Taiwan’s diplomats in Vilnius apologize for Soviet anthem incident

Aleksas Jasiūnas, the head of the Lithuanian Deaf Sports Committee, cited Ambassador Gary K. Y. Ko who heads the Taipei mission in Latvia as speaking about the efforts to identify and punish the person who played the Soviet anthem.

“We met with the Taiwanese diplomat yesterday evening, and he offered his sincere apologies for the incident. He also said they were searching for the person who got the recording in order to punish him,” Jasiūnas told BNS on Friday.

In his words, this was the first incident of the type over the 25 years Lithuania’s deaf teams have been participating in Olympics and world championships.

Jasiūnas was also handed an official letter of apology from the head of the 2015 World Deaf Basketball Championship organizing committee, Yu-Ping Chao.

Taiwan’s diplomatic missions have sent a separate letter of apology to Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry, expressing hope that the awkward incident would not affect the close and friendly relations between Taiwan and Lithuania.

After the misunderstanding, the Lithuanian ministry presented diplomats of the Taipei mission in Riga with a CD containing a recording of the national anthem.

The Soviet anthem was played at the awards ceremony after the Lithuanian basketball team beat the US squad in the championship finals 80:77 on July 12, winning the 3rd consecutive gold medal.