China’s permanent representative to the United Nations has defended Cambodia’s record after an independent UN-appointed human rights expert criticised the Southeast Asian country for human trafficking and its single-party rule.
“In recent years, Cambodia has actively promoted national development, maintained political stability and economic development. People’s lives have gradually improved and human rights are well protected,” Chen Xu said on Wednesday at a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.
When defending its own record in a white paper last year, China similarly pointed to its successes in poverty alleviation and “putting lives first” in its Covid-19 response as examples of how Beijing protects human rights.
