2023-04-24 12:14:01
China said on Monday (24) that it respects the “sovereign state status” of the countries of the former Soviet Union, following controversial statements by the Chinese ambassador to France.
“China respects the sovereign state status of republics born after the dissolution of the USSR at the end of 1991,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
On Friday, China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, provoked controversy when he questioned, in an interview with the LCI news channel, the sovereign character of the countries that broke away from the Soviet Union, including the three Baltic nations.
On Monday, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia summoned Chinese ambassadors to ask for explanations regarding the controversial statements.
On Friday, when asked whether the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, was Ukrainian, the Chinese ambassador to France replied: “It depends on how you look at the problem. There is a story. Crimea was Russian at first.” .
Lu Shaye argued that countries that emerged as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 “do not have an effective status under international law because there is no international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations”.
“China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter,” Mao said on Monday.
Although Beijing claims it is officially neutral, Chinese President Xi Jinping has never condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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