Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye received criticism after he questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet states in an interview aired on French television, Bloomberg reports.
When asked if Crimea was part of Ukraine, Lu said that no international agreement establishes some “ex-Soviet Union countries” as sovereign nations.
The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have summoned the top Chinese diplomats in their respective countries to explain the comments.
“The Baltic states under international law have been sovereign since 1918 but were occupied for 50 years.”
– Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs
