China slams West’s hypocrisy over respect for freedom of religious belief

BEIJING - China slammed on Thursday the West’s hypocrisy about the respect for freedom of religious belief following the burning of the Koran by far-rights activists last month in Sweden and the Netherlands.

“Freedom of religious belief should be respected. This is a widely held consensus of the international community. The Muslim faith and religious feelings should be respected,” said Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China’s Foreign Ministry.

“We have noted recent media reports on individual Western politicians’ public burning of copies of the Koran. The incidents shine a spotlight on the hypocrisy of some Western politicians who pride themselves on their respect for freedom of religious belief,” she said.

“China will, as always, advocate inter-civilization dialogue together with Islamic countries and work with them to jointly uphold the freedom of religious belief of Muslims and all other population groups,” she added.

Last month, a far-right activist from Denmark received permission from police to stage a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm where he burned the Koran, Islam’s holy book.

Days later, Edwin Wagensveld, Dutch leader of the far-right Pegida movement in the Netherlands, tore pages out of a copy of the Koran near the Dutch Parliament and stomped on the pages.

The moves angered millions of Muslims around the world and triggered protests.

Swedish officials have stressed that freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Swedish Constitution and gives people extensive rights to express their views publicly, though incitement to violence or hate speech isn’t allowed.