China assured Monday to respect the “sovereign state status” of the countries of the former USSR, after the controversial statements of the Chinese ambassador to France.
“China respects the sovereign state status of the republics” born after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters.
The Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, questioned on the LCI news channel on 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 said on Friday evening. .
These remarks provoked an outcry in the States concerned and were described as “unacceptable” by the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, for whom “the EU can only assume that these statements do not represent the official position from China “.
“China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and supports the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter,” Mao Ning said Monday.
“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with relevant countries,” she said. “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,” the spokesperson added.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it will receive the Chinese ambassador to France on Monday, the occasion for “very firm clarifications”.
“A meeting between the chief of staff and the Chinese ambassador will be an opportunity for very firm clarifications,” the ministry said. “This interview was planned” before the ambassador’s statements on Friday. “We’re going to get the right messages across,” he added.
For their part, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will summon Chinese ambassadors to their respective capitals on Monday.
“The three Baltic states will convene ‘Chinese envoys’ today to ask for clarification, whether China’s position has changed on independence, and remind them that we are not post-Soviet countries but countries that have been illegally occupied by the Soviet Union,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
