The foreign ministers of the EU Member States condemned the remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France on Ukraine on Monday 24 April.
Ambassador Lu Shaye questioned the sovereignty of the former Soviet Union countries in an interview with French television channel LCI on Friday 21 April, prompting a number of European political figures to react, starting with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, who described his remarks as unacceptable on 23 April. “The EU can only suppose these declarations do not represent China’s official policy”, he added.
The Chinese embassy in France said in a statement on 24 April that the ambassador’s remarks did not reflect Chinese policy on the status of Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc countries. “China respects the sovereign status of the republics born after the dissolution of the Soviet Union”, the embassy spokesman said.
“This is good news”, reacted Josep Borrell, who stressed that the EU expects China “to act in defence of international rules and norms, entirely not selectively”.
The EU’s position on China must, in any case, be updated and “recalibrated and redefined”, according to the High Representative.
In June, EU leaders will discuss EU-China relations on the basis of a policy paper under preparation. This should also be discussed by the foreign ministers in May.
Also on 24 April, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis met with Chinese Trade Minister Wang Wentao. They discussed EU-China bilateral relations in the broadest sense and prepared the next EU-China High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue.
Valdis Dombrovskis also wanted to seek clarification from his counterpart on the Chinese ambassador’s remarks, he said on 24 April, before the embassy released its statement. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal with Camille-Cerise Gessant)