Visiting Lithuanian lawmaker Audronius Ažubalis said Friday that NATO should play a more active role in the Indo-Pacific region to counter the growing threat from China.
At a press conference in Taipei, Ažubalis, who served as Lithuanian foreign minister from 2010 to 2012, said that China’s stated ambitions and coercive policies “challenge our interests, security, and values” and that Beijing remains “opaque about its strategy, intentions, and military build-up.”
“It means for the first time all NATO member states agree that China poses threats to our values,” Ažubalis said, adding that “in the future, we will think about a more active role for NATO in the Indo- Pacific region.”
Ažubalis, the current deputy chairman of the Lithuanian parliament’s Committee on European Affairs, is part of a nine-member delegation of lawmakers from the Baltic state in Taiwan for a six-day visit, which included a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (???).
During the press conference Friday, deputy head of the Lithuanian Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan, Dovile Sakaliene, described the trip to Taiwan as “one of the most fruitful visits” she has had in the past 12 months.
Sakaliene said the delegation and Taiwanese officials discussed topics such as cybersecurity, combatting disinformation and propaganda, and sharing software and hardware needed to strengthen defenses.
Lithuanian lawmaker Laurynas Kasciunas said the delegation also talked to Taiwanese officials about reforms to mandatory military service and matters related to how society can contribute to national defense.
He noted that Lithuania had a nonprofit organization called the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, where citizens who want to contribute to state security can find their place.
“Why not do the same here in Taiwan,” Kasciunas said, adding that during wartime, a country needs the contribution of all its sectors and cannot rely solely on guns and weapons.
The delegation’s visit coincided with a Lithuanian report Monday indicating that opposition parliamentarians expressed doubts last month over the current visit by the Lithuanian lawmakers, who will be in Taiwan until Saturday.
According to an English language report by the Lithuanian public broadcaster, Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT), on Monday, leaders of the Baltic State’s parliament, the Seimas, questioned whether it was appropriate for the visitors’ expenses to be paid by Taiwan.
“As the Taiwanese side offered to pay all the expenses of the parliamentarians, opposition MPs from the Farmers and Greens Union and the Labour Party said this could constitute a conflict of interest or even bribery,” the report said.
However, Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said it was common practice for host countries to pay for the expenses of visiting foreign lawmakers it invites.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel