Lithuanian officials urge citizens to throw away Chinese mobile phones

Lithuanian politicians have jumped out again to add drama to themselves.

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According to Reuters on the 22nd, the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense recently released a so-called product investigation report, saying that some Chinese mobile phones have the function of "built-in censorship" of sensitive words. The Lithuanian Ministry of Defense encouraged consumers not to buy Chinese mobile phones and also encouraged people to "throw away" the Chinese mobile phones they have purchased.

Screenshot of Reuters report: Lithuania says it throws away Chinese mobile phones due to concerns about censorship

Lithuania's national cybersecurity agency reportedly claimed on the 21st that China's Xiaomi's flagship phones sold in Europe have the function of detecting and censoring some sensitive words. The agency claimed in a report that these features in the Xiaomi 10T series of 5G phones have been turned off in the "EU region" but can be turned on remotely at any time.

"This is important not only for Lithuania, but for all countries that use Xiaomi devices," the report also exaggerated.

Introducing the report, Lithuania's Deputy Defense Minister Majiris Abukevicius claimed, "Our advice is not to buy new Chinese mobile phones and to throw away already purchased ones as soon as possible."

Image source: Lithuanian Ministry of Defense

Not only that, the report also claimed that a so-called "security vulnerability" was found in Huawei's P40 series of 5G mobile phones, but no security vulnerabilities were found in OnePlus phones in China.

The report cited the Baltic News Agency as saying that Huawei's representative in the Baltics said its mobile phones do not send user data to the outside.

This is not the first time that Lithuania has targeted China under the banner of so-called "security." According to a report by Bloomberg on February 17 this year, Lithuanian Prime Minister's spokesman Yakiletini said on the same day that the government of Lithuania banned the Chinese company Nuctech from supplying baggage scanning equipment to the country's airports due to "national security concerns." Nuctech responded to the Global Times on the 18th that the Lithuanian government's actions were politically motivated and the company was prepared to take any necessary legal means to challenge the decision.

The Lithuanian government's "attack" on Nuctech, a Chinese company, seems to be driven by the United States. A 2020 report by the Wall Street Journal cited a memo from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, saying that the agency actually banned Nuctech from entering most U.S. airport markets in 2014 after conducting an investigation whose results were kept secret. In addition, the United States is trying to block Nuctech in many European countries, including Croatia and Lithuania, where Washington is lobbying to help U.S. companies win contracts. The Baltic News Agency reported that U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania Robert Gilchrist had previously welcomed reports that Lithuania was considering banning Nuctech equipment.

In recent years, Lithuania has been willing to act as an anti-China "cannon fodder" and challenge China's core interests again and again. Many international media and analysts believe that Lithuania's move is suspected to attract the attention of the United States and to "please" the United States by deliberately taking a tough stance against China. The United States has also frequently "backed" Lithuania, as if to "tie Lithuania to the chariot". The Lithuanian government previously openly announced that it would allow the Taiwan authorities to establish a "representative office" in the name of "Taiwan". In the case that Lithuania seriously undermined China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, US Secretary of State Blinken claimed in a phone call with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis on August 21 that the United States firmly supports Lithuania in facing China's "coercion" behavior.