The Daily Telegraph published on October 8th an article by US Senator Marco Rubio entitled Democracies are still falling for China’s lies, which was nothing but unwarranted accusation on climate change and human rights. The spokesperson of Chinese Embassy has written a letter to the editor to elaborate China’s position. The full text is as follows:

The Daily Telegraph published on October 8 an article by US Senator Marco Rubio, which is full of slandering and smearing remarks and makes groundless accusations against China on issues such as climate change and human rights. China firmly opposes the accusations. I would like to emphasize two points:

First, China’s achievements in addressing climate change are widely recognized and should not be defamed. By the end of 2019, China has cut CO2 emissions per unit GDP by 48.1 percent from the level of 2005 and increased the share of non-fossil fuel to 15.3 percent, fulfilling its 2020 climate action targets ahead of schedule. New afforestation in China accounted for 25 percent of the global total, and over 50 percent of the world’s new energy vehicles are in China. China has phased out over 280,000 tonnes of ozone-depleting substance, accounting for more than half of the total by developing countries. At the general debate of the 75th UNGA session on September 22, President Xi Jinping announced that China will enhance the nationally determined contribution targets, and strive for the peaking of CO2 emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. This has shown to the world that China stands ready to make new contributions to global climate response, which has been widely commended by the international community.

In contrast, the United States, as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases in cumulative terms, not only failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol but also pulled out of the Paris Agreement. It has rejected binding quantified emissions reduction targets for itself. By doing so, the US has completely disassociated itself from the global carbon emissions system and arrangements, and seriously held back the global processes of emissions reduction and green and low-carbon development. The US is the world’s largest exporter of solid waste and a major consumer of plastics per capita. However, it has refused to ratify the Basel Convention and has erected obstacles for the global governance process on plastic waste. It has even shipped a huge amount of waste to developing countries, doing enormous harm to the local and global environment. What right does it have to accuse China?

Second, China has made tremendous progress in advancing the human rights cause, and rejects the slander by anyone. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and thanks to the joint efforts of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups, tremendous achievements has been made in economic development, social undertakings and human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet. People of all ethnic groups in China are fully guaranteed their legitimate rights and live a life of equality, unity, harmony and tranquility. With regard to Hong Kong, there is no so-called human rights problem. The National Security Law is conducive to the stable and long-term implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, to the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, and to the better protection of the legal rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong residents in a secure environment. China’s measures and practice with regard to Xinjiang and Hong Kong related issues enjoy extensive support and recognition in the world.

In contrast, some western countries including the US have notorious human rights records, including protracted refugee issue, repeated humanitarian crises, racism, extremism and abuse of minority rights, and the frequent relapses of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and anti-black remarks and incidents. They have also wantonly imposed unilateral and coercive measures on other countries, including economic blockade and financial sanctions, which seriously infringe upon other countries’ basic human rights. What rights do these countries have to accuse China?

We firmly oppose unwarranted accusations against others for political purpose and based on disinformation. We also firmly oppose despicable acts of interfering in other countries’ internal affairs and hindering others’ development under the pretext of protecting human rights.