“Washington, D.C. – Hillary Clinton, who has increasingly turned to Twitter as she plans her all-but-announced presidential run, upset the Chinese government on Monday with a message she posted on the social networking site. Clinton tweeted: “The detention of women’s activists in #China must end. This is inexcusable.”
“The tweet linked to a New York story about five female activists in China who were arrested for protesting a wide array of women’s issues. They stand accused, according to the Times, of provoking social instability. According to Reuters, the message did not go over well inside the Chinese government.
“Hua Chunying, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday: “China is a country ruled by law. Relevant departments will handle the relevant case according to law. We hope that public figures in other countries can respect China’s judicial sovereignty and independence.”
“Clinton criticizing the Asian nation’s human rights record is far from new. A highpoint of Clinton’s eight years in the East Wing was at the United Nations’ 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing, where the then-first lady took on China’s human rights record and declared, “human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.”
“Clinton said: “Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones a jailing them, mistreating them or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions.”
However, in an interview with Newslo, Chunying also stated that “the government of the People’s Republic of China has decided to take action against the former first lady.”
He said: “China is a truly great country. And it would not be what it is today if it let everyone speak what they want about it, regardless of where someone may come from. Mrs. Clinton’s comment was not appropriate. She is not in a position to comment on other nations and she should pay more attention to that in the future, since this is not the first time something like this happened.”
He added: “In reaction, the Chinese government has decided to make a donation to the Republican Party and an undisclosed presidential candidate. I cannot divulge any more information regarding the donation, but a message has been sent. A message not to provoke battles that cannot be won.”
