China hits out at US over Afghan withdrawal

Beijing, Aug 24 : Hitting out at the US for its withdrawal from Afghanistan, China accused Washington of having "selfish" foreign policy priorities.

It said that the US had used the rhetoric of a rules-based global order to defend its own "bullying, hegemonic behaviour", reports the BBC.

"The US can wantonly conduct military intervention in a sovereign country and does not need to be responsible for the suffering of the people in that country," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a press briefing.

"The US can arbitrarily smear, suppress, coerce and bully other countries without paying any price," he added.

China has called at the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for the US, UK, and other countries to "be held accountable for the violation of human rights committed by their military in Afghanistan".

However, US President Joe Biden, in a press briefing last week had defended the move to pull out troops from Afghanistan.

Biden had said that he stands "squarely" behind the US exit from Afghanistan.