Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang speaks to the media during a press conference in Beijing on July 13, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS ASFOURI
The Chinese government has urged the United Nations (UN) to respect the sovereignty of the Philippines amid the Department of Justice’s terrorist tag against a UN special rapporteur.
Lu Kang, spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, made the remark after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said President Rodrigo Duterte should submit himself to a psychiatric evaluation.
Al Hussein had slammed Duterte after the DOJ asked the court to formally categorize Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN special rapporteur for the rights of indigenous peoples, as a “terrorist.”
“Relevant sides of the international community, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, shall respect the sovereignty of the Philippines and the will of its people, view the outcomes of the Philippines’ fight against drug and terrorism in a comprehensive, unbiased and objective way, and support its efforts to move forward its human rights cause in light of its national conditions,” Lu said in a transcript forwarded by the Chinese embassy on Tuesday.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesman noted that “achievements made by the Philippine government led by President Duterte on these fronts have won great approval and extensive support among the Philippine people.”
“Anyone without bias can see that President Duterte has made positive efforts since assuming office to combat drug-related crimes as well as terrorism, develop the national economy, and improve people’s livelihood, which have effectively protected and promoted the Philippine people’s fundamental rights to security and development,” Lu said.
“As an agency of the UN, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is expected to fulfill its duties within the framework set out by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” he stressed.
READ: Tag Joma, UN special rapporteur, etc. as ‘terrorists,’ gov’t impels Manila court
Tauli-Corpuz was among the more than 600 individuals the DOJ wanted to formally identify as “terrorists,” according to a copy of the list obtained by INQUIRER.net.
In its petition to the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC), the DOJ labelled the UN special rapporteur as a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) Ilocos-Cordillera Regional Committee (ICRC).
READ: Palace: ‘Terrorist’ tag on UN special rapporteur based on intel
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that the inclusion of Tauli-Corpuz in the DOJ’s “terrorist” list was based on “intelligence” information linking her to communist rebels.
“Tauli-Corpuz was also included because of intelligence information that she is somehow connected with the CPP-NPA,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing in the municipal hall of Alimodian, Iloilo on Saturday, March 10. /je