In a latest act of aggression, Communist China has launched a diplomatic war on the Baltic country of Lithuania.
The predominantly Catholic country on Europe’s northeastern edge has angered Beijing by challenging its creeping influence in the continent.
In May, Lithuania pulled out of China’s so-called “17+1” group, an instrument created by Beijing to bring former Soviet states of Eastern and Central Europe under the Chinese Communist influence.
Lithuania also ‘dared’ to deepened its economic ties with Taiwan, an indepedent island nation that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views as a renegade province to be unified with the Mainland.
Last month, China recalled its ambassador to Lithuania after the Baltic country allowed Taiwan to open a trade representation in its capital Vilnius. The CCP-controlled media and propagandists are calling for tougher measures against the tiny nation.
As China cranks up pressure on Lithuania, the country has urged its government officials to discard Chinese mobile phones amid fears of cyber espionage and censorship.
“Lithuania’s National Cyber Security Center said it found four major cybersecurity risks for devices made by Huawei and Xiaomi, including two relating to pre-installed apps and one involving personal data leakage, and warned against using these two brands,” the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
“We strongly recommend that state and public institutions not use those devices and plan to initiate legislation which regulates acquiring certain devices for the ministries and various state agencies,” country’s Deputy Defense Minister Margiris Abukevicius urged.
Reuters reported Lithuanian government’s call to throw away Chinese mobile phones:
Lithuania’s Defense Ministry recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.Flagship phones sold in Europe by China’s smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK) have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as “Free Tibet”, “Long live Taiwan independence” or “democracy movement”, Lithuania’s state-run cybersecurity body said on Tuesday.The capability in Xiaomi’s Mi 10T 5G phone software had been turned off for the “European Union region”, but can be turned on remotely at any time, the Defence Ministry’s National Cyber Security Centre said in the report.”Our recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible,” Defence Deputy Minister Margiris Abukevicius told reporters in introducing the report.
With the European Union and the NATO failing to come to its aid, Lithuania is alone in facing the Communist giant. The EU, which on Tuesday demanded a formal apology from Australia for dropping France from its nuclear submarine project in favor of the U.S. and UK, has ignored China’s bullying of its member state Lithuania.
DC-based magazine Foreign Policy reported how the NATO member Lithuania fails to get any support from Western allies:
Lithuania has joined the growing list of countries around the globe that have been subject to Chinese coercion. It’s time for the trans-Atlantic partners to respond with a policy akin to NATO’s Article 5 common defense commitment. Call it “coercion against one is coercion against all.”China has put NATO ally Lithuania in the crosshairs over that nation’s relationship with Taiwan and its challenge to China’s efforts to gain a political foothold in Central and Eastern Europe.Lithuania’s challenge to China is twofold. First, the Baltic country authorized Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius, to be called the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, and then announced plans to open a reciprocal office in Taipei by the end of the year. China objects to the use of the word “Taiwanese” in the name of the office in Lithuania. (…)Lithuania’s second challenge to China was to withdraw this year from the so-called 17+1 cooperation agreement between China and Central and Eastern European countries. That informal arrangement promised Chinese infrastructure investments in the region but was increasingly used by China to maximize its diplomatic influence.Beijing has retaliated by recalling its ambassador from Vilnius, limiting trade, and suspending rail service between the two countries. While the economic impact on Lithuania is thus far limited, diplomatically it is a wake-up call for the remaining European members of the now 16+1—and indeed for all of Europe. [September 22, 2021]
Seeing the small European nation stand up to China, the Communist establishment is urging the Communist regime to isolate the country and devastate its fragile economy.
Popular Chinese TV host Tian Liu called Lithuania “a pet” of the U.S. that deserves to be crushed by an “iron fist.” She called for an economic war on Lithuanians and “cutting them off completely.”
“Let’s teach them a lesson,” she urged. “For a small rogue country with a population of less than 3 million, an iron fist might be the best way to respond.” China should strike hard at the tiny country as a warning to other defiant nations of the world. Beijing should “kill the chicken to frighten the monkey,” the influential Chinese TV commentator demanded. (Translation courtesy MEMRI TV)
On Wednesday, Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece The Global Times branded the country an “anti-China vanguard” in Europe. An epithet meant as an insult that should actually be seen as a badge of honor if one considers how Chancellor Angela Merkel-led Germany, the leading European power, bows down to China’s dictates.
“Kill the chicken to frighten the monkey”: Chinese TV host to use “iron fist” to punish Lithuania
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