Prime Minister Gharibashvili Condemns President Zourabichvili's Statement on Chinese President Xi Jinping
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
According to the Georgian government administration, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili met with the Chinese Ambassador to Georgia, Zhou Qian, and expressed regret regarding President Zourabichvili's recent statement about Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In an interview with LCI, President Zourabichvili was asked whether she hopes that Putin and Xi Jinping will ever be prosecuted - Xi Jinping for the genocide of the Uyghurs and Putin for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The president stated that such an outcome would be historic, putting certain issues in their place, although she acknowledged that it is not realistic.
As per information from the administration, during the meeting with the Chinese ambassador, the Prime Minister strongly condemned the statement made by the President of Georgia, describing it as both categorically unacceptable and deeply disturbing.
The Prime Minister clarified to Chinese Ambassador Zhou Qian that the president "does not oversee foreign policy," as this authority is "exclusive" to the Georgian government.
"The mentioned rhetoric contradicts the attitude of the Georgian authorities and the Georgian people towards China, and it does not correspond to the spirit of the friendly, strategic partnership between the two countries. This harms the friendly and partnership relationship between them.
According to the Prime Minister, unfortunately, this isn't the first time the President of Georgia has, in violation of the Constitution and to the detriment of state interests, engaged in separate activities and offered personal assessments on international issues not in line with the country's government. This places Georgia's international image in an uncomfortable position, and it was the President's public and blatant violation of constitutional norms that led the ruling team to initiate impeachment proceedings.
According to the Prime Minister, Georgia is a parliamentary republic, where the president does not oversee the country's foreign policy.
In Georgia, the exclusive authority to conduct the country's foreign policy has been entrusted solely to the Government of Georgia by the Georgian people.
Hence, the statement of the President of Georgia does not even formally represent the official stance of the Georgian government towards the Chinese state and its leader. The Prime Minister expressed regret over the statement made by the President of Georgia and conveyed hope that the said statement would not adversely impact the exceptionally positive historical dynamics of the relationship between Georgia and China," the statement reads.
