Publications

The Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review is an analytical journal focusing on global issues and analyzing their impact on Lithuania. It is published annually in cooperation with the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 2018, the partners have included Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and the US Embassy in Lithuania. The journal was established in 1998. Gradually, it moved towards covering the security and foreign policy issues of the countries in Central Eastern Europe and the geopolitical and security problems of the whole region. Since 2018 the concept of the journal has changed from a peer-reviewed journal to an analytical publication. ISSN: 1392-5504

Diplomatic interactions between China and Russia remain frequent and take place at the highest levels. Between July and September, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had as many as eight high-level meetings with their Chinese counterparts in various formats. The frequency of these meetings signals a strong focus from both sides on strengthening relations and expanding cooperation, exemplified by the first China–Russia consultation on the peaceful Uses of Outer Space Affairs, held on 8 August.

Mario Draghi, the former President of the European Central Bank, recently unveiled a long-awaited plan aimed at invigorating Europe’s economic growth. Central to his proposal is a call for the European Union (EU) to adopt a genuine foreign economic policy. For this ambition to be realized, unity among the EU’s 27 member states on their approach to China policy is essential.

The developments in the South China Sea have recently received more media attention than ever before. The region’s contested nature is not new: territorial claims by various countries have frequently placed it at the centre of disputes (e.g., in the first half of the 20th century, France formally declared that the Paracel and Spratly Islands belonged to the French Union).

The presidential and parliamentary (Legislative Yuan, 立法院) elections of the Republic of China (Taiwan) took place on 13 January without any major intrigue. Out of three candidates, Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the vice-president of outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), was elected President of Taiwan.

Institutions and organizations researching and monitoring the informational policies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are observing a dramatic increase and expansion in the regime’s efforts to shape and influence the global information space.

Two years have passed since the opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius and the boiling point of the Sino–Lithuanian conflict that followed. On the surface, Lithuania’s rather firm stance and resistance amidst an authoritarian country’s pressure and qualitatively novel economic statecraft can be treated as a success story, in which it managed to emerge rather unscathed while also helping others realize that China is willing to use all leverages at its disposal to punish.

On 13 January 2024, Taiwan will hold presidential and legislative elections. This time, the political spectacle is extremely dramatic, with the opinion polls showing that the race is going to be tight. With no candidate having a strong lead, the main political parties are entrenched in their own political ideologies and visions in order to consolidate their main support bases. The presidential elections are particularly under the spotlight because of the influence that the president has on the country’s foreign policy and, notably, on Cross-Strait relations.

During the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco, Xi stated that China “has no plan to surpass or unseat the United States” and he also noted that “the world is big enough to accommodate both China and the United States”. Xi’s messages are in stark contrast to his previous proclamation that “the East is rising and the West is falling.” This signifies that on the diplomatic front, Beijing has recognized the need to de-escalate tensions with the US by easing its stance and projecting a less confrontational and more positive, conciliatory tone.

On September 28, the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Centre (GEC) released a special report on how China seeks to reshape the global information environment. In the report China was accused of employing “a variety of deceptive and coercive methods … to influence the international information environment.” As a response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry pushed back hard against the report, accusing the United States of being an “empire of lies” and adding that “it is the US that invented the weaponizing of the global information space.”

This analytical review focuses on several dimensions: the current state of the Chinese economy and its important indicators, property and banking sectors, and youth unemployment as a significant societal challenge.

Some would say that China’s moral compass already broke in February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine and China did not condemn the war while maintaining its pro-Kremlin neutrality. But is neutrality the best Beijing can do now in the face of unequivocal evidence of inhumane barbarity by Palestinian terrorists against Israelis in violation of all humanitarian and international law?