Lithuania quitting the China-led 17+1 grouping with central and eastern European states and asked other countries to walk out of the forum set up by China in 2012 to forge ties and expand its influence.

Key Facts

• Lithuania also took several steps including the blocking of Chinese investment and announcing it would open a trade office in Taiwan.
• Lithuania, like some other countries in the region, has been increasingly suspicious of China for some time.
• It was in 2019 that the Baltic state first identified Chinese espionage as a threat to its national security.
• What is the Reason ?
  • Chinese economic and political ambitions grow in Lithuania
  • Activities of the Chinese intelligence and security services become increasingly aggressive.
  • Based on National Threat Assessment 2019 report.
    • Accusing China of trying to exploit the Covid pandemic to discredit perceived adversaries and improve its image.
  • China announced that it would open up a trade office in Taiwan a territory that China considers its own and vehemently opposes on international platforms.
  • China was conducting a genocide of the Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.
• Relation with other Countries
  • Five other countries, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, and Slovenia, also indicated their diminished interest in the grouping.
  • EU-China investment pact, sealed in December 2020, halted ratification of the agreement.
    • European Parliament refused to consider the investment deal as long as its baseless and arbitrary penalties were in place.
    • Members of the European Parliament (MEP) did not ratify the deal described China’s actions in Xinjiang region as crimes against humanity.
• China is the European Union’s largest trading partner and the United States largest trading partner.

China’s 17+1

• Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries.
• The format was founded in 2012 in Warsaw to push for cooperation of the “17+1” (the 17 CEE countries and China).
• Countries of CEE (CEEC) – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
  • A term usually used for the countries in Central Europe, the Baltics, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Europe or Balkan Countries.
• The China-CEE secretariat is in Beijing, with 17 national coordinators in each of the partner CEE countries.
• To promote the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and enhance cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, transportation and logistics, trade and investment
• Major projects Serbia’s E763 Highway project, the Budapest-Belgrade railway and the China-Europe land-sea express line.

Balkan Countries : Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Baltic States : Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea.

Belt and Road Initiative

• The BRI seeks to build rail, maritime and road links from Asia to Europe and Africa in a revival of ancient Silk Road trading routes.
  • BRI, earlier known as One Belt One Road (OBOR).
  • South-east Asia to Eastern Europe and Africa, Belt and Road includes 71 countries that account for half the world’s population and a quarter of global GDP.
• Improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth are the major aim.
• Belt and Road Initiative is expected to cost more than $1tn.