The New York Times reported on Feb 18, that a 36-page and 372-page annexure of a United Nations report that served notice to North korean leader Kim Jong-un, that he might be personally held liable in court for crimes against humanity committed by state institutions and officials under his direct control, was criticised on 18 Feb by China.

Hua Chunying, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called the report “unreasonable criticism.” She said: “We believe that politicizing human rights issues is not conducive toward improving a country’s human rights” adding that  “We believe that taking human rights issues to the International Criminal Court is not helpful to improving a country’s human rights situation.”