Lithuania declared three employees of the Chinese embassy in Vilnius persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country, DPA reported. quoted by BTA.
At the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they must leave Lithuania within a week. The decision was made taking into account the information provided by the relevant authorities, the department stated in a statement.
The status and actions of the non-accredited personnel were inconsistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the text states. Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide further details.
For some time now, relations between Lithuania and China have been strained over Vilnius' decision to establish closer relations with Taiwan. In response, Beijing downgraded its diplomatic relations with the Baltic country and also demonstrated its superiority in an economic trade conflict.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and newly appointed future Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas from the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (SDPL) recently spoke out in favor of normalizing relations with China.
Retiring Prime Minister Ingrida Shimonite described these proposals as "unreasonable".