China lambasts UK for ‘double standards’ over human rights for immigrants

China’s foreign ministry has hit out at the UK for “spreading false information”, lamenting London’s use of the UN Human Rights Council to accuse Beijing of systematically violating the human rights of minority groups, the Arab News reports.

“Britain’s so-called adoption of a resolution on this issue is obviously an ulterior motive. Its purpose is to confuse and discredit China. We firmly oppose this. The British tricks cannot deceive the international community,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters on Wednesday.

Wang sought to highlight Britain’s “double standards” on human rights issues, claiming that one-third of families with children under five in the UK live in poverty.

“British troops indiscriminately killed and tortured innocents in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places, but the perpetrators were sheltered by the British government and remained at large,” Wang said.

He urged the UK to look at its own human rights situation and take concrete actions, adding that it should adopt a more constructive approach for the healthy development of international human rights.

He further claimed that xenophobia and hate speech are rampant in the UK and that the rights of immigrants are seriously violated, a line Beijing has increasingly adopted since Britain offered millions of Hong Kong citizens the chance to settle and obtain full British citizenship from this month.

Wang’s comments come after UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab slammed China during an address to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, accusing Beijing of multiple human rights violations within its own borders.

Raab cited violations in Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong, insisting that the UK will continue to hold China to account and requesting unfettered access to Xinjiang where Uighur Muslims are allegedly being persecuted.

Beijing denies all allegations made against China.