China Points an Accusatory Finger Back at the U.S.

China Points an Accusatory Finger Back at the U.S.China Points an Accusatory Finger Back at the U.S.
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March 09, 2006

China Points an Accusatory Finger Back at the U.S.
IOL, South Africa's largest news and information site on the Web, reports that China has lashed out in response to United States criticism of its human rights record. Racial discrimination, the Chinese point out, is still rife in America.

This retort came one day after the U.S. state department attacked the Chinese government's human rights record, saying it "remained poor, and [that] the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses."

The US report also said there was increased repression in 2005, with a trend toward "increased harassment, detention, and imprisonment" of people seen as threats to the Chinese government. Also mentioned in the report were Chinese measures designed to more tightly control print, broadcast and electronic media, and censor online content.

China's cabinet issued an immediate response, denouncing the United States for widespread discrimination against minorities, especially blacks, and pointed out that Blacks are given heavier criminal penalties, arrested more frequently and are more likely to be targeted for hate crimes. American treatement of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba also received mention.

You can read more about the U.S. state department's accusations and the Chinese response on the IOL website.