Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Lithuania, arguably one of the most vocal supporters of Taiwan in Europe, remains a target of Chinese tools of negative economic statecraft. In retaliation for the Baltic nation allowing Taiwan to open a representative office in its capital, China deleted Lithuania from its customs registry and has allegedly instigated a corporate boycott, instructing multinationals to sever ties with the country.

Given that cereals constitute the largest export product of Lithuania to China, farmers and food producers have been hit particularly hard through the ongoing spat.

By now most people will have at least absorbed the basic results of the Dec. 18 referendums. There is bound to be a continued and heated debate as to what they mean and how they will affect politics in the new year and well beyond. Whatever the questions, referendums always suffer from an absence of useful and reliable knowledge.

The bigger the issue, the greater the importance of good information and understanding, but there is less likelihood of voters obtaining such knowledge. This might explain the low turnout. Only 3.7 million people voted in favor of the questions, with 4.1 million voters deciding against the proposals.