WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai on Friday expressed strong U.S. support for Lithuania and the European Union in the face of “economic coercion” from China during a call with EU Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis, USTR said in a statement.
The expression of support for Lithuania is the second this week from Tai. In a call on Wednesday with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, Tai emphasized the U.S. commitment to working with the EU and member states to address “coercive diplomatic and economic behavior.”
Lithuania is under pressure from China, which claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, to reverse a decision last year to allow the island to open a de-facto embassy in Vilnius under its own name.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Leslie Adler)
