BEIJING
\nChina respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said on Monday, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals.
\nSeveral EU foreign ministers had said earlier that comments by Ambassador Lu Shaye (in which he questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet states) were unacceptable and had asked Beijing to clarify its stance.
\nAsked about his position on whether Crimea was part of Ukraine or not, Lu said in an interview aired on French TV on Friday that historically it was part of Russia and had been offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.
\n\u201cThese ex-USSR countries don\u2019t have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialise their sovereign status,\u201d Lu added.
\nLu has earned himself a reputation as one of China\u2019s \u201cwolf warrior\u201d diplomats, so called for their hawkish and abrasive style.
\nAsked if Lu\u2019s comments represented China\u2019s official position, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that Beijing respected the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
\nMao told a regular news briefing that it was her remarks on sovereignty that represented China\u2019s official government stance.
\nHer statement, following the backlash, appeared to be an effort to distance Beijing from Lu\u2019s comments and ease the tension with Brussels.
\nChina has been \u201cobjective and impartial\u201d on issues of sovereignty, she said.
\nThe Chinese embassy in Paris issued a statement later to say that Lu\u2019s comments on Ukraine \u201cwere not a political declaration but an expression of his personal views\u201d.
\nIt said the comments should not be \u201cover-interpreted\u201d.
\nThe statements from the Chinese foreign ministry and embassy in Paris came after criticism from several EU ministers.
\nSpeaking ahead of a Luxembourg meeting of EU foreign ministers, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Lu\u2019s comments were \u201ctotally unacceptable\u201d.
\n\u201cI hope the bosses of this ambassador will make these things straight,\u201d he told reporters.
\nLithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the three Baltic countries (all formerly part of the Soviet Union) would summon Chinese representatives to officially ask for clarification and check if its position had changed.
\nLuxembourg\u2019s foreign minister Jean Asselborn called Lu\u2019s remarks a \u201cblunder\u201d and said efforts were being made to calm things down.
\nA French official said a \u201cvery firm\u201d discussion would take place with the Chinese ambassador at the French foreign ministry.
\nLu had already been summoned to the foreign ministry several times in the past, including for suggesting France was abandoning old people in nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic and for calling a respected China scholar at a French think-tank a \u201cmad hyena\u201d.
\nEU leaders would discuss the bloc\u2019s stance towards China and its future relations with Beijing during their next summit in June, EU Council President Charles Michel said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING China respects the status of former Soviet member states as sovereign nations, its foreign ministry said on Monday, distancing itself from comments by its envoy to Paris that triggered an uproar among European capitals. Several EU foreign ministers had said earlier that comments by Ambassador Lu Shaye (in which he questioned the sovereignty of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-327242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n