China accuses the U.S. of poor human rights record

The press office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China released a report “The human rights in the United States in 2005” on Thursday. China’s official news agency Xinhua said the document was a response to the “groundless accusations brought against China” by the U.S. State Department. The document is a seventh “counter argument” by the Chinese government, normally published one day after the release of an annual State Department report on the human rights records of different countries. Not unlike in the previous years, the U.S. State Department “paid attention to the human rights records of more that 190 countries and regions including China. However, it said nothing with regard to the human rights abuses in the United States,” says the Chinese report.

Photo: China accuses the U.S. of poor human rights record

China accuses the U.S. of poor human rights record

The Chinese report is built chiefly on reports by the U.S. media. It has seven sections including “Political rights and freedoms”, “Life and personal security”, “Human rights abuses by law-enforcement agencies”, and “Racial discrimination”. The document cites numerous cases of police arbitrariness, secret tailing, censoring of private correspondence, unlawful detentions, and unjust convictions. The report highlights President Bush’s decree concerning the domestic wiretapping. It also reports on $77.89 million spent by the New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his reelection campaign. The section “Human rights abuses in other countries” points out that “the number of Iraqis killed during the U.S.-led invasion to Iraq has amounted to one hundred thousand.”

“The United States has always made a parade of itself as an example of democracy, imposing its experience on the rest of the world. In actuality, democracy in the U.S. is a maid of capital,” says the Chinese report. Beijing calls on Washington “to take effective steps for the improvement of its human rights record” and “encourage international cooperation” in that field.

It is worthy of note that the release of China’s official viewpoint on the U.S. human rights record precedes a state visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United State scheduled for April. U.S. Undersecretary for East Asia Christopher Hill said that “the U.S. leaders will attempt to raise issues relating to human rights and freedom of conscience during the talks with Hu Jintao.”

Vremya Novostei

Translated by Guerman Grachev

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