Crimean problem should be solved through dialogue - Li Keqiang

BEIJING, March 15 /TASS/. China supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine but the question of Crimea is extremely complicated and should therefore be solved through dialogue and negotiations, Li Keqiang, the premier of the State Council of China, said on Sunday. "As for the problem of Crimea, its causes are complicated. We hope that a political solution could be found to it by means of dialogue," Li Keqiang told a news conference held after the third session of the All-China Assembly of People’s Representatives of the 12th convocation. He noted that the Ukraine crisis had aggravated the international geopolitical situation and the process of restoration of the global economy. "We hope that this issue can be solved by means of dialogue, negotiations and consultations," the premier of the State Council of China said. Meanwhile, a recent public opinion poll suggests that most Crimean inhabitants - 93% in July-August 2014 and 91% in February 2015 - believe the peninsula’s reunification with Russia that took place after the March 16 referendum in 2014 was a step in the right direction, an opinion poll suggests. "Ninety percent of respondents said they would have voted for the reunification again if a new referendum on the territory’s status had been held compared to 5% who said they would prefer Crimea to have the status of an autonomous republic, which is part of Ukraine," the state-run public opinion research fund VTSIOM said in its report. The results canvassed from 1,600 Crimean inhabitants on February 9-18 showed that 69% of Crimean residents had given positive assessment to the peninsula’s reunification with Russia, including 18% who said that all the problems of the transitional period had been solved and 51% who believed that many of the problems had successfully been resolved by now. The opposite view was expressed by 29% of respondents, including 25% who assumed that the bulk of the problems were still lying ahead and 4% who said that the process of Crimea’s reunification with Russia had failed. Eighty-one percent of respondents said they were satisfied with how things were going in Crimea. Their number has remained unchanged since June 2014. Fifteen percent of respondents, according to VTSIOM, felt dissatisfied with the current situation in Crimea. Sixty-six percent of respondents have noticed positive changes in their lives over the past few months. Life has become worse for just 7%. Twenty-five percent have not noticed any considerable changes. The level of satisfaction with life is very high: 82% in June 2014 and 86% in February 2015. Negative assessments have been received from 12% of those polled. Sixty-two percent of Crimean residents are satisfied with their material well-being compared to 37% who are dissatisfied with their material status. Forty-five percent of respondents said they had improved their living standards over the past year. Inflation is the main problem mentioned by 79% of respondents. Others spoke about unemployment /56%/ and bad roads /47%/. Receipt of new documents is another big problem for Crimean inhabitants. Forty-one percent of respondents said it was one of the most urgent problems of their city or district. Read more