All of the statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are reproduced at the end of this article
In recent years, the confrontation between China and the United States has caused many countries to take sides, and countries around the world have started economic wars, and the United States has used this to suppress China in various ways.
But in front of the eyes of the United States, there is also a small country that is keen to target China, and in 2021, this small country has provoked the mainland one after another, and even openly supported Taiwan independence, intending to undermine the integrity and reunification of the mainland, which undoubtedly touched the bottom line of the mainland.
As a result, the mainland began to carry out a series of repressive policies against this small country, which led to heavy losses, thousands of enterprises went bankrupt and closed, and 60,000 people lost their jobs.
Who is this small country, and why does it dare to openly provoke China?
A small country in Eastern Europe
The country that dares to openly argue with China is Lithuania from Eastern Europe, a small country that is hard to find on a map, with a population of less than 3 million and a land area of only 65,300 square kilometers, which is not even the size of a province on the mainland.
As early as 1944, it was one of the more economically powerful regions of the Soviet Union, but in 1990, when the situation in the Soviet Union was in turmoil, Lithuania took the lead in declaring independence from the Soviet Union.
At that time, the Soviet Union was also one of the most powerful countries in the world, even if it was on the verge of disintegration, but the national strength still existed, it carried out an economic blockade and sent troops to directly attack Lithuania, but due to international pressure and the obstruction of the masses, Russia recognized Lithuania's independence in 1991, but it dared to come out like this, and it was destined to be unable to make friends with Russia.
Such a small country is easy to be bullied without a backing, and Lithuania is well aware of this, so it threw itself directly into the arms of the United States, joining NATO in the early 21st century by supporting the United States, until 2003, when it voted to join the European Union.
Although there is the support of the European Union behind it, Lithuania has the worst economy among the entire EU countries, but this is only an external image, internally, because the support of the population is very important, so the welfare of the country has always been very good, their cost of living is not high, and the salary package is good.
What's more, not only is there 10 years of compulsory education, but there are also free medical resources, and although the country is small, it also has the latest medical equipment.
But what is strange is that in such a good welfare place, the security is very poor, and the divorce rate is also very high. Because the local weather has always been rainy and rainy, which already affects the mood, coupled with the high pressure of employment, there is no job, and no matter how good the benefits are, no matter how much pension you can enjoy, there are many contradictions, and the divorce rate is naturally high.
The country's population of more than 2 million but only 10,000 troops, the lack of police force so the crime rate here is very high, theft and robbery has become a way for some people at the bottom to get money, not only the number of troops here is small, as one of the EU countries it can't even take out a powerful weapon, the number of planes and tanks in the whole country is not more than 100, without military support, it can only exist as an accessory.
America's lackeys
You must know that the European Union is actually a group of countries in the US camp, and the United States has always been a country that likes to disturb the image of other countries, constantly disrupting the development and political situation of other countries, and after being dissatisfied with the development and political situation of many countries, the United States has relied on the influence of its superpower to launch economic wars in the world.
In recent years, the United States has stated that it prohibits the United States and its allies from trading with China, which has seriously suppressed the mainland's economy.
At first, it caused a lot of technology stagnation in the mainland, but the mainland broke these barriers by virtue of independent research and development, not only in the field of scientific and technological research and development, but also in various communication chips even surpassed the United States for a time, and its talent was quickly strangled in the cradle by the mainland.
The United States has not yet caused any substantial pressure on the mainland, and Lithuania, a member of the European Union, began to act as a lackey of the United States, and in August 2021, Lithuania established a Taiwanese embassy in its capital, which instantly caused an international uproar.
You must know that after China becomes strong and prosperous, the United States can only secretly make stumbling blocks to instigate the mainland and Taiwan, and this bold move by Lithuania directly touches the mainland's issue of principle.
China has always been a peace-loving power in the international community, and although it does not like to provoke disputes, it will absolutely not allow other countries to challenge the mainland's bottom line.
But Lithuania seems to be very confident, and it is deaf to China's warning power.
In the face of such stubborn behavior, China immediately stopped importing goods from Lithuania and recalled the Chinese ambassador to Lithuania, and the relations between the two countries instantly became tense.
China's customs have also deleted the country of Lithuania, and its export economy has been directly reduced by 50%, which can be said to be a serious economic damage, but even in the face of such a tough attitude of China, Lithuania is not afraid at all, and has repeatedly made remarks about Taiwan independence in public. This has further intensified the contradictions between the two countries.
However, Lithuania obviously does not realize that China, as the world's second largest economic system, is an object that even the United States will not easily offend, and it dares to openly confront it again and again.
And it is destined to pay the price for its inappropriate rhetoric, and with the closure of the Chinese market, Lithuania's export economy has been hit hard again, and not only the domestic masses have condemned the government's actions, but even the allied countries have chosen to stand idly by.
Because the mainland is a large country with a large population and a huge market, most of Lithuania's foreign trade was exported to China before, except for China, no other country will receive Lithuania's export trade, and some countries are even more worried about offending China for this, and they have also chosen to sit by.
Judging from the data of 2022 alone, Lithuania's exports to China have dropped by 90%, and most domestic enterprises have declared bankruptcy due to the government's insistence and economic downturn, followed by more serious mass unemployment in Lithuania, and the ports on which it depends are facing the risk of closing.
Lithuania's economy has fallen to an all-time low, and the small country has been hit hard, with a continued economic downturn, as many as 60,000 unemployed people alone, and social contradictions have intensified.
Under such circumstances, Lithuanian business and political officials began to persuade the government to take the initiative to sue for peace with China and resume foreign economic and trade relations. But instead of listening, Lithuania blamed all the blame on China, and in this way, the probability of making peace with China was also consumed by it.
Become an outcast
The reason why Lithuania dares to provoke China like that is nothing more than that it feels that it has the support of the EU and the United States behind it, but those countries will not see it being frustrated like this and lend a helping hand, and EU countries feel that they cannot offend China, so they have always chosen to wait and see.
The United States, Lithuania's big brother, expressed its support for its provocation of China, and was happy to see that some countries were willing to curry favor with the United States and argue with China, but in the end, Lithuania suffered heavy losses, and it was directly abandoned by the United States when it had no use value.
After finally unable to accept the collapse of various industries, Lithuania officially began to try to maintain the normal operation of the domestic economy, but without the largest economic source, all efforts were in vain.
In fact, it is not the first time it has "made stupid" statements about China, during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it followed the pace of the United States and firmly occupied the Ukrainian side, you must know that Lithuania and Russia have a lot of bad fate, although it has long been offended, but its brainless behavior will only push itself more into the fire pit.
It can only be said that Lithuania's blind confidence in the United States has allowed it to act recklessly in the international community, but then the era of US dominance has passed, and it can only fall into the quagmire by itself when it is abandoned by the United States
Lithuania's current situation can only be said to say that it has suffered on its own, has no place of its own in international disputes, and can only be used as pawns by other powerful countries, and in the dispute between China and the United States, small Lithuania can only be regarded as a victim.
Key Sources:
This article was originally published in The Paper on December 20, 2023 on "Lithuanian President's Advice: China is a Big Country with a Good Memory".
The original article was published on China Youth Network on January 22, 2022 on "Former Prime Minister of Lithuania: If I were in power, I would not allow this to happen".
This article was originally published in the Global Times on March 18, 2022 on "Lithuania seized the opportunity to threaten China".