Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/china-lithuania-expulsion-diplomats-ship-cable-sweden-89b74c644a7f7f6d2d457e77264d2622
On Friday, Lithuania declared three Chinese diplomats “persona non grata” and gave them a week to get out of the country. Today, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson condemned Lithuania for this action saying it was “without any reason.” This expulsion comes after data cables in the Baltic Sea were severed by what was suspected to be a Chinese ship. There is now the possibility of the future expulsion of other Chinese Foreign ministers in Lithuania. China has responded saying that Lithuania is “undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that Lithuania should stop causing harm to its foreign relationships. This new development has come three years after China and Lithuania downgraded their ties because of Lithuania allowing Taiwan to open a representative office. China disagreed with this action because they view Taiwan as part of their territory and therefore, unable to perform independent foreign action.
I don’t think this action will have a huge impact on the region, but I do think it could impact China’s direct involvement with the Russia-Ukraine War. China has been on Russia’s side while Lithuania has been on Ukraine’s side. The presence of Chinese diplomats in Lithuania could have an impact on how much Lithuania helps Ukraine and it could also affect how CHina is directly involving itself with Russia because of Lithuania’s close position to Russia. I think that this action will slightly decrease China’s role in the war.
I expect that Lithuania will declare more Chinese diplomats persona non grata especially if China doesn’t respond well to the accusation of the data cables severing. I think this is partially fueled by their views on the Russia-Ukraine War which is causing a rift between the Chinese Foreign Ministry and many countries. I think China will not say that they severed the cables and I believe that they will continue to decrease their ties with Lithuania if Lithuania’s stance doesn’t change on multiple issues including the cables and the war. This connects to what we are talking about in class because it deals with the issue of sovereignty which is a huge part of international relations. CHina believed that Lithuania was damaging their sovereignty and therefore, threatened to retaliate because a country’s sovereignty is one of its most valued attributes.