The international argument comes amid a wave of heightened tension between Beijing and the U. S.
A Chinese official accused the U. S. of “consistent ignorance and haughtiness” on Monday after the American delegation cast the only “no” vote on a U. N. Human Rights Council resolution proposed by China, saying the proposal was clearly meant to “glorify” Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Chinese officials were clear about their hope “to glorify their head of state by inserting his thoughts into the international human rights lexicon,” a U. S. diplomat told Reuters, which first reported the story.
“I think the comments by this U. S. official in Geneva you mention were extremely unreasonable, and also reflects the consistent ignorance and haughtiness of the U. S. side,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying shot back at the reported comments.
Australia, Britain, Japan, and Switzerland abstained from voting on the Chinese resolution, which called for “a community of shared future for human beings” and “mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of human rights,” the media outlet said.
The international argument comes amid a wave of heightened tension between Beijing and the U. S., particularly in regard to trade.
Last week, President Donald Trump announced new trade policies aimed at curbing what the president sees as China’s unfair trade practices. The policies include a total of almost $50 billion in tariffs on imports from the nation and other penalties.
These new measures are not related to the previous tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that Trump announced earlier this month, though those tariffs are also applied to imports from China.
“It is going to make us a much stronger, much richer, nation,” Trump said just after signing the memorandum putting his new trade policies into place. “This is the first of many.”
China has since announced plans for reciprocal tariffs on around $3 billion worth of U. S. imports and legal action through the World Trade Organization, according to media reports .
