NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry has officially protested an article published on a Chinese website that questioned Kazakhstan’s territorial integrity.

The ministry said on April 14 that it "held talks with the Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, Zhang Xiao, during which the ministry protested against the publication of an article on the website sohu.com in China titled 'Why Is Kazakhstan Eager To Get Back to China?'"

The article's author wrote that Kazakhstan is located on territories that historically belong to China.

According to the ministry’s statement, Ambassador Zhang was informed that the publication of the article in question “does not correspond to the spirit of the eternal multilateral strategic partnership stressed in the joint statement," a reference to an accord signed by Kazakh and Chinese leaders in September 2019 that aims to develop closer ties between the neighboring countries.