lithuania&nbsp;has formal relations with China and not Taiwan.

Beijing views democratically-governed Taiwan as a province, and&nbsp;Lithuanian officials say China has also sought to inflict pain such as cutting trade links in retaliation for its decision.

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Landsbergis told Reuters in an interview in Washington that such losses would be short-lived as&nbsp;Lithuania&nbsp;was working to make its supply chains less dependent on China.

"In the short term, it is painful for any country when your contracts are cut," Landsbergis said. "But it is short term, because markets adapt. Companies adapt."

Landsbergis said China had not only cut links with&nbsp;Lithuanian companies, but had approached companies in third countries to press them not to do business with&nbsp;Lithuania.

"So much of what we produce is partially produced with, or within, China. This is why we need to find ways to create supply chains and how to make them more resilient so they can withstand this coercion, the cutting of contracts, the secondary sanctions," Landsbergis said.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/entire-nation-is-crying-maryam-nawaz-slams-pakistan-pm-imran-khan-421413">'Entire nation is crying': Maryam Nawaz slams Pakistan PM Imran Khan</a>

He said&nbsp;Lithuania&nbsp;would provide a model for countries on how to withstand such pressure, but European nations in particular should become more involved in the Indo-Pacific to enhance their economic security.

"We have to understand that every country now is involved in the Indo-Pacific," Landsbergis said.

"Some of our NATO allies are taking big responsibility in the region, offering security guarantees to countries, and that means that we also have to at least have an understanding of what's going on, or probably play some part in this," he said.

Landsbergis met earlier with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who according to a State Department statement, underscored "ironclad U.S. solidarity" with its NATO ally.

Sherman welcomed&nbsp;Lithuania, a country of about three million, expanding ties with democracies in the Indo-Pacific.

Washington has sought to carve out more space for Taiwan in the international system, one of the main factors in increasingly sour relations with Beijing. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said last week that U.S. attempts to expand cooperation with its partners and allies in the region were causing China "heartburn." Beijing described the moves as Cold War thinking.

Lithuania will adapt to "short-term" economic pain dealt by China over its moves to enhance ties with Taiwan, foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday, while urging Europe to brace against Beijing's economic "coercion" by getting more involved in the Indo-Pacific.

Lithuania will adapt to "short-term" economic pain dealt by China over its moves to enhance ties with Taiwan, foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Wednesday, while urging Europe to brace against Beijing's economic "coercion" by getting more involved in the Indo-Pacific. China downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania on Sunday over the Baltic country's move to allow self-ruled Taiwan to open a de facto embassy there. Lithuania has formal relations with China and not Taiwan. Beijing views democratically-governed Taiwan as a province, and Lithuanian officials say China has also sought to inflict pain such as cutting trade links in retaliation for its decision. ALSO READ | Pakistan petroleum dealers launch nationwide strike against lower profit margins Landsbergis told Reuters in an interview in Washington that such losses would be short-lived as Lithuania was working to make its supply chains less dependent on China. "In the short term, it is painful for any country when your contracts are cut," Landsbergis said. "But it is short term, because markets adapt. Companies adapt." Landsbergis said China had not only cut links with Lithuanian companies, but had approached companies in third countries to press them not to do business with Lithuania. "So much of what we produce is partially produced with, or within, China. This is why we need to find ways to create supply chains and how to make them more resilient so they can withstand this coercion, the cutting of contracts, the secondary sanctions," Landsbergis said. ALSO READ | 'Entire nation is crying': Maryam Nawaz slams Pakistan PM Imran Khan He said Lithuania would provide a model for countries on how to withstand such pressure, but European nations in particular should become more involved in the Indo-Pacific to enhance their economic security. "We have to understand that every country now is involved in the Indo-Pacific," Landsbergis said. "Some of our NATO allies are taking big responsibility in the region, offering security guarantees to countries, and that means that we also have to at least have an understanding of what's going on, or probably play some part in this," he said. Landsbergis met earlier with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who according to a State Department statement, underscored "ironclad U.S. solidarity" with its NATO ally. Sherman welcomed Lithuania, a country of about three million, expanding ties with democracies in the Indo-Pacific. Washington has sought to carve out more space for Taiwan in the international system, one of the main factors in increasingly sour relations with Beijing. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said last week that U.S. attempts to expand cooperation with its partners and allies in the region were causing China "heartburn." Beijing described the moves as Cold War thinking.

Lithuania urges Europe to increase Indo-Pacific ties in face of Chinese 'coercion'

Amid the worsening diplomatic ties of a Taiwan de facto embassy row, Lithuania has expressed its regret over China's decision to downgrade ties.

Taiwan de facto embassy: China accuses Lithuania of undermining its sovereignty

After Taiwan was allowed to open a representative office in Lithuania, China downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation on Sunday to below ambassador level. &nbsp;

Beijing claims Taiwan, the island democracy, as part of its own territory. &nbsp;

Earlier, China had also expelled the ambassador of Lithuania and withdrew its own envoy to the country. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/wont-tolerate-taiwans-independence-says-china-430759" hreflang="en">Won't tolerate Taiwan's independence, says China</a>

Relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d'affaires, an embassy's No 2 official, said the foreign ministry said on Sunday. &nbsp;

In a diplomatic breakthrough recently, Taiwan opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania. The move is a significant departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Breaking free from tradition, the Chinese-claimed island has used its own name for its operation in Vilnius. It is Taiwan's first new diplomatic outpost in Europe in 18 years. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-has-vaccinated-over-75-of-its-population-amid-a-surge-in-cases-430861" hreflang="en">China has vaccinated over 75% of its population amid a surge in cases</a>

Taiwan's foreign ministry had said the opening of the office would "charter a new and promising course" for ties between it and Lithuania. &nbsp;&nbsp;

"We are very happy that we have the opportunity to be a facilitator and promoter for the relations between Taiwan and Lithuania," said Eric Huang, Taipei's chief of mission in neighbouring Latvia. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

After Taiwan was allowed to open a representative office in Lithuania, China downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation on Sunday to below ambassador level.

After Taiwan was allowed to open a representative office in Lithuania, China downgraded its official relations with the Baltic nation on Sunday to below ambassador level. Beijing claims Taiwan, the island democracy, as part of its own territory. Earlier, China had also expelled the ambassador of Lithuania and withdrew its own envoy to the country. Also Read: Won't tolerate Taiwan's independence, says China Relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d'affaires, an embassy's No 2 official, said the foreign ministry said on Sunday. In a diplomatic breakthrough recently, Taiwan opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania. The move is a significant departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. Breaking free from tradition, the Chinese-claimed island has used its own name for its operation in Vilnius. It is Taiwan's first new diplomatic outpost in Europe in 18 years. Also Read: China has vaccinated over 75% of its population amid a surge in cases Taiwan's foreign ministry had said the opening of the office would "charter a new and promising course" for ties between it and Lithuania. "We are very happy that we have the opportunity to be a facilitator and promoter for the relations between Taiwan and Lithuania," said Eric Huang, Taipei's chief of mission in neighbouring Latvia. (With inputs from agencies)

After Taiwan opens de-facto embassy, China downgrades diplomatic relations with Lithuania

In a diplomatic breakthrough, Taiwan has opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania, brushing aside Beijing’s anger and strong opposition to the move.

Lithuania: Taiwan opens De Facto embassy, China condemns move, calls it 'egregious'

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