Lu Shaye creates a mess in the EU; Covid; PLAN turns 74; Guizhou debt; Dong Yuyu
Summary of the today’s top items:
Amb. Lu Shaye denies the sovereignty of former Soviet states, foreign ministry walks it back - The PRC Ambassador to France caused a huge uproar with comments in an interview on French TV that Crimea may not belong to Ukraine and “in international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have the status, the effective [status] in international law, because there is no international agreement to materialize their status as a sovereign country.” Officials from the erased countries and other EU officials are justifiably outraged. The Foreign Ministry has tried to walk back his comments, both at the Monday press conference as well as in a statement on the website of the PRC Embassy to France which said that Lu’s comments were “an expression of personal views”. Why would Lu even think this? Will he be punished for a statement that has damaged the PRC efforts to improve ties with the EU? Are these ideas circulating in non-public discussions in the bu…