Sputnik/Sergei Karpukhin/Pool via REUTERS
- China's foreign ministry walked back ambassador's comments dismissing ex-Soviet states' sovereignty.
- European countries reacted angrily to Lu Shaye's comments, which hinted at closer China-Russia ties.
- Russia questioned Ukrainian sovereignty as part of its justification for invading in February 2022.
On Monday, China disavowed comments from one of its ambassadors, who said that former Soviet states aren't real countries.
The comments led to a strong European backlash, with many seemingly worried that they signaled closer Beijing support for Russia's war in Ukraine.
Lu Shaye, China's ambassador to France, said in an interview aired on Friday that the countries that emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union don't have status under international law "because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country," according to the Associated Press.
Lu was talking in the context of Crimea, the region that Russia unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
But on Monday, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said that "China respects the sovereign state status of the participating republics after the dissolution of the Soviet Union."
The comments seemed to walk back Lu's earlier remarks, which were met with anger by European nations, especially those that were once part of the Soviet Union and are now sovereign, independent countries that are members of the EU and NATO.
Lu's comments were condemned by the Baltic countries, which were once part of the Soviet Union, as well as by Ukraine and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
France's foreign ministry said these countries gained independence "after decades of oppression."
The Baltic nations – Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia — have been among Ukraine's strongest allies, with their support for the country deepening since Russia's invasion in February 2022. All are worried that Russia could attack them next.
Other former Soviet Union countries include Ukraine and Moldova, as well as Central Asian countries that Russia has retained closer ties to.
Moldova's foreign ministry expressed surprise about Lu's initial statement, saying that mutual respect and territorial integrity have been key to ties between China and Moldova.
—🇲🇩 MFA Moldova (@MoldovaMFA) April 24, 2023
Russia and China's partnership has deepened over the past few months, after China initially seemed unhappy with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
And Lu's comments seemed to suggest that China's foreign policy was inching closer to that of Russia. Russia questioned the independence of Ukraine as part of its effort to justify its invasion.
China is also supporting the Russian economy by buying more oil from it than before the conflict, with US officials warning that it could start sending Russia lethal weapons.
The Baltic countries have already questioned China's efforts to play peacemaker in Ukraine, and Lu's comments appear to have made them even more concerned.
Estonia's foreign minister said Lu's comments were "false and a misinterpretation of history," and Latvia's foreign minister called them "completely unacceptable."
"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 basism" Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis tweeted.
Beijing's row back is unlikely to put many minds at rest.