China disavows diplomat’s comments questioning
sovereignty of ex-Soviet states
EU governments also clapped back against the Chinese
ambassador’s statements suggesting former Soviet states had no status as their
own countries.
BY GREGORIO
SORGI AND NICOLAS CAMUT
APRIL 24,
2023 3:30 PM CET
China
distanced itself on Monday from statements made by its ambassador to France,
who caused an uproar by questioning the independence of nations that had
previously been a part of the USSR.
Beijing
said Monday that it respects the “sovereign status” of all ex-Soviet countries,
contradicting Ambassador Lu Shaye’s remarks suggesting that such states have no
“effective status” in international law.
Lu’s
comments in a French television interview on Friday triggered a diplomatic
incident with Baltic countries over the weekend, which demanded the Chinese
government clarify where it stands on the issue.
“China
respects the sovereign state status of the participating republics after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao
Ning told reporters Monday in Beijing.
She added:
“After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries
to establish diplomatic relations with relevant countries.”
China’s
embassy in Paris issued a separate note Monday saying that the ambassador’s
remarks “were not a statement of politics, but an expression of personal views
during a televised debate.”
“They [Lu’s
comments] should not be over-interpreted. China’s position on relevant issues
has not changed,” reads the statement from the embassy.
EU
governments were united in condemning the Chinese ambassador’s words,
unequivocally backing Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
French
President Emmanuel Macron condemned the remarks in response to a question from
POLITICO at the North Sea Summit held today in Ostend, Belgium. “It’s not for a
diplomat to say such things,” he said. Macron also vowed “full solidarity” with
these states: “The borders are untouchable.”
Lithuanian
foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis confirmed that the three EU states will
summon their Chinese envoys on Monday, and compared Lu’s comments with Russian
propaganda on Ukraine.
“They
[Russian government officials] question the sovereignty of the countries, they
question the borders, they question the integrity of the countries,”
Landsbergis told reporters on his way into an EU foreign ministers meeting in
Luxembourg.
He added:
“This is a narrative we’ve been hearing from Moscow, and now it’s being sent
out by another country, which is in our eyes an ally of Moscow.”
Chines
leader Xi Jinping has pledged a “no limits partnership” with Russia and was one
of the first foreign leaders to visit president Vladimir Putin in Moscow after
Russia invaded Ukraine. Chinese companies have also shipped assault rifles and
body armor to Russia.
The EU’s
relations with China have further risen to the fore after Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen backed “de-risking” from Beijing, while French president
Emmanuel Macron sent shock waves across the EU by warning that Europe should
not get dragged into a confrontation between China and the U.S. over Taiwan.
The EU’s
foreign policy chief Josep Borrell indicated Monday that Lu’s remarks will feed
into a broader discussion on China in the EU foreign ministers meeting.
“The
[Foreign Affairs] Council will start discussing about China, in order to
prepare the European [Council] in June,” Borrell told reporters before the start
of the summit. “Maybe that will reassess and recalibrate our strategy toward
China.”
Foreign
ministers from other EU countries including Estonia, the Czech Republic, Italy,
Finland and Romania also expressed disagreement with Lu’s comments.
In an open letter
in the French daily Le Monde, 80 European parliamentarians urged the French
government to expel the ambassador.
The Chinese
ambassador will be told at a standing meeting with the French foreign ministry
this afternoon, “We’re not very happy, quite firmly, on this occasion,” said
Laurence Boone, the French minister for European affairs, at an event in
Brussels.
This story
has been updated with a quote from Macron. Hans von der Burchard contributed
reporting from Ostend, Belgium
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