Beijing’s campaign against Lithuania is seen by the European Union as an attack on the common market. However, there are no immediate sanctions against China. The Member States themselves have too much to lose for that.
Does the image of David and Goliath still fit when a country with 2.7 million inhabitants and one with 1.4 billion inhabitants are at odds? Or in the trade dispute between Lithuania and China, which is 146 times the size, shouldn’t the comparison between a mosquito and an elephant come to mind?
At least that’s how it is seen on social media. Chinese users commented with mockery and scorn on the “provocations” of the small Baltic state against the powerful People’s Republic. Sino-Lithuanian relations have been heavily strained since a Taiwanese representative office was allowed to open in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius last year under the name “Taiwan Representation” – and not under the otherwise customary international name “Taipei Representation”.
Problems for automotive suppliers
Dealing with Taiwan has always been a hot topic in international politics. China, so the concern goes, could sooner or later use military means to force “reunification” with the island, since it already regards it as part of its own national territory. Few countries have dared to officially upgrade Taiwan. The fact that Lithuania has been a part of it for a few weeks is an outrageous breach of taboo for the Chinese. Beijing therefore stopped all trade with the Baltic state and withdrew its ambassador.
But that’s not all. Chinese sanctions are no longer limited to Lithuania, but also affect companies in other European countries. In many cases, products manufactured by foreign companies in Lithuania were also no longer cleared by Chinese customs. As a result, German automotive suppliers such as Continental and Hella reported problems to the EU Commission in Brussels as early as December. Swiss companies such as Bieler Mikron Holding are also present in Lithuania.
On Monday, the parliamentary state secretary in the German Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Green politician Franziska Brantner, traveled to Vilnius to show solidarity. “Lithuania remains a good place for investments,” she assured press representatives. The EU internal market must be defended by the Europeans together, “it is sacred to us”. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, a conservative, took Brantner at his word. The problem with China is not just a Lithuanian problem, but a European one, Landsbergis told the Financial Times.
One must speak of a “test” for the West and for the rule-based international trade order, said the Foreign Minister. Giving in to China now – that could create a “dangerous precedent for the future”. However, Landsbergis ignored the fact that the Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda himself backtracked at the beginning of January and described the opening of the Taiwanese representative office as a mistake. The defiant attitude towards Beijing at home is not undisputed.
In order to come to the aid of the beleaguered Balts, the government in Taipei announced on Tuesday that it would grant loans for projects “that can benefit industrial development between Taiwan and Lithuania”. Last week she had already set up an investment fund for the state worth around 176 million euros. Precisely this, Brussels fears, could irritate the Chinese even further.
Fear of retaliation
On Friday, at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brest, France, a possible counter-attack against Beijing was to be discussed. “The targeted actions against Lithuania worry us,” said French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has held the presidency of the EU Council since January. Macron sent his diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne to China on Thursday to exchange views with Foreign Minister Wang Yi to explore a way out of the trade crisis.
Like Germany, however, France has so far not been willing to make use of a new “instrument against coercive measures” that the Commission presented in December. Imposing sanctions on China is a minefield and not on the table, quotes the online portal “Politico” a French official from the Paris Ministry of Commerce.
That instrument provides that sanctions imposed by third countries can in future be answered with counter-sanctions. Before it can come into force, however, the member states and the EU Parliament still have to approve the initiative. It’s not that far yet. The fear of retaliatory actions from China is great. It is therefore not surprising that the words in Brest were fine. “The member states have clearly shown their solidarity with Lithuania, and we discussed how we can actively promote de-escalation in this crisis,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell meaninglessly.
The Brussels correspondent Daniel Steinvorth Twitter Follow.