EU MPs call on France to declare Chinese ambassador persona non grata

European parliamentarians called on the French government to declare Chinese Ambassador to France Liu Shaye persona non grata because of his statements about Crimea. Almost 80 parliamentarians addressed the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonnet with such a request, informed the Le Monde newspaper that published their statement.

On April 21, Chinese diplomat 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 Soviet Secretary General Nikita Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine. According to the diplomat, in the Ukrainian crisis, it is necessary to achieve an early ceasefire, and not to “cavil” on issues of post-Soviet borders.

Members of the European Parliament in their statement pointed out that the Chinese ambassador’s remarks are aggressive and allegedly violate international law, and his words should be seen as a threat to the security of France’s European partner countries.

“Such comments go far beyond acceptable diplomatic discourse. These are the words of the “wolf warriors” in full swing, which should not go unanswered,” the parliamentarians said in a statement.

In addition, in their opinion, the ambassador’s remarks “deeply offend the history, culture and fundamental integrity of the nations involved.” They also aim to undermine the fundamental principles on which predictable diplomatic relations are based, MPs say. The authors of the statement stressed that this is not the first time the Chinese ambassador has made such “outrageous and derogatory” remarks.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics earlier called the words of the Chinese ambassador unacceptable. On April 24, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic summoned the Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Riga to give explanations. “This step is agreed with Lithuania and Estonia,” he wrote on his Twitter.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis called Liu Shaye’s statement another argument in favor of the fact that the Baltic countries cannot be trusted with China as a mediator in the settlement in Ukraine. Vilnius and Tallinn also summoned diplomats from China for explanations, Delfi wrote.

On February 24, China presented its plan to get out of the Ukrainian conflict, which includes 12 points, including respect for the sovereignty of all countries, the cessation of hostilities, the start of peace negotiations, etc. Western countries and Ukraine did not support this plan.