Chinese embassy in France removes scandalous interview about former Soviet states

The Chinese Embassy in France has removed a transcript of a controversial interview, in which Chinese ambassador questioned the independence of former Soviet Union states, remarks that generated anger across Europe. 

Source: European Pravda with reference to the Bloomberg agency

The embassy had initially posted the entire transcript of Ambassador Lu Shaye’s remarks in both Chinese and French on its official WeChat account Monday morning.

By noon Beijing time, however, the transcript had been removed, with links saying the content "has been deleted by the author."

The notorious interview has not been published on the official website of the embassy either.

In the interview with French broadcaster LCI that aired Friday, Lu said some "ex-Soviet Union countries" don’t have effective status under international law. 

The comments angered Baltic nations – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – which said they’d summon Chinese diplomats in their capitals to have Lu’s remarks explained. Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called the statement "unacceptable."

Vadym Omelchenko, Ukrainian ambassador in France, reacted sharply to the statements by the Chinese diplomat.

Following the outrage, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China stated on Monday that China respected the status of former Soviet republics as sovereign states after the collapse of the USSR.

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