The tiny country of Lithuania, with only three million people, is standing up to the communist colossus China, a country of 1.4 billion people, by permitting the opening of a Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, triggering China to try to bully Lithuania into submission, sending Lithuania’s ambassador home, recalling China’s own ambassador and minimizing the diplomatic status of its embassy.
“Reuters reports that China has also told multinationals such as Germany’s car parts maker Continental to stop using components made in Lithuania or face being denied access to the much more lucrative China market. China’s foreign ministry denies the pressure, along with Lithuanian charges that its goods are being blocked,” The Wall Street Journal noted, then pointed out that Australia wanted an international investigation into the origins of Covid-19, and didn’t blink when China launched a trade war against Australia.
“The European Union has the bigger responsibility regarding Lithuania. If Australia can stand up to Beijing, surely the EU can. One way to send a signal might be for the EU to call on its members to withdraw from the 17+1, a Chinese diplomatic initiative aimed at Central and East European nations,” The Journal added.
The Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times reported that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian threatened that Lithuania would wind up in the “garbage bin of history”:
Lithuania has recklessly violated the One China principle, a basic norm of international relations and a universal consensus held by the international community, a move destined to be spurned and opposed, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters on Monday. Lithuania stands on the opposite side of universal principles and justice which will never end well, Zhao said, noting that those who insist on acting in collusion with Taiwan secessionist forces will eventually be swept into the garbage bin of history.
Ripping the EU for its obeisance to China, Italian journalist Giulio Meotti wrote.“When a single European country comes under attack, Brussels capitulates. It did not respond to Turkish threats at Greece’s maritime borders. It let Poland alone face Belarus’s ‘hybrid war’ with migrants on its border (it is no coincidence that Lithuania has built a wall on the border with Belarus to repel the onslaught of migrants). Italy has for years been abandoned to its fate in the face of migratory waves. And now little Lithuania.”
U.S. National Security Council Indo-Pacific affairs advisor Kurt Campbell acknowledged the Aussies’ courageous stand vis-à-vis China, “I think China’s preference would have been to break Australia. To drive Australia to its knees. I don’t believe that’s going to be the way it’s going to play out.”
“The bottom line: Beijing’s attempt to bully Canberra has been a spectacular failure,” USAsia Centre research director Jeffrey Wilson echoed, adding, “If this is what decoupling from China looks like, Australia’s resilience suggests the costs are far lower than many have assumed. That fact will not be lost on other countries that have differences with China.”
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Matas Maldeikis, head of Lithuania’s Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan, condemned China’s threats, writing on Twitter: “The Chinese Communist Party is threatening to ‘sweep Lithuania into the trashcan of history,’ which is ironic, because that’s where communism already is.”
“Tiny Lithuania, with a population smaller than the smallest second-tier Chinese city, has stood up to China’s bullying in ways few other EU states have,” geostrategist and author, Brahma Chellaney, pointed out in a recent tweet. “Defying PRC’s economic and diplomatic coercion, Lithuania has stood its ground on letting Taiwan open an office in its capital.”
In recent months, China has increased its full-force bully campaign to scare countries away from stepping out in support of Taiwan.
Notably back in July, the Chinese Communist Party published a ‘three-stage’ plan to invade Taiwan and shared a video that warned of a “full-scale war” against Japan if they “dare to intervene” to protect Taiwan against Chinese “Liberation.” They further threatened to “continuously” drop nuclear bombs on the country until they declare “unconditional surrender for the second time.”
The United Kingdom was also on the receiving end of backlash from the CCP after they sailed warships through the Taiwan Strait in September. China accused the UK of “evil intentions” and warned that such actions will “damage peace and stability” in the region, as they are prepared to “resolutely counter all threats and provocations.”
The rhetoric increased exponentially following the US pullout of troops from Afghanistan. According to the Communist country, the move by the Biden Administration proved that the United States will not come to Taiwan’s rescue “once war breaks out in the Straits.”
Since that time, China has been flying military aircrafts into Taiwan’s airspace and has claimed control over waters in the south china sea, warning ships to report to them if they would like to enter the seized area.
According to the Guardian, the Japanese and US military have “drawn up a draft plan for a joint operation for a possible Taiwan emergency.”
In a move further standing against Chinese aggression, Lithuania’s Foreign Affairs Committee passed a resolution last week condemning the recent sham elections in Hong Kong, which were boycotted by many HK citizens after only pro-China candidates were allowed to run for legislative office.
In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” Jesus’s response is a detailed description of the condition of the world and what it will look like in the last days before His return. Wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, these being the beginning of sorrows.
In Luke 21:25, Jesus describes that “upon the earth” there will be “Distress of Nations with Perplexity.“
These things will be greatly increased and primarily take place during the seven-year Tribulation (from which the church is absent). However, with the current global state of turmoil amongst the nations, we can’t help but recognize the distress of nations Jesus describes in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, rising in our world today.
