File Photo: Taiwan s President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during the national day celebration in Taipei, Taiwan. AP
China has downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a representative office under its own name in November.
It has also stopped issuing visas and blocked exports from Lithuania, prompting protests from the European Union's trade commissioner.
The Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor Corporation (TTL) said it bought a batch of 20,400 bottles of Lithuanian rum that have been "drifting at sea" after China refused customs clearance.
The shipment is set to arrive on the island later this month and the bottles will be repackaged with Chinese labels before hitting the market, it said in a statement.
"Lithuania supports us and we support Lithuania. TTL calls for a toast to that."
Beijing baulks at any international support for Taiwan lest it lend a sense of international legitimacy to the island, which it considers part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize, by force if necessary.
It has stepped up a campaign to isolate the self-ruled island on the world stage and poached eight of Taiwan's diplomatic allies -- most recently Nicaragua -- since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016.
Several companies and business leaders in Lithuania, an EU member state, complained last month that China was blocking their exports by not clearing customs for their products.
The EU trade commissioner said Lithuania's claims about the Chinese blockade were verified and the commission was receiving reports from other member countries about blocked goods that contained parts from Lithuania.
There were "many cases in which imports from Lithuania and the EU are being stopped at Chinese ports and the number is increasing daily", Valdis Dombrovskis said in late December.
He said the commission was using political and diplomatic channels to try to resolve the dispute.
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