China urges US to stop illegally occupying Cuba's territory

BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States needs to immediately stop illegally occupying Cuba's territory, close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and pull out of the base at Guantanamo as soon as possible, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks when asked to comment on a related query at a daily press briefing.

It is reported that U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the repatriation of a detainee from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and 29 detainees remain there. In recent years, successive U.S. administrations have promised multiple times they would close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, but still haven't acted on it. Despite repeated protests from the Cuban government, the United States has unlawfully occupied part of Guantanamo Bay for over 120 years.

Lin said the United States has long unlawfully occupied part of Guantanamo Bay, and carried out arbitrary detention and used torture to extort confessions at the detention facility there. "What the United States has done severely violates international law and undermines Cuba's sovereignty and rights and interests."

The international community, including the UN, has more than once expressed concerns on this issue and asked the United States to close the detention facility there and treat the detainees justly as soon as possible, according to the spokesperson.

The repeated failure of the United States to keep its promise of closing this U.S.-run "concentration camp" will only add another stain to the poor U.S. track record on human rights and expose the emptiness of U.S. commitment to human rights, said the spokesperson.

The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay is Cuba's protracted wound, and it is a living witness to more than a century of U.S. illegal interference in Cuba, Lin said, adding that the United States, while running massive arbitrary detention at Guantanamo, keeps Cuba on the list of so-called "state sponsor of terrorism."

"The whole world can see the hypocrisy and double standard in this," he added.

China firmly supports Cuba in defending its national sovereignty and dignity, and opposes U.S. interference in Cuba's internal affairs, Lin said, adding that the United States needs to stop the bullying and blockade on Cuba, give the Cuban people's land back to them, and remove Cuba from the list of "state sponsors of terrorism."