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Xi Jinping has defended China’s human rights record and said it will not accept any “patronising” lectures. Photo: AFP
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Politics
Western-style democracy behind wars, chaos and human misery, Chinese president tells top officials
Some Western nations use democracy and human rights as a pretext to meddle overseas, Xi Jinping told Politburo study session in February
Democracy and human rights are not for decoration, Xi said in highlighting Western social and political issues, recently published full text shows
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Human rights in China
Amber Wang
Amber Wang in Beijing
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Published: 10:51pm, 16 Jun, 2022
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The West’s promotion of democracy has caused wars, chaos and human displacement around the world, President Xi Jinping told top Chinese officials earlier this year.
Addressing a Politburo study session in February, Xi said some Western nations “forcibly promote the concept and system of Western democracy and human rights … taking advantage of human rights issues to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries”, according to a readout of his speech made public this week.
Xi did not name any countries, but Beijing has in recent months pulled no punches in blaming the US over the Ukraine war and the challenges posed by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. The civil war in Syria and security issues in Iraq also regularly feature among China’s talking points in this context.
The speech came as China continued to assert its own human rights narrative, amid mounting international criticism over issues including its policies in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet.
Residents chat in front of a destroyed building in Borodianka, Ukraine, on June 4. Beijing has pulled no punches in blaming the US for Russia’s invasion of the country. Photo: Reuters
Residents chat in front of a destroyed building in Borodianka, Ukraine, on June 4. Beijing has pulled no punches in blaming the US for Russia’s invasion of the country. Photo: Reuters
Democracy and human rights are not for decoration, Xi said in his address to the 24 other members of the Politburo, the full text of which was published by China’s Qiushi magazine on Wednesday. Xi heads the 25-strong panel which is the Communist Party’s highest decision-making body.
Some Western countries have in recent years faced fierce political partisanship, governmental breach of trust, social disorder and out-of-control virus outbreaks, Xi said.
“Political polarisation, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, and ethnic antagonism has intensified. Racism, populism and xenophobia have prevailed, and human rights issues have become increasingly prominent,” he noted.