European officials are gearing up for talks on how to deal with China after a series of controvertial events.
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China said Monday it respects the independency of former Soviet nations after remarks by its ambassador in France were deemed “unacceptable” in Europe.
It comes as the 27 members of the European Union reassess their diplomatic and economic relationship with Beijing.
Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to France, told French media on Friday that countries formerly part of the Soviet Union lacked status in international law. A transcript with the ambassadors remarks was removed by the Chinese embassy on Monday morning.
The comment sparked criticism in several European capitals, particularly in the Baltic nations, which broke free from the USSR after it collapsed in 1991.
“We are not ex-Soviet countries. We are countries that were illegally occupied by the Soviet Union,” Lithuania Foreign Affairs Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters in Luxembourg.
That sentiment was echoed by Estonian Foreign Affairs Minister Margus Tsahkna, “We are an independent country, member of the EU, of NATO. I hope there will be an explanation.”
Speaking also in Luxembourg, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said the comments of the Chinese ambassador were “totally unacceptable.”
“We are denouncing such statement and we hope the bosses of this ambassador will make things straight,” Lipavsky said.
It was within this context, that the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign affairs ministry, Mao Ning, said Monday, “China respects the status of the former Soviet republics as sovereign countries after the Soviet Union’s dissolution.”
This is just the latest episode in a series of controversial events between China and the European Union.
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