China, responding to the State Department’s harsh criticism of China’s human rights abuses, condemned the United States’ human rights record Thursday, pointing to police brutality and gun violence in the U.S.
In its rebuttal of the State Department’s “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” report issued Wednesday, China’s Information Office of the State Council claimed the U.S. government “wantonly infringed upon” civil rights and faced “rampant gun-related crime,” according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
“Since the U.S. government refuses to hold up a mirror to look at itself, it has to be done with other people’s help,” the council said, Xinhua reported.
“The frequent occurrence of shooting incidents was the deepest impression left to the world concerning the United States in 2015,” the council said.
The Chinese government criticized the U.S. electoral process, saying “money in politics and family politics went from bad to worse in the United State where voters found it hard to express their real volition.”
The council also blasted U.S. involvement in foreign countries, saying the U.S. military “trample[s] on human rights” in other countries such as Iraq and Syria where airstrikes have caused civilian casualties.
The State Department’s annual report cited China’s “particularly severe” crackdown on Chinese lawyers and law firms working on cases the Chinese government considers politically sensitive.
The U.s. report also criticized “extralegal measures” used in China to enforce disappearances and house arrest against government critics.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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