Chinese Ambassador, whose leader may hold a meeting with the President of Ukraine, in France questioned the sovereignty of the republics of the former USSR and the belonging of Crimea to Ukraine. Lu Shai stated this in an interview with the French TV channel LCI.
A Chinese diplomat said that Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, “originally belonged to Russia,” and Nikita Khrushchev “gave Crimea to Ukraine during the Soviet Union,” writes Meduza.
Lu Shai also stated that the countries of the former USSR “have no effective status in international law because there is no international agreement that would give effect to their status as sovereign countries.” He called for an end to “disputes” over the issue of post-Soviet borders.
After the interview was released, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that such statements by the Chinese ambassador to France were “sad” and incomprehensible. The Estonian Foreign Ministry intends to summon the Chinese ambassador to Tallinn.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that Lu Shai’s statement is one of the reasons why the Baltic countries do not trust China to “mediate peace in Ukraine.”
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, in turn, said that the ambassador’s remarks were “completely unacceptable.”
“We are awaiting clarification from the Chinese side and a complete refutation of this statement”Rinkevich said.
Ambassador of Ukraine to France Vadym Omelchenko, in turn, said that the PRC ambassador either “has obvious problems with geography”, or his statement contradicts the position of official Beijing “on efforts to establish peace in Ukraine based on international law and the goals and principles of the Charter UN”.
The French Foreign Ministry said it was “alarmed” by the Chinese ambassador’s statement and called on Beijing to clarify its position.
Ambassador of Ukraine to France Vadim Omelchenko also reacted to the scandalous statements of the Chinese ambassador to this country about Crimea and the status of Ukraine in international law.
“Or there are obvious problems with geography. Or such statements run counter to the position of the Chinese capital regarding efforts to restore peace in Ukraine on the basis of international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The test question “Who owns Crimea?”, as always, is indicative. Next time, it would be good to expand on his question “Who owns Vladivostok?”. There is no room for ambiguity here. Crimea is Ukraine”- wrote Omelchenko in his Twitter.
As FACTS wrote, earlier Chinese Ambassador to the EU Fu Kong called the statement about China’s “boundless friendship” with Russia a “rhetorical device”.
Source: Fakty
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