Taiwan and Lithuania are deepening ties despite Chinese pressure, a win for Taipei's push to hold onto European partners.

• Taiwan's representative office in Vilnius hosted a National Day dinner with 300 guests from government, business and academia.
• A senior Lithuanian foreign affairs lawmaker, Žygimantas Pavilionis, urged the ruling party and opposition to stay united behind Taiwan and not drift toward authoritarian states for economic gain — "choose freedom, not bread."
• He warned that dropping support for Taiwan could cost Lithuania the trust of the US and other Indo-Pacific democracies.
• Trade between the two is growing fast, with two-way trade up more than 41% this year and Lithuanian exports to Taiwan up a similar amount.
• Cooperation now spans a laser research center in Taiwan, a new deal on advanced chip packaging laser technology, a Taiwanese energy company setting up in Lithuania, and joint donations to rebuild Ukraine.

Outlook: Expect continued tech and trade deals, with the main risk being a Lithuanian political shift back toward repairing relations with Beijing.