U.S. must protect its people from gun violence: spokesperson

BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The United States should protect its people from gun violence, as any government that safeguards human rights should do, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Tuesday.

Wang made the remarks at a daily news briefing in response to media reports that a large number of shooting incidents occurred at many locations in the United States over the weekend, causing many casualties.

According to data released by the U.S. Gun Violence Archives, a non-profit organization, there were about 220 gun incidents in the United States over the weekend, with about 90 people killed.

"We express our regret over the repeated shooting incidents in the United States that have caused serious casualties, and are concerned and disturbed that the U.S. government has not taken any substantive measures to reduce gun violence for a long time," said Wang.

As the country with the most serious gun violence in the world, the number of victims of gun violence has reached record highs, with an average of 122 people dying every day, Wang said, adding that the probability of children and adolescents dying from shooting is 15 times greater than in the other 31 high-income countries combined.

"However, in the past 25 years, the U.S. government has been slow to enact a gun-control bill," Wang stressed.

He said that, faced with repeated human rights tragedies in their own country, the U.S. politicians only repeat hollow words to placate or stage some mourning events until the next deadly incident happens.

"People can't help ask, where are the human rights of the American people when they see their relatives and even their children facing gunpoint every day but can't do anything?" Wang said.

He questioned whether the American politicians care more about human rights or hegemony, when they are indifferent to the deaths of their own people but meddle in other countries' affairs.

"We urge the United States to respond to the concerns of the American people, ensure the safety of their lives, and enable Americans to sit at their desks with peace of mind and walk freely on the streets," he said.

"This is what a government that cares about and upholds human rights should do," Wang said.