The following is from a particular feature article on Japan-Taiwan relations in the monthly magazine "Sound Argument," released yesterday.
It opens with an article by Ms. Mina Mitsui, the Paris bureau chief of the Sankei Shimbun.
She is a real woman journalist.
Learn from Lithuania, a country that turned pro-Taiwan
Lithuania, one of the three Baltic states of the former Soviet Union, has adopted a pro-Taiwan policy and confronts China head-on.
Last fall, when Lithuania approved the establishment of a representative office bearing the name "Taiwan," it was fiercely criticized by China as a violation of the "One China" policy. Change the name.
The U.S. and Europe have announced their support for Lithuania, and the struggle of the small country has now become a touchstone for the democratic circle to confront the authoritarian state.
What is happening in Lithuania, more than 6,000 kilometers away from China?
I went there to find out.
A domino of threats
If a map of Lithuania immediately comes to your mind, you must be quite an internationalist.
The northern latitude is almost the same as the northernmost tip of Sakhalin.
It is located at the eastern edge of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (E.U.) and borders Belarus.
It has a population of about 2.8 million, less than that of Ibaraki Prefecture.
At the end of December last year, I visited the capital, Vilnius.
The day was as dark as evening, and the cold wind of 5 degrees below zero chapped my cheeks.
Walking along the snow-covered sidewalks, I saw the Parliament building across the square, nearly falling several times.
The vast, intimidating concrete structure is a remnant of the Cold War era.
It once housed the Lithuanian-Soviet Supreme Council and was called the "Soviet Palace.
I visited the Capitol to interview Mr. Matas Mardeykis, a member of the parliament who chairs the Committee on China-Taiwan Relations.
Mr. Mardeykis is a member of the center-right "Fatherland Alliance," the first ruling party, and had just led a delegation of Baltic parliamentarians to Taiwan.
After Mr. Mardeykis called on Latvian and Estonian lawmakers to join him, it realized the commission.
They are ten participating lawmakers, including six from Lithuania's ruling and opposition parties.
Mr. Mardeykis is 41 years old.
He has a friendly smile on his face, but his eyes are sharp behind his round glasses.
He seemed to be still reeling from the excitement of his visit to Taiwan and opened by saying, "Support for Taiwan is not just sympathy for a small island that China threatens. It is an issue that directly affects the security of our country," he said.
When it says "security," it is not assuming that China will fire missiles at Lithuania.
He is accusing China and Russia of being linked and threatening the democratic circle.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin exerts both military and political pressure on Ukraine and Eastern Europe, Xi Jinping's administration is shaking up Taiwan in tandem.
Senator Mardeikis asserted, "This is not just a coincidence.
Russia remains the most significant threat for Lithuania even after the Soviet Union disappeared.
"During my visit to Taiwan, I held more than 30 meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen and senior government officials to hear about the threats facing Taiwan.
During my visit to Taiwan, I had more than 30 meetings with President Tsai Ing-wen and senior government officials to learn about Taiwan's threats, including cyber-attacks from China, the dissemination of disinformation, and military threats such as the intrusion of Chinese military aircraft into the air defense zone.
I was amazed at how similar Russia and China are in their methods of shaking up their democratic 'neighbors.'
Mr. Mardikis warned of a "domino effect" of Sino-Russian collaboration.
Saying, "The world is now divided into authoritarian nations such as China, Russia, and democracies. It is just as the world was once polarized into the U.S. and the Soviet Union. If democracy collapses somewhere, it will have a domino effect, and pressure will spread to other regions. If China crushes democracy in Taiwan, the impact will extend to small democracies in Eastern Europe, like our country. China and Russia are colluding to shake up their neighbors and see how the U.S. reacts. The democratic circles must unite to help Taiwan."
Lithuania is bordered on the west by the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
The Belarusian border on the east is only 20 kilometers away from the parliament building.
On the interview day, Belarus sent Middle Eastern migrants to the Lithuanian border to encourage a border breach.
Although Lithuania is a small country, it is susceptible to security issues.
In the background, there is a history of hardship. In the Middle Ages, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania prospered as one of the most powerful countries in Europe, but the Russian Empire annexed it at the end of the 18th century.
