A senior Chinese diplomat on Monday urged the U.S. to take concrete action to address systemic racism, racial discrimination and police violence in the country.

In the United States, tens of millions of African Americans continue to suffer from discrimination and injustice of all kinds, and justice and equality are just empty laws for them, said Jiang Duan, minister of the Chinese Mission to the UN at Geneva, during the 51st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Vienna.

Noting that African-Americans in the U.S. face unfair law enforcement, Jiang said that based on the statistics, they are more than twice as likely as white people to be shot by police, 2.9 times as likely to die due to police brutality, and nearly six times as likely to be incarcerated.

He said colonialism and the slave trade were the root causes of racism and racial discrimination and that although this dark chapter of human history has been turned over, the ideas of "white supremacy" that underpinned it remains.

Referring to George Floyd's death, which sparked international protests about racial injustice, Jiang said China urges the U.S. to take action to solve the domestic problems of systemic racism, racial discrimination and police violence, fully and conscientiously implement the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the UNHRC, and implement the Durban Declaration and Program of Action so that the tragedies like Floyd's will not be repeated.

China stands ready to work with all parties to combat all forms of racial discrimination, ensuring that all people can live in dignity and build an inclusive, equal and free society, Jiang said.

(Cover: A headstone shows George Floyd's name in the Say Their Names Cemetery at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., February 22, 2022. /CFP )