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China’s state-run newspaper Global Times on Sunday condemned British critics of the Communist Party — and, in particular, its crimes against humanity, human rights atrocities in the formerly British Hong Kong, and ongoing genocide of Turkic people in East Turkistan — as being “disrespectful” to Queen Elizabeth II by standing up for human rights.
A wave of condemnation of Beijing emerged last week in the United Kingdom in anticipation of the Queen’s funeral, which took place across London and Windsor, England, on Monday. The British government extended invites to the heads of state of nearly every country on earth, including China and omitting only a small list of similarly brutal human rights abuses, such as Russia, Syria, Burma, and Belarus. Some countries – such as Iran, Venezuela, and Nicaragua – received “ambassadorial” invites, meaning their respective dictators could not attend but a designated ambassador could represent the country at the event.
Several British lawmakers and prominent human rights advocates urged London to reconsider China’s presence at the historic event given China’s poor human rights record and the fact that it has sanctioned British politicians specifically for criticizing Beijing. While Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan attended the funeral on Monday, some signs that the British government heeded the concerns emerged on Friday, as anonymous reports suggested British Parliament officials blocked a Chinese delegation from visiting the Queen lying in state that day. Neither the British nor Chinese governments officially confirmed or denied the report.
The Global Times urged the British to “cherish China’s goodwill gesture” of sending Wang to the funeral — even as allied countries sent their heads of state and dictator Xi Jinping stayed home — and discouraged any criticism of China in Britain at all.
Some British MPs now hype on banning Chinese officials from entering the parliamentary estate to pay respect to the Queen.
