The Chinese government says it is handling the human rights issues of North Koreans who escaped their homeland in line with domestic and international laws as well as humanitarian principles. 

Spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry Wang Wenbin disclosed such a stance in a press briefing on Wednesday.

He issued the position after Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency asked for comments on South Korea advising Beijing to protect the human rights of North Korean escapees at a United Nations review session on China’s human rights held on Tuesday. 

Wang said people who enter China illegally due to economic reasons are not regarded as refugees. 

Chinese authorities had previously stressed that Beijing is managing illegal immigrants in accordance with the law when South Korea’s government expressed regret last October over Beijing’s move to forcibly repatriate multiple North Koreans to their homeland. 

Earlier on Tuesday, Yun Seong-deok, South Korean ambassador to the UN office in Geneva, called on Beijing to provide foreign defectors, including North Korean escapees, with the relevant protections and humanitarian support as South Korea broached the issue of the defectors’ human rights for the first time in a universal periodic review of China.