Chinese Foreign Ministry: Beijing’s position on Crimea has not changed

China respects the sovereignty of all countries, and Beijing’s position on Crimea has not changed. Such a statement did The official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, asked TASS to comment on the words of the Chinese ambassador to France, Liu Shaye, about the ownership of Crimea.

“China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and upholds the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” the diplomat said.

Mao Ning also pointed to the consistency of China’s position on the Ukrainian issue. Beijing is ready to contribute to a political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, she added, stressing that China respects the sovereignty of the former Soviet republics.

On April 21, Liu Shaye said on the air of the French TV channel LCI that the countries of the former USSR “do not have an effective status in international law, since there is no international agreement specifying their status as sovereign countries.” Crimea, he added, was originally Russian, but the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine. According to the diplomat, it is necessary to achieve an early cease-fire, and not to “cavil about” questions about the post-Soviet borders.

Chinese ambassador’s words called harsh criticism in Ukraine and the Baltics. On April 23, European parliamentarians called on the French government to declare Liu Shaye persona non grata. In a statement saysthat the words of the Chinese diplomat are aggressive, allegedly violate international law and pose a threat to the security of the EU countries – partners of France.

Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 after a referendum. According to its results, 96.77% of voters in the Republic of Crimea and 95.6% in Sevastopol were in favor of joining Russia. At the same time, most countries, including China, did not recognize the results of the vote and the entry of Crimea into the Russian Federation.