China has urged the U.S. to immediately revoke sanctions on Chinese officials related to visa restrictions, warning that otherwise the country will respond with countermeasures, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday.
He made the remarks after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the U.S. will impose visa restrictions on Chinese officials involved in so-called human rights abuses.
China is firmly opposed to the U.S. statement, Wang said, adding that it is full of ideological bias and political lies.
The Chinese people are in the best position to judge China’s human rights condition, not the U.S., he stressed.
Noting that China’s human rights situation is at its best in history, he said that the Chinese government adheres to the people-centered philosophy of human rights, and earnestly implements the constitutional principle of respecting and protecting human rights.
“The biggest human rights abuser in the world is the United States,” Wang stressed, citing human rights violations by the U.S. in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and in aggressive wars.
China urges the U.S. to reflect on and correct its numerous human rights crimes and view China’s human rights situation in an objective and fair manner, Wang said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged the U.S. to stop sowing discord and flexing muscles in the South China Sea as US Indo-Pacific commander earlier claimed in an interview that China has fully militarized three islands in the South China Sea.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press conference responded that China, as a sovereign country, is naturally entitled to deploy necessary defense facilities on its own territory.
It is consistent with international law and beyond reproach for China to do so, he added.
The spokesperson also pointed out that the U.S. has been enhancing military deployment around the South China Sea in recent years and frequently sent warships and military aircraft on a large scale for provocative purposes, which gravely threatens the sovereignty and security of littoral countries and undermines the sound order and navigation safety in these waters.
Wang said he hopes the U.S. will play a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.
