Linas Jegelevičius
Likewise the other two Baltic nations, Lithuania, has been angered and infuriated by China’s ambassador in Paris who questioned the sovereignty not only of Ukraine, but all the former Soviet Republics including the Baltic States.
When asked whether he considered the peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, part of Ukraine under international law, Lu Shaye, the Chinese ambassador, told a TV interview last Friday, the 21st of April, that “even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have effective status, as we say, under international law because there’s no international accord to concretise their status as a sovereign country.”
The audacious and preposterous remarks have dismayed Lithuanian politicians, analysts and the public alike.
“The Chinese diplomat behind the statement is not some rookie, but a very seasoned diplomat, so it cannot be viewed as a slip of tongue or a blunder.
It is meant to test Western unity and the red lines the West has drawn.
Certainly, it is an alarming statement, which probably reflects the views of not only a single diplomat but that of the Chinese leadership,” Liutauras Gudzinskas, docent at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science, told BNN.
Approached by BNN, Dainius Kepenis, member of the Lithuanian Parliament, the Seimas, opined that, by the statement, China is sending a new strong signal of questioning the current world order.
“We are living at a time of quintessential changes, at a time when China is emerging as a formidable power, one willing to change the (world) order, which is something Russia has always aimed at. And we see that there are more countries than the two, like Brazil and South Africa, that are also clamouring for a multi-polar world as opposed to the US-policed world,” the MP told BNN.
According to him, if the shift happens, it will trigger a slew of geopolitical turbulences.
“For us, small nations like Lithuania, it is a bad omen, meaning that the hard-fought independence we have is still vulnerable, as all of us here in the Baltics are (vulnerable)” the lawmaker added.
Following the Chinese ambassador’s demarche, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry announced swiftly 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.
“First of all, this is completely unacceptable…The Baltic countries invited Chinese representatives to explain whether China’s position on independence has changed and I want to remind that
we are not a post-Soviet state, that we are countries that were illegally occupied by the Soviet Union,”
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, commented.
The Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas said that this shows what kind of internal dispute is going on in China itself regarding the relationship with Eastern European.
Meanwhile, Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, professor at the Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science, says that the increased level of conflict between America and China is now also reflected in other regions of the world.
“It shows that China and Russia are striving for a world dominated by spheres of power and influence, rather than international rules and norms…The Chinese are conducting aggressive exercises near Taiwan, which the Americans are committed to defending. Europeans worry that a conflict here would cause the Americans, Ukraine’s main backers, to withdraw from Europe. The aim is to intimidate Western countries, so that they are divided due to their attitude towards China,” the analyst said.
Last Sunday, with the statement out, the Global Alliance for China, which unites parliamentarians, appealed to French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to declare Beijing’s ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, persona non grata. The appeal was signed by Lithuanian MEPs Andrius Kubilius, Petras Auštrevičius, also Lithuanian MPs Dovilė Šakalienė, Giedrius Surplys and Eugenijus Sabutis.
“Frankly speaking, with my signature on the appeal, I was not naively expecting that France will give in our pressure and expel the ambassador. However, the political reaction we expressed was very timely and even surprised me, as even Borrell himself reacted…The questioning of the existing status of the states and their borders can be a sinister omen, a sign of China’s policy,” MEP Petras Auštrevičius told BNN.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called the Chinese ambassador’s remarks “unacceptable” in a tweet last Sunday.
“The EU can only suppose these declarations do not represent China’s official policy,”
Borrell said.
In the wake of the scandal, France issued a statement last Sunday, stating its “full solidarity” with all the allied countries affected, which it said had acquired their independence after decades of oppression.
The foreign ministry spokesperson also called on China to clarify whether the ambassador’s statement reflects its position or not.
Amid the uproar, the Chinese government said Monday it respected the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijing’s ambassador to France caused an uproar in Europe by saying they weren’t sovereign nations.
After Beijing insisted that its ambassador to France expressed his personal views for the French audience, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis has said swiftly that the issue is now “closed.”
“I think there should be no further continuation. China has officially clarified the ambassador’s words, saying that this is his personal opinion…In this case, the issue is closed,” Landsbergis said on Tuesday, April 25, after the clearance.
However, Landsbergis emphasised that the Chinese ambassador’s remarks demonstrated “clearly” why European countries had little faith in China’s ability to play a constructive role in brokering peace.
“If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states don’t trust China to “broker peace in Ukraine”, here’s a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries’ borders have no legal basis,” he said on Twitter amid the uproar.