In the latest development of events, The Georgian President’s Office, on Tuesday 14th of November, 2023, rejected allegations that the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, had mentioned the Chinese President Xi Jinping “in a negative context” during her interview with french media.
It is worth mentioning that allegations were being levelled against the Georgian President that in her interview with France’s LCI TV channel last week, the President of Georgia criticised the Chinese premier unnecessarily.
But now the Office of the President made it clear that the President had limited her criticism to her Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during her interview, and there was no unnecessary allegation or criticism against the Chinese premier.
The statement was released by the Office after the interview where Zourabichvili has been cited for having said that the leaders of China and Russia will cause damage to international stability and peace.
In the comment, while strongly rejecting the reports, the Office said Zourabichvili’s answer had made “no reference to Georgia-China relations or specifically the Chinese President xi-jinping”.
The statement from the President’s Office also said its Head, Natia Sulava, had already met and made the explanation to Zhou Qian, the Chinese Ambassador to Georgia, in a meeting on Tuesday and told the Chinese diplomat the interview had only concerned Georgia’s relations with the European Union and Russia.
It is worth mentioning that Officials from the ruling Georgian Dream party on Tuesday slammed the President for the interview and claimed Zourabichvili was “trying to harm the country’s interests” before the expiration of her official term in Office next year. They also said that this was an attempt to tarnish the image of Georgia at the international level and blamed the President that this will damage the cordial relationship with China.
Georgia and China established a strategic partnership in July during Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s visit to the country
