China slams US for 'rape and murder'
March 10, 2016
Chinese diplomat Fu Cong (pictured) lashed out at the US following criticism of Beijing's human rights violations during a meeting at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.
"The US is notorious for prison abuse at Guantanamo prison, its gun violence is rampant, racism is its deep-rooted malaise," Fu said. "The United States conducts large-scale extra-terrestrial eavesdropping, uses drones to attack other countries' innocent civilians, its troops on foreign soil commit rape and murder of local people. It conducts kidnapping overseas and uses black prisons."
His words came in response to a joint statement by the US and 11 other countries attacking Beijing for its repeated human rights violations, the first time a group of countries had joined to criticize China at the Council.
Concern over disappearances
"We are concerned about China's deteriorating human rights record, notably the arrests and ongoing detention of rights activists, civil society leaders, and lawyers," US Ambassador Keith Harper said.
The other countries who took part in the joint statement were Australia, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Of particular concern to the mostly Western countries is the ongoing crackdown on individuals in Hong Kong, especially a number of booksellers who disappeared mysteriously only to turn up on the mainland.
blc/jil (dpa, AFP, Reuters)