China hits back at G7 for calling out human rights violation in Xinjiang and Hong Kong

On Monday, China accused the G7 nations of "political manipulation" due to the foreign leaders attacking China for its human rights record in Xinjiang, citing alleged atrocities against Uyghur Muslims, the region's minority.

The G7 nations have also condemned the crackdown of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, with US President Joe Biden urging Beijing to "start acting more responsibly in terms of international norms on human rights."

China accused foreign leaders of intervening in domestic matters on the basis of "lies, rumours, and baseless accusations."

The Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom released a statement, "The Group of Seven (G-7) takes advantage of Xinjiang-related issues to engage in political manipulation and interfere in China's internal affairs, which we firmly oppose."

The embassy also warned that the reputation of China should not be ‘slandered’.

As per a draught communique, the leaders of the Group of Seven richest countries also urged a second transparent science-based research into the origins of coronavirus infection.

The coronavirus initially appeared in central China in late 2019, prompting the World Health Organization to dispatch a team of foreign scientists to investigate its origins in January. However, their long-delayed report, released in March, came to no strong findings, and the probe has since been chastised for a lack of transparency and access.

The Chinese embassy responded, "The current epidemic is still raging around the world, and the traceability work should be carried out by global scientists and should not be politicized."

The G7 also unveiled a new infrastructure fund that will be "much more equitable" than China's vast Belt and Road Initiative, according to President Biden.

For the first time, NATO leaders are set to label China a security threat to the Western alliance on Monday, a day after the Group of Seven delivered a communiqué on human rights and Taiwan.