Human rights issue US tool to meddle in China affairs: Official
China has sharply slammed the US-led criticism of its human rights record at the United Nations, saying Washington is using the issue of human rights as a pretext to meddle in Beijing’s internal affairs.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Long Lei was reacting on Friday to a recent joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council by the US and 11 other countries, criticizing China’s human rights record.
The statement also called on Beijing to release all detained activists and lawyers.
Lei further rejected the claims in the statement and said the Chinese constitution and institutions protect legal rights of suspects.
“China is a country ruled by law, the legal institutions handle cases in accordance with the law and guarantee the legal rights of suspects in accordance with the law, the US and other countries are using human rights as an excuse to interfere with related events in China, it’s an interference with China’s sovereignty and legal sovereignty,” he said.
Chinese UN diplomat Fu Cong had already lashed out at the US, in particular, and blamed it for crimes including “rape and murder” of civilians.
“The United States conducts large-scale extra-territorial eavesdropping, uses drones to attack other countries’ innocent civilians, its troops on foreign soil commit rape and murder of local people,” Chinese diplomat told the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday.
Fu said UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein should refrain from making subjective comments that are not backed up by real facts.
China has long rejected criticism of its rights’ record, saying the country’s people “have the greatest authority to pass judgment” on the issue.
Beijing also argues that it is unfairly singled out for criticism of its rights record, stressing that other governments, including the US, should examine their own records before making accusations.
The issue of human rights has long been a source of tension between the world’s two largest economies.
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