Lithuania achieved its long-cherished independence at the end of World War I, only to be invaded by the Soviet Union about 20 years later.
It is now a member of NATO, but in 2015, in response to the growing threat from Russia, it reinstated the conscription system that it had abolished.
As for China, the Ministry of Defense warned in its 2019 report that espionage is growing in the country.
It said that the small country of Lithuania is being used as a base for collecting classified information for NATO and the E.U.
Furthermore, last September, the Ministry of Defense issued an unprecedented recommendation to its citizens, telling them not to use Chinese smartphones and destroy those who own them.
It warned that the products of Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi had built-in detection functions for terms such as "Long Live Taiwan Independence" and "Free Tibet" and could be remotely controlled.
At the root of Lithuania's pro-Taiwan policy is a sense of crisis over the U.S.'s "departure" from Europe.
The U.S., the ally of NATO, has shifted its focus to Asia to concentrate on strategic competition with China.
For this reason, France and Germany on the European side are committed to Europe's security. Still, Lithuania's, the United States, and Europe division is a nightmare scenario.
By appealing that "the crisis between Russia and China is one" through support for Taiwan, Lithuania's aim to hold the U.S.-European alliance together is transparent.
Both of Mr. Mardikis's parents are economists, and he served as a member of the European Parliament after Lithuania acceded to the E.U.
It instilled the firm belief that the nation's fate depends on the U.S.-European alliance in him from childhood.
The Spirit of Anti-Communism
In Japan, the mention of Lithuania probably reminds many people of Chiune Sugihara, the diplomat who issued the "Visa for Life" to Jewish refugees.
Sugihara was posted to the Lithuanian consulate in 1939 and was forced to leave after only one year.
The Soviet Union annexed Lithuania in 1940 under the secret protocol of the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union. During the Soviet era, Lithuania was forced into communism and Russian education for half a century and trampled on nationalism.
The humiliating experience is still engraved in the minds of the people.
In fact, Taiwan's population is nine times larger than Lithuania's, and its Gross Regional Product (GRP) is 11 times more prominent. Still, the Lithuanian people have a strong sympathy for the "small democracy" that fights against the Communist Party, which is the foundation of their pro-Taiwan policy.
Dvirė Shakalien is a good example. She belongs to the center-left opposition party and is a parliamentary rival of Mr. Mardikis.
Still, they are comrades in pro-Taiwanese policies, and she participated in a parliamentary delegation to Taiwan.
She is now 43 years old, with blond hair and a smile on her face, but when she talks about China, her face turns grim.
"I grew up hearing about the horrors of Soviet oppression from my grandparents. The scary thing about communism is that it seeks to expand its power, crush humanity, and eradicate those who rebel against it. So we can't just sit back and watch the Chinese Communist Party intimidate Taiwan."
Senator Shakalien's grandfather refused to serve in the Red Army and forced labor in Siberia.
Her grandmother was also branded a dissident and sent to Siberia.
Her brothers slipped up and spoke ill of the Soviet Union, and someone told them, and they were arrested.
When I was 11 years old, it declared independence.
I will never forget my grandfather shedding tears like a child, saying, 'It's like a dream, my wish is finally coming true."
Ms. Shakalien studied in the United States during her high school years and inhaled the wind of liberalism.
After graduating from university, she worked for a government-affiliated human rights organization.
Since becoming a member of the Diet, she has been calling for human rights diplomacy.
Last May, when the Lithuanian Parliament adopted a resolution calling for an investigation of genocide in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, she was the proponent of the solution.
Ties to Tibet
Until a few years ago, Lithuania had been pursuing pro-China diplomacy.
It has participated in the 17 plus 1 economic cooperation framework between China and 17 Eastern European countries every year since it held the first summit in Warsaw in 2012.
It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with China on the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.
The honeymoon relationship took a turn when an "incident" occurred in August 2019.
Konstantinos Andriyauskas, an associate professor at the University of Vilnius, said, "The Chinese embassy blocked a public rally in support of democracy in Hong Kong. The impact on the people was huge," he said.
The incident took place in front of the Parliament building in Vilnius.
