Lithuania’s president has finally admitted his mistake to China…立陶宛總統終於向中國承認錯誤了…

After three years of turmoil, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda personally put the hot potato of the “Taiwan Representative Office” in front of the camera. His remark — “the name wasn’t discussed with me at the time” — effectively defined this whole diplomatic car crash.

On November 27, 2025, Lithuania’s national broadcaster LRT unusually aired internal footage from the presidential office: Nausėda, in a private meeting, admitted that using the name “Taiwan” in 2021 to receive guests was a “strategic mistake.” Now he wants to change it to “Taipei” as a gesture of reconciliation — but China simply said, “Take down the sign first,” and shut him out.

What exactly happened?

Look at the latest data: Lithuania’s exports to China from January to October this year were 53% lower than the same period in 2021. Timber and milk powder are piled up in Klaipėda port with no buyers, and even cheese can’t be sold.

The story behind it is even more painful: back then, the U.S. reassured Lithuania with “don’t worry,” but the American market didn’t buy any extra Lithuanian timber. The EU was worse — on December 1 it directly withdrew its WTO complaint, saying “trade has already recovered,” and then walked away, leaving Lithuania stunned. In reality, this so-called “recovery” only means it’s slightly better than the 2022 bottom — still far from the past.

After the new prime minister, Ingrida Ruginienė, took office, she quickly tried to fix things, removing “China risk” wording from previous government files. But Foreign Minister Budrys remained tough, saying “renaming is something for both sides to discuss,” only to be slapped back by China: Want talks? Remove the signboard first.

What’s next? I found a hidden clue on the Eurostat website: in October, Lithuanian companies quietly shipped dairy products to China through Estonian ports — only a fraction of 2021’s volume, but still the highest monthly shipment in three years. Ruginienė seems to be copying Belarus’ tactic: repackage the goods, restore trade flows first, then force political concessions later.

But Beijing isn’t buying it. At the November 28 foreign ministry press conference, China escalated its demands: to restore ambassador-level relations, Lithuania must publicly apologize, abolish the representative office, and commit to the One-China principle — all three steps, no exceptions.

Members of Lithuania’s parliament have already done the math: if nothing changes, expired milk next year will cost another €100 million in losses. Time is on China’s side.

In my view, this is a real-time broadcast of “a small country acting recklessly, a big country teaching a lesson.” Nausėda once tried to play the “Taiwan card” to get U.S. troops and EU subsidies, but ended up sacrificing Lithuania’s own dairy industry. Now changing the name to “Taipei” is like calling “an affair” merely “flirtation” — trying to gloss it over, forgetting that Beijing cares about a “clean break”: the office must be shut down.

Even more embarrassing is that Estonia and Latvia are watching from the side — none dare follow Lithuania, which has become a living cautionary tale.

In short: admitting a mistake can be negotiated, but red lines cannot. If Lithuania wants to return to the table, it first has to swallow the spicy dish it ordered itself.

立陶宛總統終於向中國承認錯誤了…

折騰了三年，立陶宛總統瑙塞達親自把 “台灣代表處” 的燙手山芋端到鏡頭前，一句 “當初名字沒跟我商量” 算是給這場外交車禍現場定了性！

2025年11月27日，立陶宛的國家電視台LRT很少見地播放了總統府內部的視頻：瑙塞達在一個私下會議上承認，2021年用 “台灣” 這個名字來接待客人是 “戰略錯誤”，現在他想改成 “台北” 來求和，但中國方面直接說 “先把招牌拆了再說”，把他擋在了門外。

到底是怎麼回事？

看看最新數據，立陶宛對中國的出口在今年前十月比2021年同期少了53%，木材、奶粉堆在克萊佩達港沒人要，連奶酪都賣不動了。

背後的故事更讓人難受：當年美國保證說“別擔心”，結果美國市場連一點立陶宛木材都沒多買；歐盟更過分，12月1日直接撤回了WTO的投訴，說“貿易已經恢復了”就走人，留下立陶宛自己發獃 —— 其實所謂的“恢復”只是比2022年最低點好了點，還遠不如以前。

新總理魯吉涅內上台後趕緊補救，把前任文件里的“中國風險”字眼都去掉了，但外長布德里斯還是那麼強硬，說“改名是雙方的事”，被中國直接回懟：想談？先摘牌再談。

接下來會怎樣？我在歐盟統計局網站發現一個隱藏信息：10月份立陶宛企業偷偷通過愛沙尼亞港口向中國賣乳製品，量只有2021年的一小部分，但卻是三年來單月最高的 —— 魯吉涅內想學白俄羅斯那樣換包裝，先讓貨物流通，再逼政治讓步。

但北京不買賬，外交部在11月28日的記者會上又加碼：想恢復大使級外交，必須先公開道歉、撤銷代表處、承諾堅持一個中國，三步少一步都不行。

立陶宛議會已經有議員算過賬，再不改正，明年牛奶過期損失就得再多花一億歐元，時間對中國有利。

在我看來，這就是一場 “小國亂來、大國教訓” 的現場直播。瑙塞達當年想打“台灣牌”換美國駐軍和歐盟補貼，結果害得自家牛奶成了犧牲品；現在改名“台北”就像把“偷情”說成“曖昧”，想糊弄過去，卻忘了北京最在意的是“徹底分手”：代表處必須關閉。

更丟臉的是，愛沙尼亞和拉脫維亞都在旁邊看着，沒人敢學，立陶宛成了活生生的反面教材。

一句話：認錯可以打折扣，但紅線從不打折，想重新上桌，先把自己點的辣菜吃完。