Deutsche Welle Chinese Edition recently reported that newly elected Lithuanian president Gitanas Nauseda strongly opposed introducing Chinese capital into port investments. He was referring to the modernization project of the Port of Klaipeda, citing concerns about national security and environmental protection matters. He called for putting a hold on the deep-water port investment since the people of Lithuania had not yet reached a domestic consensus. The President would rather not be forceful in pushing a project that Chinese investments had backed. He described it as “very dangerous.” In February, Lithuania’s national security agencies warned about Chinese spy activities in their official annual security threat report. Klaipeda Port is the largest port in Lithuania and the only non-freezing port in the Baltic region. The location signifies its importance in China’s One Belt One Road strategy. According to Russian reports, the modernization project requires 800 million Euro, which is a heavy burden for a country with a total GDP of only 45 billion Euro.
Source: DW Chinese, July 30, 2019
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