China’s state-run propaganda newspaper Global Times declared on Tuesday that First Lady Melania Trump’s leadership at a U.N. Security Council meeting the day before — an unprecedented act for a presidential spouse — drew “backlash from international society” for alleged hypocrisy amid the ongoing war with Iran.
The Global Times highlighted comments from the Chinese envoy at the meeting, Fu Cong, who echoed claims by the Iranian Islamist regime that either America or Israel targeted a girls’ school in the country. Independent observers have not confirmed the alleged strike and the United States has rejected any accusation that it would intentionally bomb a school.
It also highlighted the Iranian envoy present at the meeting calling the first lady “hypocritical” for her remarks calling for universal access to education for children. Iran is one of the world’s most prolific abusers of the rights of women, mandating that all women cover their hair, beating and killing women who defy the Islamist edict, and violently punishing acts such as dancing. Despite this, the United Nations Commission for Social Development (CSocD) named the Islamic Republic a “vice-chair” in February. The commission’s mandate includes women’s rights issues.
First Lady Trump addressed the meeting on the topic of education, first offering words of condolence to the service members who lost their lives or were injured this weekend during “Operation Epic Fury,” the American coordinated attack on leaders and military structures in Iran. She urged world governments to expand access to education and prioritize free thinking, offering condemnation of repressive governments that appeared to allude to Iran.
“Children raised in a culture rooted in ignorance are surrounded by disorder, and sometimes even conflict,” she stated. “These societies are filled with rigid thinkers who embrace prejudice and shun human dignity. When a nation restricts thought, it restricts its own future.”
“Education is widely recognized as a fundamental human right. And yet today, so many children and young adults are banned from attending secondary schools and universities,” the first lady lamented.
The United Nations confirmed on Monday that Trump chairing the meeting was an unprecedented event.
“While there have been instances of First Ladies taking part in Security Council meetings, today was the first time a sitting First Lady has had the gavel,” the U.N. observed in its reports on the meeting. The United States holds the rotating chairmanship of the Security Council for March.
The Global Times called the meeting a “striking scene” at the United Nations and suggested that the world was outraged by Trump’s presence and her remarks. The newspaper’s evidence for the alleged “backlash from international society” against Trump were comments from the Iranian representative at the meeting and an assortment of accounts on the social media website Twitter, which Chinese nationals are banned from accessing unless they belong to the Communist Party’s elite.
“Yet her calling on member states to protect children’s access to education has sparked a wave of sarcasm and criticism after media reported that an airstrike killed at least 165 people at a girls’ school in southern Iran,” the Global Times claimed.
The outlet’s coverage naturally focused on Fu Cong, the Chinese representative, who said at the meeting that “China strongly condemns the targeting of children in attacks and urges parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect children from the ravages of war, and uphold the most basic moral conscience of humanity.”
“The international community should step up investigations into and accountability for incidents involving harm to children and the destruction of schools, and work together to prevent further atrocities,” Fu said.
The Chinese diplomat was referring to an alleged bombing of a girls’ school that the Iranian regime reported this weekend during the first wave of “Operation Epic Fury.” Iran’s coverage of the alleged event does not specify if it is accusing America or the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which has launched its own barrage against the Iranian terror state, of striking the school in question. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the alleged incident this weekend, noting that the United States has very little information on the matter.
“The Department of War would be investigating that if that was our strike, and I would refer your question to them,” Rubio said. “The United States would not deliberately target a school.”
The Pentagon said this weekend it was “looking into” the alleged report but has not since updated with any specifics.
While China condemned the United States at the Security Council, it has largely failed to take any material actions to aid Iran as it suffers massive losses of high-level leadership, including “supreme leader” Ali Khamenei. Asked on Monday if China would call for more Security Council meetings in Iran’s defense, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning failed to respond to the question directly.
“The UN Security Council has held an emergency meeting with the support of China and Russia to discuss the current situation,” Mao said. “We support the Security Council in continuing to play its due role, and we hope relevant parties will stop the military operations at once and avoid further escalation.”
Similarly, Mao refused to answer if China would use its veto power in defense of Iran at the venue.
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