© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Chinese language Ambassador in France Lu Shaye attends the MEDEF union summer season discussion board renamed La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France, LaREF, on the Paris Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, August 29, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
PARIS (Reuters) – France and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania expressed dismay after China’s ambassador in Paris questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet international locations like Ukraine.
Requested about his place on whether or not Crimea is a part of Ukraine or not, Chinese language ambassador Lu Shaye stated in an interview aired on French tv on Friday that traditionally it was a part of Russia and had been provided to Ukraine by former Soviet chief Nikita Khrushchev.
“These ex-USSR international locations do not have precise standing in worldwide regulation as a result of there isn’t any worldwide settlement to materialize their sovereign standing,” Shaye added.
France responded on Sunday by stating its “full solidarity” with all of the allied international locations affected, which it stated had acquired their independence “after a long time of oppression”.
“On Ukraine particularly, it was internationally acknowledged inside borders together with Crimea in 1991 by the whole worldwide neighborhood, together with China,” a overseas ministry spokesperson stated.
The spokesperson added that China must make clear whether or not these feedback mirror its place or not.
The three Baltic states, all previously a part of the Soviet Union, reacted alongside the identical traces as France.
China’s overseas ministry didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.
