On January 11, Taiwan's "Development Commission" held a video conference with the Lithuanian Ministry of Economy and Innovation. During this period, the Tsai Ing-wen authorities said that they would provide $1 billion as a financing fund in a vain attempt to support Lithuania's economic cooperation projects in order to achieve the goal of allowing Lithuania to continue to "confront" the mainland. The Lithuanian Ministry of Economy and Innovation has previously said that the so-called "Trade Representative Office in Taiwan" will open as soon as possible and is currently drafting ministers.
On January 5, the Tsai administration also said it would set up a $200 million "Central and Eastern European Investment Fund" to invest in Lithuanian companies. It can be seen that the Tsai Ing-wen authorities are increasing their support for Lithuania layer by layer, and their intention to take advantage of the opportunity to "seek independence" is extremely obvious.
It is worth mentioning that these so-called investments on the island were made after Lithuanian politicians confessed their mistakes; in the current situation where the DPP's so-called "diplomatic relations" are becoming less and less, Lithuania, the anti-China "vanguard" dominated by the United States, is regarded as a life-saving straw by the "independence" forces, and in just 8 days, it has been increased twice in a row, which also proves that the Tsai Ing-wen authorities are in a panic, and the "big gift package" of 1 billion US dollars can be described as a generous shot.
There are three main reasons why the Tsai Ing-wen authorities are panicking and choosing a way to open the way with "heavy money". First, Lithuania has been waiting for foreign aid, but has waited for a lot of verbal support, but the actual benefits have not been one. Ironically, the United States, as the behind-the-scenes supporter of Lithuania, has only remained in the stage of verbal support, and US State Department Spokesperson Price, US Secretary of State Blinken, and US Trade Representative Dai Qi have expressed their verbal support for Lithuania. As for Lithuania's fantasy of substantial U.S. aid, it sank into the sea. As for Europe, only a few countries have expressed verbal support for Lithuania, as for solidarity under the EU framework? I'm afraid we'll have to wait!
Previously, EU officials said that in the Lithuania incident, it will take at least half a year for EU member states to consult and pass relevant bills. Obviously, this is a delaying tactic, and it is better to delay the resolution of the matter so that the EU can sin against neither the United States nor China. In this case, Lithuania is probably alone.
Second, Lithuania's attitude has softened, and politicians have begun to weigh the pros and cons of the so-called "trade representative office". On January 4, local time, Lithuanian President Nauseda said in a radio interview that it was a mistake for the Lithuanian government to let the Taiwan authorities open a "representative office" in the name of the so-called "Taiwan". In addition, he mentioned that it was regrettable that the name of the representative office had become a key factor affecting the relationship between Li and China. On the evening of the 4th, Taiwan's foreign affairs department made a brief response sourly: "It is not convenient to comment on the internal policy decisions of other governments."
Of course, this is not the end, on the 6th, Nauseda also asked Lithuanian Foreign Minister Lansbergs to come up with a plan to ease the current situation. It should be remembered that in the whole Lithuanian incident, Foreign Minister Lance Bergs was the "central figure", and on the day that Nauseda admitted his mistake, Landsbergs also had a detailed discussion with the president when he dismantled the so-called "trade representative office" and said that the so-called "trade representative office" was established. It is worth noting that the Lithuanian president's request to the foreign minister to ease the situation was made after the Taiwan authorities promised a $200 million "fund", which shows that the Lithuanian president does have the intention to ease the situation.
On January 9, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas said in an interview with the Lithuanian State Broadcasting Corporation that the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not expect that the establishment of a trade representative office in the name of the so-called "Taiwan" would lead to such a huge loss. In addition, he said that the risk assessment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania is mainly based on the upper limit of bilateral economic relations, that is, the total amount of bilateral imports and exports. In other words, Lithuania expected the loss to be the export volume of the original products of the cube to China, but the loss today far exceeds the expectations of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Lithuanian side, the erosion of neutral relations has affected more than 100 Lithuanian enterprises, and the Lithuanian authorities have had to provide assistance to the distressed enterprises in the form of loans. The disagreements between Lithuanian President Nauseda and the Lithuanian Foreign Minister also let the outside world see the current situation of Lithuania's political situation.
Third, once Lithuania truly relents in this incident, it will be a major blow to the Tsai Ing-wen authorities on the island, leading to a further reduction in its already few "diplomatic relations". Now the international community knows that Lithuania dares to unilaterally provoke China's sovereign interests, and it is the United States that supports it. Once Lithuania goes soft, does it mean that U.S. international influence is declining? Does that mean that the United States has struggled to sustain its hegemonism?
It should be known that during Tsai Ing-wen's term, the DPP authorities have lost 8 so-called "diplomatic relations" in succession, and only 14 are left. Even so, nearly half of these "diplomatic relations" are in a state of disengagement at any time. After the end of the Lithuanian incident, the DPP on the island may usher in a new round of ties. In this case, the Tsai Ing-wen administration can only pay another $1 billion and delude itself into saying "this is not aid."
In this regard, there is active speculation in the US media, believing that the 1 billion US dollars of the Tsai Ing-wen administration may be used for investment in the semiconductor industry, and the US media said that Europe is lagging behind in the semiconductor field, and described the money as "a windfall that both France and Germany dreamed of", and its provocative intention is extremely obvious. Ironically, the Taiwan authorities here deliberately emphasize that "it is not aid," and in the blink of an eye, the US media regard it as a "windfall." From this method of immediately punching the face, it can be seen that the DPP authorities on the island have been a pawn from beginning to end.
It is true that Europe's semiconductor industry is relatively backward, but it is a fool's dream to develop semiconductor technology through only $1 billion. This move is nothing more than to pull Germany and France into the water, hoping that Germany and France will stand on the "same front" as the United States.
No matter how much money the DPP authorities on the island throw money, they cannot hide the fact that compared with Lithuania's losses, the two so-called "funds" totaling $1.2 billion can only be a drop in the bucket. According to the projection of Yanuglia Vycius, president of the Federation of Lithuanian Industrialists, if China imposes economic sanctions on Lithuania, the annual loss of Lithuanian enterprises will reach 3 to 5 billion euros, or about 5.72 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to 10% of Lithuania's total GDP in 2020 (55.887 billion US dollars), such a high economic cost Lithuania can not afford. It can be seen that the DPP authorities can't wait to throw money, and in the end they can only empty the bamboo basket.