China accuses US of Politicizing Human Rights issues

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, June 14: China has accused the United States of politicizing Human Rights issues to interfere in China’s internal affairs in a retaliatory response to the ‘2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices’ issued by the U.S. State Department on April 13.

Expressing China’s ability to improve the situation of human rights with other countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect, Lu Kang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said “The US should not politicize human rights issues in an attempt to interfere in China’s stability, development and to interfere in the internal affairs,” and further warned that no country should use human rights issues as an excuse, reports Chinese state television CCTV June 14.

China further published a report on the United States’ human rights situation in retaliation to the ‘2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices’ issued by the U.S. State Department on April 13. The report condemned the United States of rampant gun-related crimes and excessive use of force by police in 2015 and further accused the US of being tight-lipped about its own terrible human rights records while commenting about the situation elsewhere.

Based on the 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the US Secretary of State, John Kerry highlighted severe repression of Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic heritage. The report said the Chinese government’s respect for, and protection of, human rights in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas during the year remained poor and the report held China responsible for serious human rights abuses in Tibet, including extrajudicial detentions, disappearances, torture and intensified militarization of the plateau.