China hits back at US on human trafficking downgrade
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BEIJING — China has pre-emptively hit back at the United States for speaking “irresponsibly” ahead of an expected Trump administration move to name China among the world’s worst human trafficking offenders.
Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Tuesday that China strongly opposes the U.S. using its domestic laws to attack another country’s record, and maintained that the results of China’s anti-human trafficking efforts are “obvious for everyone to see.”
The U.S. State Department was expected to unveil later Tuesday a 2017 human trafficking report that downgrades China to the lowest “Tier 3” category, which includes North Korea, Zimbabwe and Syria. The report is the first major U.S. reprimand of China’s human rights record under the Trump administration, which has generally played down the promotion of rights in its foreign policy, including with China.
Tier 3 countries can be penalized with sanctions or barred from participating in U.S. cultural exchange programs, although the U.S. president has the authority to waive sanctions.
