China stopped buying beer, beef and dairy products from Lithuania. According to the BBC, this decision concerns Lithuania’s bilateral relations with Taiwan, which China considers its territory.
The official reason for the termination of deliveries, voiced by the main customs administration of China, is the lack of documents. However, the decision was made after the opening of the official representative office of Taiwan in Lithuania.
Other countries, these diplomatic missions are called representations of Chinese Taipei, but in Vilnius the embassy was opened under the flag of Taiwan.
The United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada are now preparing to sue China for discrimination against a member of the European Union. According to Chinese customs, 775 tons of meat were imported from Lithuania in 2021. At the same time, the total volume of beef imports into China reached 2.36 million tons.
China returned hundreds of thousands of liters of beer to Lithuania. The head of the Lithuanian Beer Guild, Saulius Galadauskas, said that in the People’s Republic of China, Lithuanian producers are told directly that “there will be no more of your beer in China, because it is Lithuanian”.
