Former US national security adviser Susan Rice calls Chinese diplomat Zhao Lijian ‘a racist disgrace’ after Twitter tirade
- China’s deputy chief of mission in Pakistan lashed out over a letter from UN ambassadors of 22 countries calling on Beijing to end detentions of Uygurs
- He then took aim at the United States, prompting the former national security adviser to call for him to be sent home
A war of words has broken out between a former US national security adviser and China’s deputy chief of mission in Pakistan, with Susan Rice calling Zhao Lijian “a racist disgrace”.
Beijing says the camps are “vocational education and training centres” that are part of its efforts to stamp out religious extremism.
In the latest response to the growing outcry, 37 countries – including Saudi Arabia, Russia and North Korea – sent a letter to the United Nations on Friday in support of Beijing’s policy in the region, saying China had made “remarkable achievements in the field of human rights”.
Zhao tweeted that it was “a big slap on the face of US & its Western cohorts”, referring to an open letter signed by the UN ambassadors of 22 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and Australia.