European Union studies denouncing China to the WTO for its conflict with Lithuania

The European Commission (EC) is studying the possibility of reporting China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Lithuania’s alert that its exports to that country are not cleared through customs and that its applications are being stopped import.

“For now we are studying taking steps in the WTO and an official complaint”, Said the spokesperson of the European Commission, the Community Executive Dana Spinant.

At the moment, the European Union (EU) is gathering information to “Know what is happening“And thus be able to analyze the”compatibility of China’s actions vis-à-vis the WTO”, Added the spokesperson for Commerce of the Commission, Miriam García.

Brussels is in contact with the Lithuanian authorities to find out which companies “are having difficulties”, As well as with officials from China, through the EU delegation in that country, explained García.

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, also met last week with the Chinese Ambassador to the EU, Zhang Ming, with whom the EC Vice President and Head of Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, also spoke.

China decided in November to lower the official rank of Lithuanian diplomatic staff in the Asian country to that of charge d’affaires, protesting the opening of a Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius.

Given this decision, Lithuania decided to withdraw its diplomats from China.

In recent years Lithuania has strengthened its relations with Taiwan, but it does not maintain diplomatic relations with Taipei, but with Beijing, since 1991, shortly after achieving its independence from the Soviet Union.

Taiwan – where the Chinese nationalist army withdrew in 1949 after the defeat against communist troops in the civil war – has been governed autonomously ever since, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a rebel province for whose reunification it does not has ruled out the use of force.