Beijing, April 10: China has asked the “preacher” US to stop interfering in its internal affairs “under the pretext” of raising human rights issues, close on the heels of an annual State Department report slamming it for trying to limit freedom of speech and “arbitrarily” detaining activists.
“China and the US have disagreements on human rights issues, about which we are willing to engage in dialogue based on equality and mutual respect,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, reacting to the State Department’s report accusing Beijing of rights violations.
“But we are firmly against interfering in our internal affairs under the pretext of human rights issues,” Hong said in a statement last night.
The Chinese government attaches importance to protecting human rights, he said.
-Agencies