Ambassador in line for recall after hot take on former USSR countries

Chinese ambassador to Paris Lu Shaye is in line for a recall to Beijing.

This follows the 58-year-old diplomat making a controversial remark in an interview on French television in April, questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet countries, including Ukraine.

His words reverberated across Europe, and Beijing distanced itself by reaffirming respect for national status of countries involved.

The upshot, sources told The Standard sister paper Sing Tao Daily, is that Lu will return to Beijing to be president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries to promote nongovernmental diplomacy. Yet Lu, it was also said, has been in France for four years and so it would be normal for him to return to Beijing.

He could be succeeded by Deng Li , the 58-year-old vice minister of foreign affairs, who served as a minister of the Chinese embassy in Paris from 2011 to 2015.

Lu was born in October 1964 in Nanjing and graduated from China Foreign Affairs University. He is proficient in French and has been working in foreign affairs for 25 years.

He was appointed ambassador to Paris and Monaco in 2019 after serving as ambassador to Ottowa from 2017 to 2019, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's Department of African Affairs from 2009 to 2014 and ambassador to Senegal from 2006 to 2009.

The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries is currently led by former ambassador to Pretoria Lin Songtian, 63.

Since March, Lin has also been serving as deputy director of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference's Committee of Foreign Affairs.

Lu is proud of having a reputation of being a "wolf-warrior diplomat" - coined from the Chinese action film Wolf Warrior 2 to mean an assertive representative.

"Since there are so many 'mad dogs' attacking China I'm honored to receive the title of a 'wolf-warrior,' " he said in 2021. "We are soldiers standing in front of our motherland and fighting for her, blocking the way of 'mad dogs' that attack China."

During his time in Ottowa he accused Canada of having a "white supremacy" attitude by adopting a double standard in demanding the release of two citizens in China while arresting Huawei chief financial officer Sabrina Meng Wanzhou.

In his latest broadside Lu told a French television channel that former Soviet countries including Ukraine lacked "actual status in international law."

And on whether Crimea is part of Ukraine Lu said it was part of Russia historically and was offered to Ukraine by former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

"These ex-USSR countries don't have actual status in international law because there is no international agreement to materialize their sovereign status," he added.

His words caused dismay in Europe, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said China respected the sovereignty of the states concerned after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Chinese embassy in Paris said Lu's comments were his personal opinion and should not be over-interpreted.