The Chinese Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, on an interview aired on French television, said: “These ex-USSR countries don’t have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialise their sovereign status“.
The Chinese Ambassador also said that “Crimea was historically part of Russia“.
The Chinese Ambassadors statements are puzzling, as, after Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the People’s Republic of China and the government of Ukraine, built formal diplomatic relations in 1992, and declared a strategic partnership in 2011.
A French foreign ministry spokesperson in Paris said “On Ukraine specifically, it was internationally recognised within borders including Crimea in 1991 by the entire international community, including China” and that “Beijing will have to clarify whether these comments reflect its position“.
Other states, all formerly part of the Soviet Union, reacted along the same lines as France.
All former Soviet republics, including Russia, emerged as independent nations after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, under the Belovezha Accords.
The Belovezha Accords.
The Belovezha Accords are accords forming the agreement declaring that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had effectively ceased to exist and established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place as a successor entity. The documentation was signed on 8 December 1991, by leaders of three of the four republics which had signed the 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR.
- Belarusian Parliament Chairman.
- Prime Minister of Belarus.
- Russian President.
- First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
- Ukrainian President.
- Ukrainian Prime Minister.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
One of the primary goals of the CIS had been to promote and protect human rights.
It was a Treaty establishing a loose regional organisation, with one major point being: [The end of the existence of the USSR, with the “setting up of lawfully constituted democratic… independent states… on the basis of mutual recognition of and respect for State sovereignty“]
There was some disagreement, as only 3 of the parties to the USSR had decided, and signed, this accord, although they were the largest three.
However, the question as to whether these Accords were sufficient to dissolve the Soviet Union was resolved on 21 December 1991, when the representatives of the remaining Soviet republics, except Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, which reiterated both the end of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the CIS.
The Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), which regard their membership in the Soviet Union as an illegal occupation, chose not to participate.
The Commonwealth of Independent States consists of: these member states: Armenia, Azerbaijan,Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and one associate state: Turkmenistan.
Georgia had withdrawn with effect from 18 August 2009.
Ukraine, one of the founding members, ceased to participate after Russia invaded their country in 2014.
Moldova suspended its participation on 30 November 2022.
Even though one of the primary goals of the CIS had been to promote and protect human rights, many of their members continue to have among the world’s poorest human rights records.
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