A statement issued on April 22, by the French foreign ministry said it had “learned with consternation about the statements from the ambassador”.
“It remains up to China to say whether these statements reflect its position which we hope not to be the case,” the statement added.
France on April 23, expressed its dismay after China’s ambassador to Paris questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries like Ukraine.
Speaking on April 21, with the LCI news channel, Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union “don’t have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations.”
Lu’s comments appeared to brush aside the sovereignty of countries, including ironically Russia, that formally recognised each other after the Soviet Union’s dissolution and are represented at the United Nations and in European security organisations.
When asked if he believed Crimea is part of Ukraine or not, Ambassador Lu Shaye told French television that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
“These ex-USSR countries don’t have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialise their sovereign status,” Lu added, in Friday’s interview.
Paris hit back on April 23, by stating its “full solidarity” with all the allied countries affected, which it said had acquired their independence “after decades of oppression.”
“On Ukraine specifically, it was internationally recognised within borders including Crimea in 1991 by the entire international community, including China,” a spokesperson for France’s Foreign Ministry said.
France, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have expressed dismay after China’s ambassador in Paris questioned the sovereignty not only of Ukraine, but all the former Soviet Republics including the Baltic states. Ukraine also condemned what it called “absurd” comments from China’s ambassador to France, who questioned the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries. Also emphasised that the status of post-Soviet countries had been “enshrined in international law.”
Similarly, other Baltic nations have stated that, “We expect an explanation and a complete retraction of this statement from the Chinese side,” Latvia’s Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said. Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna slammed the remarks as “incomprehensible.” Estonia pointed out that since 1994 China had recognised the Budapest memorandum agreement under which Russia accepted Ukraine’s borders and Kyiv agreed to hand over its Soviet-era nuclear weapons.
Lu Shaye’s remarks in the TV interview raise fresh questions about the faith the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has placed in China to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine. Macron’s trip caused unease among some Western allies who are skeptical of China’s intentions, given Xi’s formal alliance with fellow authoritarian Putin.
Lu’s comments appeared to contradict China’s position paper on Ukraine issued in February, which pledges to uphold “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries … big or small”.
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