【Article by IMAS】
On the 15th of April 2024, National Chengchi University’s (NCCU) inaugurated the Preparation Office for the Lithuania Center in hopes of fostering closer collaboration for both nations. The event was attended by Representative Mr. Paulius Lukauskas of the Lithuanian Trade Representative Office as well as various officials from education institutions in Lithuania: Dr. Mantas Adomėnas, Former Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and Deputy Director of Baltic Institute of Advanced Technology; Dr. Margarita Šešelgytė, Director, Institute International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University; Dr. Laurynas Jonavičius, Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania; Associate Professor, Institute International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University; Mr. Marius Laurinavičius, Independent Foreign and Security Policy Analyst; Dr. Linas Kojala, Director of Eastern Europe Studies Centre.

University President Tsai-Yen Li marked the opening ceremony speaking on shared values in building stronger friendships. We would like to acknowledge guidance from the Vice President for International Cooperation, Dr. Ching-ping Tang, as well as the Dean of the College of Social Science (CSS), Dr. Wan-Ying Yang. This event was in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) represented by Lanny Y. C. Yeh, third secretary, Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania and Yu-lin Wang, third secretary, Department of European Affairs. In celebration of this momentous occasion, dignitaries and invited guests joined NCCU faculty and students for a banquet.

As part of the inaugural commemoration, the International Master’s Program on Asia-Pacific Studies (IMAS) invited Dr. Mantas Adomenas, a former vice minister of foreign affairs of Lithuania in Taiwan, to deliver a lecture titled, Lithuania and Taiwan in the Age of turbulence: why should democracies help each other?. Dr. Adomenas spoke eloquently on how the democratization process forms a national identity.

According to Dr. Adomenas, “each democracy is unique, while autocracies exhibit analogous traits”, where the process of democratization mixes with history and culture to produce a unique blend that is specific to each polity. For newly emerged democracies political identity is an expression of national identity – where the struggle for freedom, whether in Lithuania or Taiwan, was a struggle that was modernizing as it progressed. He argues that this formed a genetic code of statehood determined by the people in and of themselves. For there is no stable end state to democracy. It is in a constant state of inventing new political order again and again, as a means of staying true of its democratic principles.

For Dr. Adomenas, tradition informs policy and Lithuania has had a tradition for fighting for freedom, which explains its support for Taiwan. He spoke on the historical similarity and mutual assistance that have existed between Taiwan and Lithuania’s own struggle for freedom. In this he pivots to the necessity of small states in assisting each other to be less the objects of international power struggles and affirm their own political subjectivity. Dr. Adomenas concludes with the remark that “solidarity is our soul recourse to defend ourselves”.

IMAS Director and Associate Dean for International Affairs, Dr. Philip Hsiaopong Liu, points out that the CSS is very pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with MOFA, allowing students to gain knowledge about Taiwan's foreign relations. NCCU looks forward to the formation of stronger ties and research collaborations in the near future as the Lithuania Center is fully established.