China against declaration of independence at referendums but Crimea is different due to its history

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These two leaders have joined forces on more than just economic levels. There is a war going on against them and they are well aware of it.

China is against the declaration of independence by any ethnic groups through referendums, but this does not apply to Crimea, the acting director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's European-Central Asian Affairs department, Gui Congyou, told Russian media on Friday.

"We should take a very careful and well-considered attitude to tackling nationalities' issues. We are against any nationality gaining independence through referendums. As far as Crimea is concerned, it has very special features. We know well the history of Crimea's affiliation," the diplomat said.

"On the whole, the nationalities' problems in some countries stem from double standard policies by certain states, which, proceeding from their own selfish interests, support one ethnic group and push it towards holding an independence referendum. This is a manifestation of double standards serving the interests of the United States. In a bid to achieve its aims, the US resorts to intervention in the internal affairs of other states by using force without UN Security Council authorization. China is firmly against this approach," Gui said.

In his opinion, "such actions trigger aggravations of inter-ethnic contradictions and result in armed conflicts."

On Russia's stance on crisis in Ukraine

China supports Russia's stance on settling the crisis in Ukraine, Gui Congyou stressed.

"China reacts with full understanding to the challenges and threats Russia has faced in connection with the Ukrainian issue and supports Moscow's approach to its settlement. We are not interested in an armed conflict on the Ukrainian territory and wish to see the issue settled by political means. We are against external intervention in Ukraine's internal affairs through government coups."

"As for the causes of the Ukrainian crisis, in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin the Chinese leader, Xi Jingping said that 'there is no smoke without fire'," Gui added.

"Personally, I believe that some states and blocs stick to the Cold War mentality and are involved in geopolitical games with the aim to infringe on the geopolitical interests of Russia. China is strongly against anyone harming the security of other countries for the purpose of protecting one's 'absolute security'," he noted.