China on Wednesday lashed out at UN rights chief Zeid Raad al Hussein for attending a ceremony to confer rights award on jailed Uighur academic Ilham Tohti from Xinjiang, saying it was tantamount to backing separatists.
“As a senior official of the UN, the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights confounded right from wrong by attending the awarding ceremony irrespective of the facts and blatantly supported separatists,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang told a media briefing here.
“This behaviour has violated the purposes and principles of the UN charter and interference in China’s domestic affairs,” he said, criticising Raad al Hussein for attending the award ceremony in Geneva.