China assured Monday that it respected the “sovereign state status” of the countries of the former USSR, after the controversial statements of its ambassador in Paris, strongly denounced by French President Emmanuel Macron.
“China respects the sovereign state status of the republics” born after the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.
Distancing herself from the remarks of the diplomat stationed in the French capital, she assured that China “respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and supports the objectives and principles of the Charter of Nations united”.
The Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, questioned on the French news channel LCI about the Ukrainian province of Crimea annexed since 2014 by Moscow, had denied the sovereignty of former Soviet republics on Friday evening. The countries of the former USSR “do not have effective status in international law because there is no international agreement to concretize their status as sovereign countries”, he declared, provoking a wave of indignation.
“Very firm focus”
“I think it is not the place of a diplomat to hold this type of language”, reacted Monday the French president, Emmanuel Macron, on the sidelines of a summit in Ostend, Belgium. “So, full solidarity with the countries that have been attacked in reading their history and their borders,” he added.
A meeting on Monday between the chief of staff and the Chinese ambassador was also to be “an opportunity for very firm clarifications”, indicated the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to AFP.
The Chinese ambassador’s remarks were also described as “unacceptable” by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrel, for whom “the EU can only assume that these statements do not represent the official position of China” .
The three Baltic States summoned their Chinese envoys “to remind them that we are not post-Soviet countries, but countries that have been illegally occupied by the Soviet Union”, in the words of the head of Lithuanian diplomacy, Gabrielius Landsbergis. His Estonian counterpart, Margus Tsahkna, denounced “false” claims, stemming from a “erroneous interpretation of history”. “According to international law, the Baltic States have been sovereign since 1918, but they were occupied for 50 years” by the USSR, he continued.
Remarks “misinterpreted”, says China
Faced with the outcry, Beijing marked its difference from the words of its ambassador, who is part of the “wolves fighters”, this new clan of Chinese diplomats not mincing their words in the face of a West perceived as systematically hostile to Beijing.
“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the countries concerned,” Mr.me Mao. “Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China has always adhered to the principle of mutual respect and equality to develop bilateral relations of friendship and cooperation. »
“Some media have misinterpreted China’s position on the Ukrainian issue and are sowing discord in relations between China and the countries concerned,” she said.
Regarding Crimea, occupied by Moscow since 2014, Ambassador Lu said that “Crimea belonged to Russia at the very beginning”. “It was Khrushchev who offered Crimea to Ukraine in the days of the Soviet Union,” he said on Friday.
“All the countries of the former USSR have a clear sovereign status enshrined in international law,” replied Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, on Twitter before quipping: “If you want to be a major political player, don’t repeat Russian propaganda like a parrot. »