At that time, democratization demand demonstrations were intensifying in Hong Kong, and on that day, Vilnius citizens were gathering in the square with the flags of Hong Kong and Tibet.
Suddenly, a group of more than a dozen Chinese people, holding up a red Chinese flag, burst in and shouted, "Hong Kong belongs to China forever.
When the rally participants were startled and tried to take pictures of the Chinese group with their smartphones, the Chinese grabbed them.
The incident was reported on television nationwide.
The Chinese embassy initially denied any involvement.
However, an investigative report by a T.V. station revealed that the Chinese ambassador to Lithuania was near the scene.
It also discovered that a car with diplomatic plates carried Chinese flags and distributed them to Chinese students.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the Chinese ambassador and protested directly.
About 500 Chinese people are living in Lithuania.
The way the foreign embassies used their organizational networks to intervene in foreign countries was just like the Soviet Union of old.
At the end of the year, there was another uproar.
A female Chinese tourist visiting Lithuania acted in a way that trampled on the pro-democracy movement, and it broadcasted the video of her act on the Internet.
At a memorial site called "Hill of Crosses" west of Vilnius, the woman found a 30-centimeter cross with the words "Freedom for Hong Kong" written on it, pulled it out, and threw it away, laughing and saying, "They say they are Hong Kong people."
There was so much outrage in Lithuania that the police searched to identify the woman.
The Hill of Crosses is called the "national sanctuary" in Lithuania.
It is about 200 kilometers west of Vilnius.
As I drove through the open fields, black hills suddenly appeared.
As you approach the hill, you can see more than 100,000 crosses of all sizes.
It is said that it began in the 19th century when it uprised in imperial Russia and brought a cross in memory of the victims who were killed. During the Soviet era, the bereaved families of political prisoners sent to Siberia visited.
The Soviets bulldozed the site many times, but the silent resistance movement of the crosses continued.
It is a place where it can feel the resentment of the "oppressed people."
The barbaric act of the Chinese woman was seen as an insult not only to Hong Kong but also to Lithuania.
Initially, Lithuania did not have strong ties with Taiwan.
The Taipei Representative Office, the representative office of Taiwanese authorities in the Baltic States, is located in Latvia. Many of its citizens do not even know the difference between Taiwan and Hong Kong.
On the other hand, for the past 30 years, Tibet and Lithuania have nurtured a bond as "people oppressed by a great power."
It all started in 1990 when Lithuania declared the restoration of its independence from the Soviet Union.
The Dalai Lama, the supreme leader of Tibetan Buddhism, sent a message to the leader of the independence movement, Vytautas Landsbergis (later Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament), encouraging "nonviolent resistance."
It was the first declaration of independence in the Soviet zone, and at first, none of the countries recognized it.
The Dalai Lama had just been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, and the Lithuanians, who had been isolated and helpless, were greatly encouraged.
In 1991, when independence became a reality with the recognition of the U.S. and Europe, the Dalai Lama visited the parliament building in Vilnius to honor the leaders of independence.
Because of this historical friendship, Lithuania has accepted the Dalai Lama's visits even amid its pro-China policy.
In Vilnius, there is even a park commemorating the support for Tibet.
As China increased its oppression and intimidation of Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Taiwan, it was only natural that people began to look at China more coldly.
When I visited the Taiwan Representative Office established in Vilnius and spoke with Representative Huang Jun-yao, he smiled and said, "I was surprised to hear people repeatedly calling out to me on the street, saying, 'Hang in there.
The 89-year-old independence leader, Mr. Landsbergis, also visited the representative office for encouragement.
Representative Huang is a well-known figure in Lithuania.
One of the reasons for Lithuania's move away from China is that the benefits of the One Belt, One Road initiative have been disappointing.
China accounts for only about 1% of Lithuania's total exports.
Most of these are wooden furniture and copper products.
It is not surprising that Taiwan's high-tech industries, such as semiconductors, are attractive to Lithuania.
The Canary of Democracy
Lithuania clearly launched pro-Taiwan diplomacy only after the center-right "Homeland Union" won the parliamentary elections in October 2020 and established a new government.
Gabriellius Landsbergis, the grandson of the "Independent Leader," took office as Foreign Minister and raised human rights diplomacy.
