Speaking strongly to Western countries over press freedom, China said on Monday that the case of jailed investigative journalist Julian Assange reflected “hypocrisy” in the United States and the United Kingdom.

“The case of Julian Assange is a mirror. It reflects the hypocrisy of the United States and the United Kingdom on freedom of the press,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the meeting. a press conference in Beijing.

“People are free to expose other countries, but face severe penalties if they expose the United States,” Wang said, responding to a question about WikiLeaks founder Assange, whose extradition order was signed last Friday by UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Assange’s extradition order was forwarded to the secretary by the UK courts last month.

OPINION: Arrest of Julian Assange is an existential threat to journalism

His wife, Stella Moris, has vowed to fight the move, saying the UK Home Office’s decision to extradite Julian Assange to the US is “not the end of the road”.

“We’re not at the end of the road here,” Morris said on Friday. “We will use all avenues of appeal and we will fight.”

After creating WikiLeaks in 2006, Assange released around 1 million documents obtained from American activist and whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The documents included US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and alleged war crimes during those wars.

The release of another 250,000 classified documents relating to US efforts to isolate Iran has raised eyebrows in Washington.

“People are criminalized if they expose the United States”

Assange will face 18 counts of hacking into US government computers and violating the Espionage Act and a potential prison sentence of several years if extradited to the United States.

Assange has 14 days to appeal since signing the extradition order.

Launching a campaign on Western standards for press freedom, Wang said: “People are either treated as heroes if they denounce other countries or as criminals if they denounce the United States.” .

“In other countries, holding the media accountable is tantamount to ‘political persecution’, while in the United States, suppressing the media is tantamount to ‘acting according to law,'” Wang said.

“All eyes are on the Assange case. I hope and believe that fairness and justice will prevail, and hegemony and abuse of power will not last forever,” he added. .

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Assange was dragged from the Ecuadorian embassy building in London last year, where he took refuge for more than seven years.

British police said he was arrested for skipping bail in 2012 and, on behalf of the United States, due to an extradition warrant.

He was later found guilty of breaching his bail conditions in 2012 after failing to report to security by Westminster Magistrates’ Court and sentenced to 50 weeks in jail .

“The United States has created 49 million refugees”

Commenting on today’s World Refugee Day, Wang said wars “led by the United States after 9/11 have created between 49 and 60 million refugees.”

“The war in Afghanistan alone has left 11 million people displaced,” Wang said.

The US-led war on Afghanistan ended last August, after the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, which led to the meltdown of the Washington-backed administration in Kabul. Later, the Taliban returned to power after 20 years of war.

“Some Western countries, led by the United States, have long exported war and unrest, interfered in the internal affairs of other countries and created humanitarian disasters. They are the ones who have generated the refugee problem. first,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. official.

“We urge these countries to reflect on the serious consequences of their behavior, to eliminate the root cause of the refugee problem and to assume their responsibilities,” Wang added.