The statements of China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, received an icy reception from the Baltic and EU leaders.
China says that its desires for cooperation with European countries are “endless”, while the ties between China and Russia are “boundless”.
The matter is revealed to China’s ambassador to the EU Fu Cong’s From an interview given to The Paper magazine.
– China and Russia’s cooperation has no borders, just as there are no borders between China and European countries
EU countries have criticized China for not condemning Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.
According to the Chinese diplomat, neither the Baltic countries nor Ukraine have the right to independence
EU-China relations got a new notch at the weekend when China’s ambassador to France Lu Shaye commented on Friday in an interview with the French LCI news channel, among other things, the position of the Baltic countries and Ukraine.
According to Lu, “the states that emerged as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union have no real status under international law.”
Lu justified his view by the fact that no international agreement was made in connection with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which would “strengthen the status of these states as sovereign states”.
Lu also questioned whether the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed by Russia, belongs to Ukraine.
– It depends on how you look at it. There is history. Crimea was originally Russian, Lu said.
Lu’s comments sparked a huge storm of objections among leading EU diplomats.
The foreign ministers of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia condemned the ambassador’s comments clearly.
Foreign Minister of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis said that no one should wonder anymore why the Baltic countries do not trust China as a peace broker in the Ukraine conflict.
China distanced itself from its ambassador’s statements
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning’s according to which China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.
Mao was asked whether the statements of the Chinese ambassador to France represent the country’s official position.
According to Mao, the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the country’s official position.
Mao also recalled that China was among the first to recognize the independence of several former Soviet republics.