OWN CORRESPONDENT, Pretoria | Wednesday 5.40pm.
CHINA’s internationally criticised human rights record was not raised in talks in Pretoria between President Thabo Mbeki and President Jiang Zemin.
Asked by reporters whether the issue had been raised in talks Tuesday between the presidents, the director general in China’s foreign ministry, Zhu Bangzao, said: “Very explicitly, no.”
Zhu also defended the Chinese government’s crackdown on followers of the spritual Falungong movement, saying Beijing is protecting the rights of its people. “This is an illegal organisation and an evil cult whose aim is to collect money and property and take people’s lives and destabilise society,” he said.
“If such an illegal and evil cult was tolerated in China, [the government would be ignoring] the human rights of the Chinese people,” Zhu added.
Jiang arrived in South Africa on Monday for a four-day visit, the first to South Africa by a Chinese head of state. South Africa’s government has been criticised for not raising the human rights issue with China since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1998, after Pretoria broke ties with Taiwan.
Zhu said countries should be allowed to implement human rights in accordance with their own national conditions.
“Other countries have no right to intervene,” he said. “We have taken note that South Africa is opposed to the politicisation of the question of human rights and is also opposed to turning this into a political tool to interfere in other countries’ affairs,” he added.