A state-owned Taiwanese alcohol production and trading company said on Monday it had purchased more than 20,000 bottles of rum produced in Lithuania, which China has blocked as the diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Vilnius escalates.
Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation (TTL) said it had purchased 20,400 bottles of Lithuanian rum that had drifted off the sea because China refused to clear it into the country.
A consignment of Lithuanian rum is expected to arrive in Taiwan this month and bottles will be labeled in Chinese before the market hits the market, TTL said.
“Lithuania supports us and we support Lithuania. TTL calls for a glass,” the company urged.
It has already been reported that in the autumn, China suspended freight trains to Lithuania and stopped issuing food export permits to Lithuanian companies, as well as reduced the credit limit and raised prices for Lithuanian companies.
In early December, China removed Lithuania from its customs systems. Over time, the problems seem to have been resolved, but it is still difficult for Lithuanian companies to declare their goods in China.
Beijing has recently put economic and diplomatic pressure on Lithuania in response to Vilnius’ decision to allow Taiwan to open a representation in Lithuania, using the word “Taiwan” in its name as China tries to prevent any attempt by Taiwan to act as an independent state. Elsewhere in the world, such representations use the name “Taipei” as Taiwan’s capital, in line with Beijing’s “one China” policy, which does not allow Taiwan to be considered a separate country.
In an interview published in December, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis warned that the blockade of Lithuanian imports imposed by China in response to Vilnius’ rapprochement with Taiwan was increasingly affecting companies in other EU member states.
“We are increasingly concerned that we are increasingly receiving news from other Member States about blocking imports,” the commissioner said. “Obviously, Chinese customs do not process goods from other EU countries if they contain components from Lithuania.”
Dombrovskis added that there are many cases when goods imported from Lithuania and the EU have been stopped in Chinese ports, and the number is growing every day.
He noted that the EC was using both political and diplomatic channels to resolve the conflict and that he had spoken to the Chinese ambassador to the EU about the situation.
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