Lithuania challenges China: withdrawing from the 17+1 cooperation group

On Saturday, Lithuania officially announced that it is withdrawing from the economic and political cooperation platform, which is important for China and features mostly Central and Eastern European countries. Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis confirmed this decision to 15min. This reflects a clear worsening in bilateral relations, which is due in part to aggressive Chinese diplomacy, greater attention on the part of the Lithuanian government to Taiwan, human rights breaches in China and a critical outlook on potential Chinese investment. Opposition “Farmer” representatives describe it as a radical move and say that it should only have been approved after more detailed discussions.