Lithuania donates more COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan

VILNIUS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Lithuania will donate 235,900
additional doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to
Taiwan, the European Union nation said on Wednesday, after
angering China by allowing Taiwan to open a representative
office under its own name.

China considers Taiwan its own territory.

Lithuania, which also donated 20,000 vaccines to Taiwan in
June, will give Taiwan jabs purchased under an EU contract
signed on behalf of member states with the producer.

"AstraZeneca vaccines are not popular in our country, so we
are able to donate them," Lithuanian Health Minister Arunas
Dulkys said during a televised government meeting.

The vaccines will be donated by mid-October, following a
Sept. 16 request made by Taiwan's mission in neighbouring
Latvia, Lithuania's Health Ministry said.

"On behalf of the government and people of Taiwan, I
sincerely thank Lithuania for the heartfelt friendship and good
will during our times of difficulties and challenges," the head
of the mission in Latvia, Eric Huang, said.

China demanded last month that Lithuania withdraw its
ambassador in Beijing and said it would recall its envoy to
Vilnius after Taiwan said its mission in Lithuania would be
called the Taiwanese Representative Office.

Taiwanese missions in Europe and the United States usually
use the name of the city of Taipei, avoiding reference to the
island itself.

Lithuania's government said in June it would donate 100,000
vaccine doses to Ukraine, 15,000 to Georgia and 11,000 to
Moldova.

Japan pledged last week to give 500,000 additional vaccines
to Taiwan, bringing Japan's total donation to the island to 3.9
million.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Edmund
Blair)