US Highlights Efforts to Prevent Suppression of Freedom, Human Rights Abuses Amid Pandemic

Police officers walk past a plaque outside Beijing's new national security bureau office after its official inauguration in Hong Kong, on July 8, 2020. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

Countries that uphold the rule of law and protect freedom and human rights are more able to effectively respond to crises like the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, the U.S. State Department has said.

“Government responses to the COVID-19 epidemic must not use the disease as a pretext for repression of persons or ideas,” the State Department said in a statement.