China's envoy to UN criticizes West on rights

China's ambassador to the United Nations criticized the United States and other Western countries on Monday for what he called human rights violations, "unilateral coercive measures" and systemic racial discrimination.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, made the statement on behalf of 26 countries.

Zhang said at the UN General Assembly's General Debate of the Third Committee that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to severely affect all nations, particularly developing countries.

The response to and recovery from COVID-19 requires global solidarity and international cooperation, he said.

"However, we continue to witness the application of unilateral coercive measures, which are contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, multilateralism and the basic norms of international relations," Zhang said.

"Unilateral coercive measures have an undeniable impact on human rights, as they impede the full realization of social and economic development and hinder the well-being of the population in the affected countries," he said.

In a news conference after the meeting, Zhang spoke of unilateral sanctions imposed by individual states based only on their domestic laws, saying they are "used as political tools for political purposes".

"Unilateral sanctions are against the UN Charter," he said, stressing that they lack the legality of international laws.

Asked about last month's US announcement on restoring UN sanctions on Iran, the ambassador said an overwhelming majority of the Security Council is not in favor.

"The US has already withdrawn from the JCPOA, and it is the general will that the US is not in a position to trigger that snapback," he said. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is a 2015 nuclear deal that capped Iran's nuclear activities.

China is committed to the JCPOA and will continue to work closely with partners and address the concerns of regional countries, Zhang said.

The UN General Assembly's Third Committee which is addressing a range of issues, including human rights, convened Monday for the first meeting of the 75th Session.

Zhang said China welcomes the secretary-general's March 26 appeal for waiving sanctions that undermine countries' capacity to respond to the pandemic, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' statement on March 23 "on the need to ease or suspend sectoral sanctions in light of their debilitating impact on the health sector and human rights".

"We also reaffirm the Group of 77 and China's statement calling to adopt urgent and effective measures to eliminate the use of unilateral coercive economic measures against developing countries, as well as the Non-Aligned Movement's declaration on condemning unilateral coercive measures and urging their elimination to ensure the effectiveness of national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

Pointing to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, Zhang said those instances are "a reminder that chronic and deep-rooted racial discrimination, police brutality and social inequality still exist" in the US.

China welcomes the Human Rights Council resolution that promotes and protects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent against excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officers, Zhang said.