Chinese diplomats have not been present in Vilnius since mid-May, as tensions between Lithuania and China continue over how to restore formal diplomatic representation, reports BNS.
“As of now, there are no diplomats or staff members accredited to work at the People's Republic of China Embassy in Vilnius,” Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry told BNS.
Until recently, a single Chinese diplomat had remained in the country. But after a brief trip abroad, he was refused re-entry on May 18 at Vilnius Airport.
According to border guards, the official – who held a diplomatic passport but lacked valid accreditation – had exceeded the allowed 90-day stay permitted under Schengen visa-free rules for diplomats.
“This person had exhausted the allowable time and could no longer rely on this exemption,” said Giedrius Mišutis, spokesperson for Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT). The Chinese national spent nine hours at the airport before being returned to Istanbul.
The diplomat can no longer legally serve in the country, because his accreditation has expired and Lithuania stopped renewing diplomatic accreditations for Chinese personnel following a deterioration in relations sparked by a dispute over Taiwan, according to BNS.
The dispute
This diplomatic rift dates back to autumn 2021, when Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius using the name Taiwanese Representative Office, rather than Taipei, as is customary in other countries.
Beijing viewed the move as Lithuanian support for Taiwanese sovereignty efforts and retaliated by downgrading diplomatic ties. It renamed its embassy in Lithuania as the Charge d’Affaires Office. Lithuania’s mission in Beijing was similarly renamed.
Despite China treating the relationship at a lower diplomatic level, Lithuania continued to regard both missions as full embassies and accused Beijing of breaching international norms. Lithuanian diplomats have since left China, as Beijing no longer recognises their official status.
China has also attempted to accredit its diplomats in Lithuania as working for the Charge d’Affaires Office – a designation Vilnius does not recognise, leading to Lithuania’s refusal to issue new accreditations.
For the past few years, Chinese diplomats remained in Vilnius under pre-2021 accreditations. When those expired, they relied on Schengen visa exemptions for diplomatic passport holders.
In late 2024, Lithuania ordered three Chinese staff members to leave the country, citing breaches of diplomatic protocol. According to an anonymous BNS source, one of the diplomats had caused a traffic accident in Druskininkai in August and fled the scene. Police later discovered his accreditation had lapsed, and he was declared persona non grata.
Workarounds and diplomats from other countries
As tensions escalated and Lithuania refused to renew or issue new accreditations, China began sending diplomats stationed in other countries to Lithuania.
In response, Vilnius implemented new rules requiring all Chinese diplomats arriving for official duties to notify the Foreign Ministry in advance. Non-compliance could lead to such individuals being declared undesirable.
“We are responding to pressure from China with a range of measures,” a Lithuanian official told BNS. “One of them is not accepting documents issued under the name of Charge d’Affaires Office”.
Requests must instead be submitted using the formal name of the Chinese Embassy in Lithuania, the official added.
China bids farewell
Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, who took office in late 2023, had expressed a willingness to restore full diplomatic representation. However, Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys warned that public discussion of ongoing talks could be counterproductive.
Last week, Budrys declined to say whether any Chinese diplomats remain accredited in Vilnius.
“We’re trying to resolve the legal status issue of both the diplomatic mission and diplomats in both Beijing and Lithuania,” he told BNS.
Speaking outside a parliamentary session, the foreign minister responded to questions about Lithuania’s relations with Beijing raised by Algirdas Butkevičius, a Democrat 'for Lithuania' MP and former prime minister.
According to Butkevičius, representatives from China’s Foreign Ministry visited Lithuania in February, and Beijing “was inclined to seek engagement and strengthen – perhaps even renew – ties between Lithuania and China”.
However, “on Monday [June 9], I was informed that staff at the Chinese embassy had notified the Foreign Ministry that they were saying goodbye to Lithuania and had no intention of re-establishing any relations in the near future,” said Butkevičius.
'The ball was not in our court'
Minister Budrys said Lithuania remains open to restoring normal diplomatic relations but insists that “the ball was not in our court.”
“We want to return to the previous state of relations. We also want all foreign diplomats in Lithuania to have legitimate status, diplomatic immunity, and proper working conditions,” Budrys told BNS.
“We also aim to secure such conditions for our diplomats in Beijing as well as for Chinese diplomats once they return and are accredited under Lithuanian law in a legally recognised diplomatic mission. Diplomatic relations between Lithuania and China exist. Diplomatic representation is problematic, though not because of Lithuania,” he added.
Officially, diplomatic relations between Lithuania and China remain intact, but communication is now conducted through China’s mission to the European Union in Brussels.
Earlier this year, Fang Mei, a senior advisor at the Chinese mission to the EU, stated that Beijing hopes to return relations with Lithuania to “normal tracks”, adding that “the door to dialogue remains open”.
BNS contacted China’s EU mission for comment on Thursday but has not received a response.
Lithuania sent proposal to China on restoring relations, PM says
Lithuania has sent a proposal to China on how to re-establish diplomatic representation between the two countries, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said later on Monday, without elaborating.
"These talks are ongoing and, of course, they are not simple and easy. It is much easier to destroy diplomatic relations than to restore them. But I believe that after the initial exchange of positions, the ball is now in China's court, they are thinking about how to respond to our proposal, and the issue will be resolved eventually," the prime minister told reporters at the parliament.
He did not elaborate on the proposal but insisted that it was not related to changing the name of the Taiwanese mission in Vilnius.
"We are certainly not proposing that," the prime minister said.
Later on Monday afternoon, Budrys said he had "both optimism and patience" on restoring ties with China. Vilnius would like to have "a minimum" of a working embassy in Beijing, and a Chinese embassy in Vilnius.
"Everything else, the speculation in public, the interpretations, the expectations, that has obviously not helped in this situation," he added.
Budrys also said Lithuania was not considering renaming the Taiwanese office, saying it was a separate issue.
Despite the existing problems, diplomatic channels with China exist and remain and diplomatic exchanges are also taking place, the minister added.
Updated: Minor stylistic edits have been made across the article, including a revised headline. A later update added a comment by Paluckas and Budrys.
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