My Take | China’s questioning sovereignty of post-Soviet states is tit-for-tat over Taiwan
- Beijing would not care about their international status if only the West would stop weaponising the island against the mainland
There are, predictably, already cries of outrage. In the coming days, they will grow louder across the West. How dare a senior Chinese diplomat question the legitimacy and sovereignty of post-Soviet states!
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are all up in arms, having made angry calls to their respective Chinese ambassadors to demand an explanation of this outrageous provocation.
It’s highly unlikely that Lu was speaking on his own initiative rather than being unleashed by Beijing as the alpha wolf warrior of the Chinese diplomatic corps. What he said must be music to Vladimir Putin’s ears, and yes, it doesn’t help with the Ukraine conflict. But then, for the Baltic states and others, you reap what you sow.
Since Lithuania and its Baltic and eastern European neighbours – along with much of the European Union – have been so keen on messing with China’s one single true red line – Taiwan as an integral part of the Chinese nation – by following Uncle Sam’s lead, it’s only fair Beijing has now reciprocated. That’s tit-for-tat!
It’s not like Beijing hasn’t been warning those Baltic and European states to back off. But every time, they merely up the ante over Taiwan. Now they are going to complain, having tested Beijing’s patience for years.
In a tweet, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote: “If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states don’t trust China to ‘broker peace in Ukraine’, here’s a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries’ borders have no legal basis.”