As soon as he took office, Mr. Landsbergis declared that the "17 plus one" of China and Central and Eastern Europe was "dividing the E.U." and announced that he would withdraw from the 17 plus one.
Last July, he announced his intention to accept the establishment of the E.U.'s first "Taiwan Representative Office.
When China launched a fierce economic retaliation, the pro-Taiwan policy changed.
Speaking on local radio at the beginning of the year, President Nausheda said that accepting the name "Taiwan" was a "mistake. It was a big blow to relations with China," he said, and instructed Foreign Minister Landsbergis to come up with a solution.
The president met with U.S. President Biden during his visit to the U.K. last November and proudly told his domestic audience that he had gained support for his Taiwan policy. Still, he changed his attitude when China's retaliation caused unrest in the country.
China blocked shipments originating from Lithuania at customs and pressured German companies operating in Lithuania to stop doing business with the country.
Support for the government's Taiwan policy plummeted to 13% in the poll.
Associate Professor Andrijauskas of Vilnius University said, "The president and the foreign minister are political rivals.
Taiwan was used as a political bargaining chip. The fact that the president did not present a solution himself is an indication of this," he said.
President Nausheda is a former central bank board member and took office during the previous center-left government.
After his victory in the parliamentary election, Foreign Minister Lansbergis went on to form a new government with current Prime Minister Simonite, who was once Mr. Nausheda's opponent in the presidential election.
According to the associate professor, "Initially, Lithuania did not expect China's pressure to be so strong. But, according to the associate professor, "Lithuania did not expect China's pressure to be so strong at the beginning, and it was too optimistic." The president, reacting to public opinion, blamed the foreign minister.
It seems that he saw an opportunity to push his rival into a corner.
It is the kind of political infighting that occurs in every country, but it is not quickly resolved in the case of China-Taiwan relations.
The confrontation between the president and the foreign minister is becoming a "proxy war" between the U.S. and China.
After Nausheda's remarks, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry immediately praised the move as "a step in the right direction" and urged the renaming of the Taiwan Representative Office.
Soon after, USTR representative Catherine Tai called Foreign Minister Lansbergis to express support for Lithuania in the face of "Chinese economic intimidation."
She also announced that Japan, the U.S., and the E.U. would strengthen their partnership to counter China's unfair trade practices.
The E.U. could not remain silent.
Initially, Lithuania's proximity to Taiwan was viewed coldly by diplomats from E.U. member states as "a standing play to the Biden administration." Still, when China exerted trade pressure, it became an issue for the E.U. common market.
The European Commission has indicated that it will not hesitate to file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China.
In the first place, the E.U. is fed up with China's high-handed "war-wolf diplomacy" in the wake of the new coronavirus disaster.
At present, the E.U. is enacting a new law to retaliate against economic pressure from third countries through trade, and Lithuania has become a test case.
Germany, which has maintained pro-China diplomacy, has changed since Merkel left office.
In January, the new German Chancellor Scholz sent a deputy minister of the Ministry of Economics to Vilnius to meet with Foreign Minister Landsbergis to express "solidarity with Lithuania.
Lithuania has been at the forefront of international politics.
In an interview with the U.S. magazine Foreign Policy last year, Foreign Minister Landsbergis claimed that "Lithuania will be the canary in the coal mine."
What he said has become a reality, and this small country is sounding the alarm about the danger of an "authoritarian domino" in an uncertain world.
If Lithuania changes Taiwan policy under Chinese pressure, it will not only be a nation's decision, but the democratic world will succumb to the authoritarian state.
Russia will find weakness and follow Ukraine to shake up the former Soviet Baltic states.
When the canaries stop chirping, the democratic circle will face a crisis.
Naturally, the future of Lithuania is directly related to Japan's security.
We cannot stand by and watch.
Mina Mitsui
Born in 1967.
She graduated from Hitotsubashi University.
She Served as the Yomiuri Shimbun's Jerusalem bureau chief and Paris bureau chief.
She Joined the Sankei Shimbun in 2016, author of "Islamizing Europe" (Shincho Shinsho) and other books.
Her latest book is "Is Defeat a Sin?" (Sankei Shimbun Publishing).
