U.S. must be held accountable for systemic violation of human rights resulting from unilateral sanctions: Chinese FM

(ECNS) -- The U.S. and some other Western countries must take responsibility and be held accountable for the systemic violation of human rights resulting from their unilateral sanctions, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Monday. 

Wang made the remarks when commenting on unilateral coercive measures imposed by the U.S. and some other countries.

The spokesperson said that the U.S. and some other Western countries claim to be “beacons of human rights”, but they have been imposing unilateral sanctions in the name of human rights and gravely violating other countries’ human rights.

He pointed out that relevant sanctions disrupt international economic, trade and sci-tech cooperation, threaten global food, energy and financial security, plunge the sanctioned countries into economic, social and livelihood difficulties, and even cause humanitarian crises.

When countries were confronting ravaging COVID and natural disasters like powerful earthquakes, the U.S. and some Western countries still refuse to remove unilateral sanctions, Wang added.

He stressed that the abuse of unilateral sanctions stems from power politics and the law of the jungle.

“It gravely violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the basic principle in international law of sovereign equality, and the basic norm governing international relations of non-interference in internal affairs,” said the spokesperson.

Rejecting unilateral sanctions is a longstanding and consistent appeal of the international community, and multilateral human rights institutions need to prioritize issues related to unilateral sanctions and take them seriously, he said.

“We urge the U.S. and other Western countries to face up to the call for justice in the world, immediately remove unilateral sanctions, respect other countries’ human rights and respect the international rule of law,” he added.