Beijing

CHINA suspended imports of beef from Lithuania this week, China's General Administration of Customs said on Thursday (Feb 10), amid a growing trade dispute over the Baltic nation's relations with Taiwan, which Beijing claims as Chinese territory.

The agency typically halts imports of meat if exporting nations report outbreaks of disease in livestock, but Lithuania has not reported any animal disease to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) recently. No specific reason was given by China for the suspension.

The move to halt imports on Wednesday came, however, after Britain said on Monday it will join the United States and Australia in backing an EU trade case against China at the World Trade Organization over Beijing's alleged trade curbs on Lithuania.

The European Commission says Lithuanian exports to China fell 91 per cent in December compared to the same month in 2020.

Lithuania's veterinary agency said the country has not exported food products, including beef, to China since early December 2021. It did not immediately give further details.

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The country exported 853 tonnes of beef to China in 2021, a quarter of its total beef exports. It was also exporting diary and fish products to China, the agency told Reuters.

Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital Vilnius last year, angering Beijing which regards the democratically-ruled island as its own territory.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian declined to elaborate on the beef suspension, but said Lithuania should correct its mistakes. "What Lithuania should do is face up to facts, redress its own mistakes, and come back to the right track of adhering to the one-China principle, instead of confusing right with wrong," Zhao said, referring to China's policy demanding countries recognise its claim to Taiwan.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry condemned the latest Chinese move, which it called "unilateral" and "bullying" and the latest example of Beijing trying to change Lithuania's foreign policy.

"We firmly stand together with Lithuania," ministry spokesperson Joanne Ou told reporters.

China is the world's top importer of beef, but shipments from Lithuania are minimal. China imported just 775 tonnes of beef from Lithuania in 2021, out of a total 2.36 million tonnes of beef imports that year, according to Chinese customs data.

Taiwan has stepped up its food imports from Lithuania to help ease the impact of Chinese curbs, most recently rum. REUTERS