Lithuania’s allegation of China “chased“ diplomats pure defamation, only for blame shifting

CCTV: The Economist magazine published an article saying that China unilaterally announced its decision to downgrade diplomatic relations with Lithuania to the chargé d’affaires level and asked Lithuanian diplomats to hand in their Chinese identity cards to have them changed to reflect their mission’s diminished status, thus chasing them from Beijing. Being unable to ensure the diplomatic status of the embassy personnel, and not accepting its embassy’s demotion, the Lithuanian government had no choice but to tell all diplomats and dependents to leave China. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: China “chased” Lithuanian diplomats from Beijing? The allegation is pure defamation. Acting in bad faith, Lithuania openly creates the false impression of “one China, one Taiwan” in the world. This gravely undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and damages the political foundation for an ambassadorial-level diplomatic relationship. The Chinese side, out of the need to safeguard its core in