The Double Standard of the West toward Kosovo and Crimea
While events in Kosovo and Crimea have essentially amounted to another two rounds in the game of great power politics, the parties involved have all attempted to present themselves as the ones donning the mantle of international law. But in truth, on these issues, the West has adopted a double standard that stems from the calculus for its own political ambitions and has taken to interpreting international law as it pleases.
With regard to Kosovo, the West has declared that human rights should take precedence over sovereignty, becoming a strong advocate for Kosovar independence. In Crimea, however, it has taken a line of maintaining the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine. This sort of hypocrisy reveals that the standards of Western nations are not fixed, but rather more ad hoc.
In fact, whether it is the independence of Kosovo or Crimea — not to mention South Ossetia and Abkhazia — the West has evinced a lack of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of many states, as well as a similar irreverence for international law. The West was the first to open this Pandora's box with its armed intervention in Kosovo and subsequent recognition of the region's independence. Russia opposed the action, believing that it would set a dangerous precedent. Just as with Putin's positions regarding South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008, his stance on Crimea, citing Kosovar independence as a precedent, is an obvious counter jab at the West.
And concerning the issue of Crimea, China should respond dispassionately and prudently, and can refer back to its policy on Kosovo. When the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1244 on Kosovo in 1998, China abstained from voting, being of the opinion that the situation was an internal affair of Yugoslavia's and should therefore be resolved in a manner chosen by its people. On Feb. 17, 1998, Kosovo — with the unspoken blessings of the U.S. and Europe — unilaterally declared independence in a move that China has neither acknowledged nor repudiated to this day.
http://watchingamerica.com/News/236432/the-double-standard-of-the-west-toward-kosovo-and-crimea/
