The foreign ministries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Monday summoned the heads of their respective Chinese embassies to protest a statement by the Chinese ambassador to France that former Soviet Union countries “do not have effective status under international law”.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry reported that it expressed protest to Qu Baihua, China’s acting chargé d’affaires in Lithuania.
“The three Baltic countries were occupied illegally. Law cannot be born out of illegality – that’s the principle of international law, under which the collapse of illegal Soviet occupation signified the continuation of Baltic sovereignty,” the ministry said in a press release.
“The Chinese ambassador’s comments distort the history of the Baltic countries and other states,” the ministry stressed.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said that the statements made by Lu Shaye, the Chinese ambassador to France, went contrary to the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Lithuania.
Lu said in an interview with France’s news channel LCI on Friday that countries that emerged after the breakup of the Soviet Union “do not have effective status under international law because there is not an international agreement confirming their status as sovereign nations”.
Further reading
On Monday, however, the Chinese government insisted that it respects the sovereignty of all former Soviet countries.
“China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Monday.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry confirmed to BNS that the other Baltic countries also summoned Chinese ambassadors to voice protest.
Further reading
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
