Beijing rebuts biased comments at UN
China expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition over what it called a seriously biased statement issued by Kelly Craft, the US permanent representative to the United Nations.
China called her comments on China’s human rights situation “baseless” and accused her of interfering in China’s internal affairs.
“It is the people who can best tell their country’s human rights situation,” a spokesperson for the Permanent Mission of China to the UN said in a statement on the same day.
“The Chinese government always puts people first, promotes and protects human rights in the course of development, and follows a path of human rights development with Chinese characteristics.”
The statement said that China has achieved remarkable human rights progress. “On its land of 9.6 million square kilometers, there is no war, no displacement, no fear. The 1.4 billion Chinese people are living in peace, freedom and happiness,” the statement said.
“This is the biggest human rights project and the best human rights practice, and (constitutes an) enormous contribution China has made to the global cause of human rights,” it added.
The statement said that the human rights situation in the US deserves international attention, noting that the UN Human Rights Council held an urgent debate and unanimously adopted a resolution strongly condemning the continuing racially discriminatory practices that led to the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“We urge the United States to listen to the voice of justice from the international community,” it said.
The statement also mentioned that this year, the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council made strong criticisms several times on US racial discrimination, hate speech, unilateral sanctions and violations of the rights of women and migrants.
“We urge the US to reflect on its own problems and let its people breathe,” it appealed.
The statement reiterated that “China is rock solid in defending national interests, opposing external interference, and promoting and protecting human rights”.
It stressed that: “Any attempt of politicizing the human rights issue and using human rights to smear China is doomed to fail.”