TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Matas Maldeikis, one of the Lithuanian parliamentarians currently visiting Taiwan, denounced China as “the People's Republic of Comedy" on Tuesday (Nov. 30) as he traded barbs with a Chinese journalist over the Baltic nation’s support for Taiwan.

Hu Xijing (胡錫進), editor-in-chief of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece the Global Times, in a tweet derided the Lithuanian legislators as “low-end European political actors” that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had paid for the trip. He also poked fun at Taiwan for its “unsalable pineapples,” a reference to Beijing's arbitrary import ban on the country's pineapples earlier this year over alleged pest concerns.

Maldeikis, chair of the Lithuanian parliament's Taiwan Friendship Group, hit back, tweeting: “Xi is sending his clowns to attack us. We should call China ‘The People's Republic of Comedy’.”

The Lithuanian delegation is in Taiwan to attend the 2021 Open Parliament Forum from Thursday to Friday (Dec. 2-3). The event will see the participation of 10 lawmakers from all three Baltic nations — Lithuanian, Estonia, and Latvia — and the politicians' trip to Taiwan has been kept low-profile to avoid Chinese interference.

Dovile Sakaliene, another of the legislators in the Lithuanian group, said upon arrival in Taiwan Sunday (Nov. 28) that she felt “privileged” to be included on China’s blacklist and that the Baltic country’s support of Taiwan will not be swayed. On Tuesday, she posted photos of herself with President Tsai on Twitter, describing the pair as “two women sanctioned by #PRC for loving freedom and standing up to communism.”

Xi is sending his clowns to attack us. We should call China "The People's Republic of Comedy".#UnsaleablePineapples #PeoplesRepublicOfComedy https://t.co/xuFBizv9D9

— Matas Maldeikis MP (@MatasMaldeikis) November 30, 2021