Geopolitics and Markets Review – 24th April 2023

Sections:

1) Chinese Ambassador to France Says Ex-Soviet States Not Sovereign

2) Lavrov In New York

3) India, Iran, and Armenia Form A Trilateral Group

4) China’s WZ-8 Spy Drone

5) My Travels

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Chinese Ambassador to France Says Ex-Soviet States Not Sovereign

France has been in the news a lot recently.

I wonder what they’re trying to hide! Maybe walls being built in the middle of the A57, or the raid of Euronext by protestors, who knows!

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

One thing out of their control was recent comments by the Chinese ambassador to France Lu Shaye. He stated the former Soviet states don’t have “effective status in international law”. The Baltics, Ukraine, Moldova, France, and the EU have all criticised the comments.

Lu stated there was “no international agreement to materialize their status as sovereign states”.

The outrage when Ukraine, a former Soviet state, has Russian troops occupying some of its territories has placed Lu’s remarks under scrutiny, with many states asking China for clarification. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said China “respects the sovereign state status” of all former Soviet countries.

It appears that these comments are attributed to Lu alone, and don’t represent the views of others. But this could have damaged China’s negotiating abilities for peace in Ukraine.

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Lavrov In New York

This month sees Russia take over in the rotating system that sees the presidency of the United Nations Security Council change.