Romania, R. of Moldova react to the diplomatic scandal caused by the Chinese ambassador to France

Both Romania and Republic of Moldova have retorted in the diplomatic scandal triggered by the statements of the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, who doubted that the former Soviet republics would have a regulated status and that Crimea is part of Ukraine.

“We condemn the position of the Chinese ambassador Lu Shaye. Such statements are unacceptable and contradict the UN Charter”, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said.

He made these statements on Monday, before the Foreign Affairs Council (CAE) in Luxembourg, which brought together the foreign ministers of the European Union states.

In its turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova considers absolutely unacceptable the challenge by a Chinese ambassador of the sovereignty of the former component republics of the Soviet Union, Radio Chisinau reports on Monday.

“We are surprised to hear these statements by the Chinese ambassador in France who questioned the sovereignty of the countries that declared their independence in 1991. During the last three decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Republic of Moldova and the People’s Republic of China have built bilateral relations based on mutual respect and support for sovereignty and territorial integrity“, says a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chisinau,

In an interview broadcast on French television on Friday, China’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet countries such as Ukraine. He was asked if he considered the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, to be part of Ukraine under international law.

“Even these countries in the former Soviet Union do not have an effective status, as we say, under international law, because there is no international agreement to materialize their status as a sovereign country,” Lu said.

Regarding Crimea, he said: “It depends on how you perceive this issue. There is a history. Crimea was Russia’s at first. Khrushchev was the one who gave Crimea to Ukraine during the Soviet Union”.

Bloomberg said the Chinese embassy in France deleted the transcript of the interview with the ambassador from its WeChat account. The interview was not published on the embassy’s official website, the BBC reports.

The Chinese diplomat’s remarks were also condemned by France, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Nearly 80 European parliamentarians have asked the French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, to declare the Chinese ambassador in Paris, Lu Shaye, persona non grata.