Vitaly Portnikov: Crimea is not a topic for discussion
Fu Kong, China’s ambassador to the European Union, said he saw no reason why Ukraine should not return to its internationally recognized borders of 1991. For many in the West and in Ukraine, the statement sparked enthusiasm because it was the clearest Chinese position on the concept of territorial integrity and international law.
Namely, respecting the territorial integrity of all countries is mentioned almost in the first paragraph of the so-called Chinese “peace plan”. And it has always been important to understand in which borders the PRC sees Russia and in which – Ukraine. Is there a Chinese concept of the “constitutional borders” of the Russian Federation that comes up whenever Moscow needs to justify its annexation of Crimea and other Ukrainian regions?
Now we can say that it does not exist. That the PRC recognizes internationally recognized borders, let only one ambassador say it. But no Chinese ambassador will make such statements if they do not coincide with the party line and are not made by the CPC Central Committee and the Foreign Ministry of the People’s Republic of China.
But if you carefully read the text of the ambassador’s interview with the Aljazeera TV channel and other publications, we will find another important thesis in it – the thesis about the need to solve “historical issues” through an agreement between Russia and Ukraine. That is, from the point of view of the Chinese representative in the EU, it is not so much about the occupation of Ukrainian territory as about a historical problem that can be resolved through consultations. But, by the way, such consultations can end in different ways. They can recognize the territorial integrity of Ukraine or recognize the “new territorial realities” of Ukraine that the Kremlin insists on.
In this way, the Chinese position is much closer, in my opinion, to the Russian one than to the Ukrainian one. Kiev does not consider that there are “historical issues” and insists that any negotiations with Russia can begin only after the withdrawal of the occupying forces from Ukrainian territories. And in Moscow they are trying to insist on the recognition of the occupation as a fait accompli and are ready to start consultations for this recognition today.
From the idea that “historical problems” should be solved by Russia and Ukraine to the scandalous thesis of another Chinese ambassador – the head of the diplomatic mission in France Lou Chae, that the former Soviet republics have some “not such” sovereignty – literally one step. Because only a state with limited sovereignty can agree to a discussion of its territorial integrity, whatever historical considerations may explain this.
For the purity of China’s position, I think they should not only recognize the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but also agree that this territorial integrity is not a topic for discussion. Moreover, it is not a topic for discussions with a country that encroaches on this territorial integrity.
Source: Vitaly Portnikov for krymr.com
Bessarabian Front
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2023-06-30 06:05:00
#Crimea #topic #discussion
