On June 5, the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) published an article addressing corrupt officials who are thinking of leaving China or who have already left. The article stated that the objective to contain rampant corruption has not changed and that there should be no impunity for corrupt officials who flee China. 

Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister, castigated a Canadian reporter at the joint news conference with Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion in Ottawa on June 1. Western media and some overseas Chinese media reported on the incident.

The comments that the Chinese made were split. Some criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for suppressing human rights; some, following the Party’s propaganda, denounced the Westerners; and some pointed out Wang’s response was a result of the Party’s culture which has ruined Chinese’ lives.

Reader’s comments on a BBC report:

A post from California:
"It definitely does not sound like what a foreign minister would say. … What he said was unreasonable and illogical. What is the connection between China’s getting people out of poverty or reaching $8,000 per capita GDP and China’s human rights record? He said ‘China has incorporated protecting human rights into its Constitution.’ This only shows that the CCP’s Constitution was only for show. In their Constitution, people have freedom of the press, assembly, and protest [but in reality they don’t have any of those at all]!"

A post from London:
"Some Western media are too prejudiced. Only we Chinese know how good China’s human rights record is. Only we Chinese have the qualifications to choose what is good for our nation at its current status. Westerners, go worry about your own human rights first! Don’t put your nose into our business. Xi Jinping said it right: China should have confidence in its own system. Besides, it is OK as long as we think it is right. As to how Westerners think about it, it does not matter, nor is it worth answering. Just take [their words] as farting."

A post from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China:
"Wang Yi’s response is a complete revelation of the CCP’s evil face. He said ‘it’s the Chinese people who most understand China’s human rights record.’ That’s right. As a Chinese, I have to say, ‘China’s human rights record is not only bad, but rather non-existent."

Epoch Times commentary:
"It is not news to see this kind of response by China’s diplomats. The most representative one was what former Communist leader Jiang Zemin said. When asked about a female college student whose participation in the June 4th democracy protest in 1989 resulted in being put in prison and raped, he answered, ‘She deserved it.’ Jiang also berated a Hong Kong reporter for being ‘too simple’ and ‘naive.’"

"Actually, the root cause for these foreign affairs scandals is the Communist Party culture."

"The Communist Party culture was a monster that the CCP created in China after destroying traditional Chinese culture. The CCP mingled the theory of evolution, atheism, Marxism and Leninism, and struggle theory together to create the Party culture. It then, via political movements and routine brainwashing, gradually implanted it into the brains of Chinese."

"Officials at all levels, despite their own personality, when in public, self-restrict themselves to speak the ‘Party language’ following the Party’s principles."

"Chinese, who have grown up under the CCP controlled environment, carry the imprints of the Party culture to a certain extent. The Party culture gave Chinese a twisted personality, such as the tendency to belittle and not respect their own selves, violence, offensiveness, rudeness, and pretense.

"After people accepted the Party language, it was hard for them to express themselves to and understand people outside of the Party culture. A typical example is the different interpretation of ‘human rights’ between Chinese and Westerners. When Westerners talk about human rights, they care for individual’s rights not being violated by the government. They are actually on the side of the Chinese people. If the Chinese people were normal people, they would express their gratitude. However, after bring immersed in the CCP’s brainwashing for such a long time, many Chinese have reacted to this issue the same as China’s Foreign Minister just did."

"The result of this is not only damaging China’s image, but also blocking Chinese from accepting outside messages with an open, calm mentality. It makes the whole Chinese nation incompatible with normal human civilization."

Below is Wang Yi’s response when he jumped in to answer a question which was asked to the Canadian Foreign Minister Dion about Canadian citizen Kevin Garratt who China had detained and about China’s human rights record.

Wang Yi: "I want to give a response to the questions that the journalist just raised concerning China. Your question was full of prejudice against China and an arrogance that comes from I don’t know where. This is totally unacceptable to me. Do you understand China? Have you been to China? Do you know that China has come from a poor and backward state and lifted more than 600 million people from poverty? Do you know that China is now the world’s second biggest economy with $8,000 per capita? If we weren’t able to protect human rights properly, would China have achieved such great development? Do you know that China has incorporated protecting human rights into its Constitution? I want to tell you that it’s the Chinese people who best understand China’s human rights record — not you, but the Chinese people themselves. You have no right to speak on this. The Chinese people have the right to speak. So please don’t raise such irresponsible questions again. China welcomes all well-meaning suggestions, but we reject all groundless accusations."

Sources:
1. BBC Chinese, June 2, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/indepth/2016/06/160602_indepth_china_humanrights
2. Epoch Times, June 6, 2016
http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/16/6/6/n7970148.htm