BEIJING: Beijing on Thursday accused American politicians of corruption and hypocrisy in its yearly rebuttal to US criticisms of China’s human rights record, saving an extra heaping of invective for the country’s divisive presidential race.
“In 2016, money politics and power-for-money deals controlled the presidential election, which was full of lies and farces. There were no guarantees of political rights,” Beijing’s report said.
“Waves of boycotts and protests fully exposed the hypocritical nature of US democracy,” it added, without mentioning restrictions on freedom of speech in China.
The report was issued by China’s Cabinet in response to the US State Department’s annual survey of human rights in 199 countries released Friday. Beijing does not release rights reports on other countries.
Human rights are a longstanding source of tensions between China and the US, which imposed sanctions after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing left hundreds, by some estimates more than 1,000, dead.
Unlike the US, China does not have a democratic multi-party system. The Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly imprisoned those who openly challenge its right to rule or have protested publicly.
However, Beijing’s report highlighted recent cases of police violence and racial discrimination in America to argue that the US is in no position to take the moral high ground.
The report relied heavily on coverage by US media outlets such as the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
Beijing is highly sensitive about critical coverage of its political system in the international press, with multiple journalists being denied authorization to stay in China in recent years.
The US State Department’s own report accused China of “repression and coercion” of civil society groups. It also noted encroachment on residents’ liberties in the semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
In another development, China on Thursday demanded the US “stop its cyberattacks” after Wikileaks released a trove of documents which they said exposed the CIA’s hacking operations.
According to the documents leaked this week, the US spy agency has produced more than 1,000 malware systems — viruses, trojans, and other software that can infiltrate and take control of target electronics.
“We are concerned about the relevant reports. China is opposed to any forms of cyberattacks,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said.
“We urge the US side to stop its wiretapping, video surveillance, espionage and cyberattacks on China and other countries,” Geng Shuang told reporters at a regular press conference.
“China will firmly safeguard its own cybersecurity. It is ready to enhance dialogue and cooperation with the international community to formulate a set of international rules on cyberspace acceptable to all parties,” he added.
By infecting and effectively taking over the software of smartphones, WikiLeaks said, the CIA can get around the encryption technologies of popular apps like WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Weibo, and Confide by collecting communications before they are encrypted.
The CIA on Wednesday denounced the leaks, saying they put agents in danger and aid the enemies of the US.
China and America regularly carry out cyberattacks on the other, to the detriment of bilateral ties.
China slams US election ‘farce’ in annual rights report
China slams US election ‘farce’ in annual rights report
Brazil’s Lula urges Trump to treat all countries equally
NEW DELHI: Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged Donald Trump on Sunday to treat all countries equally after the US leader imposed a 15 percent tariff on imports following an adverse Supreme Court ruling.
“I want to tell the US President Donald Trump that we don’t want a new Cold War. We don’t want interference in any other country, we want all countries to be treated equally,” Lula told reporters in New Delhi.
The conservative-majority Supreme Court ruled six to three on Friday that a 1977 law Trump has relied on to slap sudden levies on individual countries, upending global trade, “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
Lula said he would not like to react to the Supreme Court decisions of another country, but hoped that Brazil’s relations with the United States “will go back to normalcy” soon.
The veteran leftist leader is expected to travel to Washington next month for a meeting with Trump.
“I am convinced that Brazil-US relation will go back to normalcy after our conversation,” Lula, 80, said, adding that Brazil only wanted to “live in peace, generate jobs, and improve the lives of our people.”
Lula and Trump, 79, stand on polar opposite sides when it comes to issues such as multilateralism, international trade and the fight against climate change.
However, ties between Brazil and the United States appear to be on the mend after months of animosity between Washington and Brasilia.
As a result, Trump’s administration has exempted key Brazilian exports from 40 percent tariffs that had been imposed on the South American country last year.
‘Affinity’
“The world doesn’t need more turbulence, it needs peace,” said Lula, who arrived in India on Wednesday for a summit on artificial intelligence and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ties between Washington and Brasilia soured in recent months, with Trump angered over the trial and conviction of his ally, the far-right former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump imposed sanctions against several top officials, including a Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.
Lula said that, as the two largest democracies in the Americas, he looked forward to a positive relationship with the United States.
“We are two men of 80 years of age, so we cannot play around with democracy,” he said.
“We have to take this very seriously. We have to shake hands eye-to-eye, person-to-person, and to discuss what is best for the US and Brazil.”
Lula also praised Modi after India and Brazil agreed to boost cooperation on critical minerals and rare earths and signed a raft of other deals on Saturday.
“I have a lot of affinity with Prime Minister Modi,” he said.
Lula will travel to South Korea later on Sunday for meetings with President Lee Jae Myung and to attend a business forum.
