China’s ambassador to France hits out at Emmanuel Macron’s team for backing ‘hypocritical’ EU stance on Hong Kong protests
- Lu Shaye, who had a history of making hardline remarks while based in Canada, expressed ‘deep contempt’ for Brussels ‘glorifying’ violence
- Diplomat’s accusation comes ahead of French president’s planned visit to China next month
China’s ambassador to France has derided President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic team for endorsing a “hypocritical” statement on Hong Kong issued by the European Union.
Lu Shaye, who is known for his hardline remarks while he was ambassador to Canada, expressed “deep contempt” for Brussels, saying it was “glorifying” the use of violence by Hong Kong protesters, whose anti-government demonstrations will soon be entering into the fifth month.
He also said France should show empathy for the Hong Kong police just as Beijing empathised with the French police’s handling of violent protesters – an apparent reference to the months-long “yellow vest” demonstrations.
Lu – who has previously upset the Canadian government for attributing its detention of Huawei Technologies’ top executive Meng Wanzhou to “white supremacy” – made his latest remarks a month ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron’s expected visit to China.
“We express our strong dissatisfaction and our deep contempt for the hypocrisy of the EU declaration as well as the dark intentions of some vis-à-vis China,” Lu wrote in a statement published on Twitter.