China’s Foreign Ministry has hit out at the UK, lamenting its use of the UN Human Rights Council to “spread false information” after London accused Beijing of systematically violating the human rights of minority groups.
“Britain’s so-called adoption of a resolution on this issue is obviously an ulterior motive. Its purpose is to confuse and discredit China… We firmly oppose this. The British tricks cannot deceive the international community,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters on Wednesday.
Wang sought to highlight Britain’s “double standards” on human rights issues, claiming that one-third of families with children under 5 in the UK live in poverty. “British troops indiscriminately killed and tortured innocents in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places, but the perpetrators were sheltered by the British government and remained at large,” the spokesman added.
Wang said Beijing urges the UK to look at its own human rights situation and take concrete actions, adding that it should adopt a more constructive approach for the healthy development of international human rights.
The spokesman claimed that xenophobia and hate speech are rampant in the UK and that the rights of immigrants are seriously violated, a line Beijing has increasingly adopted since Britain offered millions of Hongkongers the chance to settle and obtain full British citizenship from February 2021.
Wang’s comments come after UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab slammed China during an address to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, accusing Beijing of multiple human rights violations within its own borders.
Raab cited human rights violations in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, insisting that the UK will continue to hold China to account and requesting unfettered access to Xinjiang where Uighur Muslims are allegedly being persecuted.
Beijing denies the allegations made against China.
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