China urges US to resume cooperation with UN human rights review mechanism

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian urged the United States on Tuesday to resume cooperation with the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review mechanism and to face up to its own human rights problems.

Lin made the remarks after the US refused to participate in its scheduled review by the UN Human Rights Council. Council members expressed regret that the US did not take part and adopted last week a decision on "non-cooperation of a state under review with the universal periodic review mechanism".

"While the US fabricates so-called annual human rights reports to criticize other countries, it refuses to fulfill its own obligations or cooperate with UN bodies," Lin said at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

"This fully exposes that Washington does not truly care about human rights," Lin said, noting that the US is practicing double standards by selective application of UN mechanisms.

Lin urged Washington to resume cooperation with the mechanism as soon as possible, receive review from all parties, and take active measures to address its own human rights issues.

He added that China stands ready to work with the international community to promote multilateralism, uphold a people-centered approach, and advance the sound development of global human rights governance.

The Universal Periodic Review is a unique process that involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member states. Reviews take place through an interactive discussion between the state under review and other UN member states.

During this discussion any UN member state can pose questions, comments or make recommendations to the states under review.