People walk around the plaza by the Sphere Within Sphere outside the United Nations Headquarters on the first day of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly's High-Level week on September 22, 2025. Photo: VCG

At the general debate of the Third Committee of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Sun Lei exercised China's right of reply and slammed claims made by the representatives of the UK, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Ireland, the Netherlands, Japan, and the EU, according to China News Service on Friday.

Sun strongly criticized these delegations for once again abusing the UN platform to smear China under the pretext of issues related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Xizang, and for deliberately disrupting constructive international dialogue and cooperation on human rights.

China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition, Sun said, noting that China opposes the politicization and weaponization of human rights issues, and rejects using human rights as a pretext to interfere in other countries' internal affairs.

He urged relevant countries to stop practicing "microphone diplomacy," stop confusing right and wrong, abandon double standards, and return to the right path of dialogue and cooperation.

In his remarks, Sun also listed the human rights violations of these countries and international organizations, according to China News Service. 

The UK, he said, should face up to its worsening racism problem, stop discrimination and violence against ethnic minorities, and justly address the historical legacies of colonialism and slavery.

Australia was urged to confront the harsh conditions facing Indigenous peoples, end the illegal detention and human rights abuses against refugees and migrants, and provide due compensation for serious war crimes committed by its soldiers in overseas military operations, including in Afghanistan.

Sun called on Canada to confront its history of ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide against Indigenous peoples and to stop allowing white supremacy to marginalize Indigenous and minority communities.

China also urges countries such as the Czech Republic, Ireland, and the Netherlands to end discrimination and stigmatization against Roma and other minorities, combat "Islamophobia," and refrain from exacerbating political polarization and social division.

Japan, Sun stressed, should face squarely its history of aggression and colonial rule during World War II, when Japanese militarism committed grave crimes against humanity across Asia. He also called on Japan to improve the social status of women and eliminate discrimination against Okinawans and other Indigenous peoples.

China urges the EU to address serious human rights violations against refugees and migrants within its own borders and stop acting as a self-appointed "lecturer on human rights," Sun said.

Sun concluded by advising these countries to engage in self-reflection, acknowledge and correct their mistakes, and focus on solving their own problems rather than pointing fingers at others. Fairness and justice lie in people's hearts, and the truth is evident to the world, Sun said, according to China News Service.