The human rights situation of a country should be judged by its citizens, not the opinions of other countries, State Councilor and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday.

He made those remarks in Iran, the third stop of his six-state Middle East tour, where he met with Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh.

“The world should listen to and absorb the views of developing countries so that the definition of human rights will be more comprehensive, diverse and balanced,” said Wang, according to state media Xinhua News Agency.

His remarks came as China faced growing criticism from the West for its human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Beijing has retaliated against Western sanctions by blacklisting European and Canadian lawmakers, academics and other entities over last week.

Wang stressed that the rights to live and develop are as important as the political and social rights, and fairness and justice should be respected as much as democracy and freedom.

Different civilizations and traditions in different development phases lead to different understandings. It is why China advocates communicating equally and learning from each other on issues of human rights, Wang reiterated. “No country is superior to another in this world, and the standard of a single country should not be regarded as the international standard.”

It would be the utmost injustice in human history if some Western countries keep using human rights as an excuse to suppress developing countries and deprive non-Western countries of the rights to develop, said the minister. He added that China is against any form of interference in other countries’ domestic affairs under the pretext of protecting human rights.

In response, Sheikh Abdullah said the level of well-being of the citizens should be the criteria to judge the human rights situation of a country. Imposing its values on others is an act of unfair hegemony, which many developing countries have suffered from, he added.

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