With US cities in flames over outrage about police brutality, nations that are usually on the receiving end of Washington’s criticism on human rights…
With US cities in flames over outrage about police brutality, nations that are usually on the receiving end of Washington’s criticism on human rights are gleefully turning the tables.
Condemnation of the US record on race came from China, which days earlier faced US counter-measures for tightening controls on Hong Kong, as well as Iran, where officials have been slapped with US sanctions for suppressing protests in November.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijia, addressing reporters here in April 2020, has strongly criticized the US record on race
GREG BAKER, AFP/File
The United States is experiencing some of its worst riots in 50 years with dozens of cities under curfews following the killing in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man who pleaded «I can’t breathe» as a white police officer pinned him under his knee for nearly nine minutes.
«Racism against ethnic minorities in the US is a chronic disease of American society,» Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
«The current situation reflects once more the severity of the problems of racism and police violence in the US,» he told reporters in Beijing.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi echoed the language frequently voiced by President Donald Trump’s administration in its support for opponents of the clerical state.
«To the American people: the world has heard your outcry over the state of oppression. The world is standing with you,» Mousavi said, in English, in Tehran.
«And to the American officials and police: stop violence against your people and let them breathe,» he said.
Both Iran and China also took to social media to troll the United States, with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeting a State Department condemnation of Iran in which he flipped the names of the two countries.
