China: US military must be held accountable for alleged rights violations in Afghanistan

A Chinese official on Tuesday said that the U.S. and its allies should be held accountable for what they call human rights violations committed in Afghanistan. 

“The U.S., U.K., Australia and other countries must be held accountable for the violation of human rights committed by their military in Afghanistan and the evolution of this current session should cover this issue,” China’s envoy to the United Nations, Chen Xu, said during a Human Rights Council meeting regarding Afghanistan, Reuters reported.

“Under the banner of democracy and human rights the U.S. and other countries carry out military interventions in other sovereign states and impose their own model on countries with vastly different history and culture,” he added.

The statement comes as the U.S. and its allies are working on emergency evacuations to get its citizens and allies out of Afghanistan after the Taliban took over following the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

China has condemned Western countries amid the Afghanistan collapse for their role in the 20-year war in the region and the subsequent withdrawal that led to the Taliban taking over in Kabul.

China’s claim of alleged human rights abuses by the U.S. comes as the two countries have clashed for months after the U.S. warned China about their abuse towards Uyghur Muslims and other minority groups in the country.

The U.S. and other countries have called China’s treatment of ethnic minority groups a genocide as China has been sending people to labor camps.

China has denied the statements, contributing to one of several reasons relations between China and the U.S. have been strained.