China angered by Hillary Clinton tweet on women's rights

China angered by Hillary Clinton tweet on women's rights

Mrs Clinton said in a tweet on Sunday that Chinese President Xi Jinping was "shameless" for hosting a United Nations conference on women's rights that date.

In her Twitter message, Hillary Clinton twitted as follows:

Xi is hosting a meeting on women’s rights at the U.N while persecuting feminists? Shameless.

As per New York Times , President Xi Jinping of China is a co-host of the meeting on U.N Summit Meeting on Women’s Rights though his country imprisoned five feminists this year and President Obama will not attend.

Mr Xi has come under fire for hosting the summit as several women's rights activists were held earlier this year for planning a demonstration against sexual harassment on public transport.

Rights groups say several female human rights activists remain in detention.

It is to be noted that Mrs Clinton has made women's rights a signature part of her campaign.

State media on Monday thus unsurprisingly reacted with fury, with a strongly-worded editorial by The Global Times put out in both English and Chinese and carried widely in other local media outlets.

It accused Mrs Clinton of aping Republican candidate Donald Trump - who has himself made provocative remarks about China - in an attempt to gain votes through China-bashing.

Many people supported Clinton as they were decrying the detention of the activists and the state of women's rights in China.

Said user wbxxxhhh: "Hillary wasn't criticising the arrests of the activists, but instead was criticising their arrests on cooked-up charges."

"Chinese women don't even have the right to reproduce, let alone women's rights," said Te_leinijiangtui, in a reference to China's one-child policy.

It is not certain whether Mrs Clinton has taken note of the Chinese brouhaha yet - if she has, she has yet to give a direct response.

Her campaign team meanwhile continues to press on. One of their latest tweets stressed the importance of women's rights.

 

Courtesy : Tessa Wong - BBC News