TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Dovile Sakaliene, a member of the Lithuanian parliament, on Tuesday (Nov. 30) said that she and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) are both being punished by Beijing for their shared democratic values.

Sakaliene tweeted that Tsai and she are “two women sanctioned by China for loving freedom and standing up to communism” and shared that she had gifted the president with an artwork, the “Tree of Solidarity,” that was made by a Lithuanian artist. She added that she is proud to be part of the Baltic nation's delegation, which is in Taiwan to attend the 2021 Open Parliament Forum Thursday and Friday (Dec. 2-3).

When Sakaliene arrived in Taiwan, she said that she is honored to be among those blacklisted by China following the European Union's sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Her colleagues in the Lithuanian delegation joked that more of them may be banned from entering China after the Taiwan visit.

After China recalled its ambassador from Lithuania as punishment for the Baltic nation allowing Taiwan to establish a representative office with the word "Taiwanese" included in its name, the parliamentarian tweeted, “We are NOT sorry for deciding to open Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius."