April 24, 2023
- By RFE/RL
Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have summoned Chinese envoys in their countries to explain recent comments by Beijing's ambassador to France that questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet states amid Russia's war against Ukraine.
Speaking during a European Union foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on April 24, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said calling in the ambassadors was aimed at getting an explanation as to whether the "Chinese position has changed on independence and to remind them that we're not post-Soviet countries but we're the countries that were illegally occupied by Soviet Union."
The controversy was sparked by comments from China's ambassador to France on April 21.
During an interview with the French television station LCI, ambassador Lu Shaye suggested countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union "don't have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations."
Russia has used such sentiment as one of the reasons it justifies its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union, launched in February 2022.
Countries such as the Baltics say they were independent nations before the Soviet Union was created and then occupied them. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the nations say they did not emerge from the regime but instead regained their independence.
Estonia's top diplomat, Margus Tsahkna, said that since the three Baltic states are members of the European Union and NATO, it is clear the Baltic states are independent sovereign countries.
"We are not satisfied with that announcement," he said, adding he hoped the Chinese envoys would clarify the remarks.
Added Landsbergis: "They questioned the borders, they questioned the territorial integrity of the countries. This is the narrative we've been hearing from Moscow."
Moldova, a country that gained its independence from Moscow following the Soviet Union's breakup, also said Lu's comments were "absolutely unacceptable" and that it too would be seeking clarification from Beijing.
Beijing appeared on April 24 to back away from the comments with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning saying China respects the status of the former Soviet member states as sovereign nations.
That did little to calm the situation, with the comments rippling through the European Union as well.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky called the statement "totally unacceptable," while the top EU diplomat, Josep Borrell, said talks during meeting in Luxembourg concerning EU-China relations will consider the Chinese ambassador's comments.
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