Key facts
- Delfi reported the request asked for the office's name to be changed by October 1, China's National Day.
- The document said the current name was obstructing economic ties between Lithuania and Taiwan, per Delfi.
- Delfi reported the ministry offered a vice-ministerial delegation to Taiwan and talks on a double taxation agreement in exchange.
- Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said the information was inaccurately reported and declined to comment.
- MP Žygimantas Pavilionis called for an extraordinary Seimas committee meeting on Budrys's actions.
- Chinese diplomats are expected in Lithuania on November 11-12, lawmaker Ignas Vėgėlė said.
Lithuania's Foreign Ministry asked Taiwan's representative office in Vilnius to change its name by October 1, China's National Day, according to a report by Lithuanian news portal Delfi on November 9, 2026. Deputy Foreign Minister Vidmantas Verbickas and diplomat Ričardas Šlepavičius presented an unofficial document to three representatives of the Taiwanese office, including its head, Constance Wang, at a meeting on September 24, Delfi reported.
According to the report, the document argued that the office's current name was obstructing the development of economic ties between Lithuania and Taiwan and creating difficulties for businesses. In exchange for the name change, the ministry reportedly pledged to send a vice-ministerial delegation to Taiwan to sign an agreement on investment prospects and begin negotiations on a double taxation agreement. The document also requested that its contents remain confidential and envisaged creating a post of special envoy for Taiwan affairs at the ministry.
The Taiwanese representatives had expected to discuss economic relations and investment and were surprised by the request, Delfi reported. Taiwan's Representative Office in Lithuania said in a Facebook statement on Friday that cooperation between the sides was based on mutual respect, shared interests, transparency and partnership, and that public discussion of Lithuania-Taiwan relations should rest on verified facts rather than unsubstantiated assumptions or speculation. The statement did not specify which comments it was addressing.