China bristles as Britain questions human rights record
Thursday 18 March 2010
Printable
EmailChina has called on London to get its own house in order after Britain saw fit to lecture the developing country on human rights.
On Wednesday Britain published its annual report on rights around the world, which criticised Beijing over the "increasing harassment of defence lawyers, the treatment of detainees in relation to ethnic unrest and the detention of political dissidents."
China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news conference that China was making progress on human rights, insisting that "any country or person without prejudice will recognise this."
Mr Qin condemned "wilful pressuring and double standards," challenging Britain to "talk about itself or other Western countries that violate human rights."
British Foreign Minister David Miliband attended the launch of the report in London.
Mr Miliband, who voted for the bloody invasion of Iraq in 2003 and recently boasted that the war has boosted Britain's prestige in the Arab world, said that he rejected "the notion that national sovereignty should be able to shield states from scrutiny."
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