Nations praised for upholding justice

The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it welcomed Nigeria's joining a statement signed by friendly countries at the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in support of China's voice of justice on human rights.

Nigeria's co-signing brings the number of signatories to 68 in the joint statement, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily news briefing, adding that more than 90 countries at the UNHRC session, which concluded on Wednesday, supported and echoed China in various ways.

"Facts are irrefutable, while lies will eventually go bankrupt," Zhao said, adding that under the guise of human rights, some Western countries have been spreading political lies and interfering in other countries' internal affairs, and such unpopular behavior has been and will continue to be opposed by the international community.

Zhao urged those Western countries to listen to the just appeal from the international community, stop indulging in the dream of acting as human rights lecturers, and make practical contributions to promoting the well-being of their own people as well as the development of global human rights.

At the UNHRC session, developing countries expressed concerns over human rights issues facing Western countries, including systematic racism, vaccine nationalism, immigration detention centers, military interference and unilateral sanctions, according to Zhao.

On Tuesday, the session passed a resolution jointly made by African countries on tackling systemic racial discrimination. The resolution condemns all kinds of racial discrimination and violence by law-enforcement officers against Africans and people of African descent. This is the first time the UN human rights body has adopted such a resolution since the death of George Floyd, a black man, during his arrest by a white police officer in Minnesota, the United States, in May last year.

The adoption of the resolution will continue to build international consensus and inject new impetus into the anti-racism cause around the world, Zhao said.

Countries that have serious racial discrimination and xenophobia-based violence, as well as those that have engaged in and benefited from the slave trade and colonialism, should take responsibility for their historical crimes and make concrete measures to solve problems, he said.

They should also work with the international community to promote racial equality and protect human rights, and not let tragedies such as Floyd's death and the deaths of other victims be repeated, he added.