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Foreign Diplomats Helped Lithuania Evacuate Staff From China

  • Lithuanian embassy staff leave amid ID card confusion
  • Taiwan’s new representative office in Vilnius angered Beijing
The Lithuanian Embassy in Beijing.

The Lithuanian Embassy in Beijing.

Photographer: Jade Gao/AFP/Getty Images

Updated on

Diplomats from European Union member states and other countries helped their Lithuanian colleagues evacuate their embassy and leave China last week in an unexpected departure after Beijing demanded the return of their passes.

Lithuania pulled out its remaining four diplomats, one technical embassy employee, their families and a cat on short notice on Dec. 15, a day after the deadline given by the Chinese Foreign Ministry demanding the return of the envoys’ diplomatic identification cards, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said.