CHINA - Denies Sovereignty of Ex-Soviet Nations
The governments of former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were among those who rejected Ambassador Lu Shaye’s comment. Macron, at a summit in Ostend, Belgium, said in an interview with TFI Info, that “I don’t think it’s the place of a diplomat to use such language.”
He offered “full solidarity to countries which were attacked in the reading of their histories and their borders.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said earlier that “China respects the sovereign status of the former Soviet countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.” Mao Ning said Beijing’s position is “consistent and clear” but gave no indication whether Lu’s comment was considered incorrect.
The ambassador drew a parallel between Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics that declared independence from Moscow when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.
“With regards to international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries, they do not, they do not have the status—how to say it?—that’s effective in international law, because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country,” Lu told news channel LCI.
The Chinese Embassy in France clarified the ambassador’s remarks, saying in a statement that Lu was not making a “political declaration, but an expression of his personal view during a televised debate.”
Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it said, “China was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the nations concerned. ... The Chinese side respects the status of sovereign nations born after the breakup of the Soviet Union.”
[France’s Foreign Ministry] said the international community—China included—recognized the 15 nations which gained or recovered independence with the break-up of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine and its borders that included Crimea when it declared independence in 1991.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doesn’t recognize Ukraine's sovereignty. The Kremlin has also made clear that it sees the independence of the Baltic States and their role in NATO and the EU as threats to Russian security.
-abcnews.go.com, 24 April 2023
Arno's Commentary
While China proudly presents its ancient history with documented evidence, one must realize that the former Soviet Republics do as well: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania—and in this case, Ukraine. Wars and political ambitions have changed borders throughout Europe; and for that matter, the rest of the world as well. Long before there was a Soviet Union, the Ukraine existed with its own culture, language, and traditions. Wikipedia writes that the early Slavic Chernoles culture goes back to 500 BC. But in the Ukrainian case, borders continue to change. According to analysis, it seems all but impossible for Crimea to be Ukrainian again.
It is of interest that of the 37 signers of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, most originated from Ukraine. Israel’s only female prime minister, Golda Meir—who became the first ambassador of Israel to the Soviet Union in 1948—was born in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Here is what the Bible says about the borders of the nations: “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 32:8). Interestingly, we read in the New Testament: “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26). We emphasize the words, “and the bounds [boundaries] of their habitation.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
