Lithuania found that out the hard way. After antagonizing China by allowing Taiwan to open a Taiwan Representative office in Lithuania, a de facto embassy in fact, it suffered serious economic consequences. Lithuania now wants to reset economic ties with China again but has been completely written off by China today. What is the point of Lithuania being angry against China now for ignoring its overture, when it dug its own grave.
When you are in the bad books of China, you will find it out the hard way. The Dutch seized China's Nexperia's head office in the Netherlands, found out the consequences of seizing a name plate and just a shell afterwards, tried to reverse its actions by giving control of Nexperia headquaters in Netherlands back to China. I do not honestly think China is much interested in the importance of just a name plate, as the real estate of Nexperia is all in China. Moreover, that Dutch minister who plotted the seizure already said that he will do it again, a stance which China is not going to take lightly.
No, New Zealand has still not seen the consequence of being in the bad books of China. The Kiwis are just sighting the tip of the Chinese iceberg approaching and will know what to expect soon.
Anonymous
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China had warned the European States that if any of their products contain any hint of any Lithuania input, it will be rejected. So far, no European countries have been reported to be targeted, as far as I know.
Now, Lithuania may try or is trying to export its products to other European States, but it will not be a risk that is going to be taken lightly by the European States. China is too big a market to antagonize, while other European States trade with Lithuania is minor and insignificant. Would they want to trade their support for Lithuania and forego their much bigger market? I would not think so.
The EU did put Lithuania's case to the WTO, trying to put pressure on China over unfair trade practices. So far as I understand, that has been withdrawn. To put it in perspective, the WTO did not do and could not do anything about the unfair trade practices of the USA, with its sanctions, tariffs and technology strangulation. Any attempt to rein in China over Lithuania is going to open a can of worms for the WTO, particularly with regard to the USA's position.
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