- Lu Shaye’s comments when questioned about Ukraine triggered a storm of protest across Europe – especially from the three Baltic republics
- Beijing clarified it respected the states’ sovereignty while the embassy in France said the ambassador had been expressing his personal views
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| China’s ambassador to France Lu Shaye earlier said ex-Soviet republics had “no effective status” in international law. Photo: AFP |
China has walked back comments made by a senior diplomat that questioned the sovereignty of post-Soviet states, amid a spiralling diplomatic crisis.
Lu Shaye, Beijing’s ambassador in Paris, said in a TV interview last Friday that ex-Soviet republics had “no effective status” in international law, sparking angry responses from across Europe – led by the three Baltic countries that regained their independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
“China respects the sovereign state status of the relevant republics after the dissolution of the Soviet Union,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing on Monday.
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