BEIJING, April 20 (APP): Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Wednesday hoped that Sweden would earnestly respect the religious beliefs of Muslims and other minority groups, protect their lawful rights and interests, and square their words of respecting and protecting freedom of religious belief with actions.
China always opposes extreme behavior of attacking people with different religious beliefs and instigating conflicts between civilizations, he said while commenting on the recently anti-Islam rallies organized by far-right political party Stram Kurs in multiple places across Sweden and burning of the Holy Quran, which had triggered an outrage among the Muslim community.
Large-scale unrest broke out in many places across Sweden, resulting in the vandalism of public facilities and injuries of many people.
While noting the relevant reports, Wang Wenbin said that freedom of speech should not be used as an excuse to incite racial or cultural discrimination and create division in society. No civilization is superior to others. They are different only in feature and geographical distribution.
He said that the Chinese side advocates replacing clash of civilizations with exchange of civilizations and added, We oppose discriminatory rhetoric against certain religion and civilization.
