Australia stands with Lithuania, says PM Morrison amid China tensions

Melbourne [Australia], February 11 : Extending support to Lithuania amid China's tensions, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said that the country is seeking to work with as many like-minded nations.
Morrison made these remarks in the presence of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar.
"Just this week, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and I met with the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. And we stand with them. They understand what's going on, like those sitting around here today understand what's going on. And it's incredibly important that our plan as a government, as a country has been to seek to work with as many like-minded nations as we possibly can," Morrison said.
He continued saying that "like-mindedness doesn't always necessarily relate to how our' systems govern. "But like-mindedness, an open independent Indo Pacific, like-mindedness about free trade, and the opportunity to have human rights observed in our region, and to address the global challenges of COVID and climate."
"This like-mindedness that unites the four of us is a like-minded is built on doing the most successful liberal democracies," Morrison added.
Last week, during Landsbergis's visit to Canberra from February 8 to 10, both countries agreed to strengthen the bilateral relationship, encourage more trade and investment and advance shared strategic interests.
In a statement, Australia FM said, Landsbergis opened Lithuania's first embassy in Canberra in a historic moment in our bilateral relationship that will facilitate broader and deeper cooperation.
Australia and Lithuania agreed to work together to finalise the Australia-EU Free Trade Agreement.
Last month, the European Union had launched a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China over its discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania, which it says are also hitting other exports from the EU's Single Market.
The 27 member bloc in a statement said that these actions are harming exporters both in Lithuania and elsewhere in the EU, as they also target products with Lithuanian content exported from other EU countries.
Meanwhile, the tensions between China and the Baltic nation have erupted when in November last year Lithuania angered China by allowing Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius, equivalent to an embassy. It escalated in recent times after Lithuania took steps to strengthen ties with Taiwan.
The representative office opened with the name "Taiwan Representative Office in Lithuania", thereby implicitly implying recognition of a legal entity separate from the mainland. Beijing attacked Lithuania by lowering its diplomatic relations with them.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.