U.S. should face up to and solve its own human rights problems

The human rights situation in the U.S., which has notorious records, worsened in 2021, said the Report on Human Rights Violations in the U.S. in 2021 issued by China's State Council Information Office on Feb. 28.

In 2021, the U.S. public persona of “human rights defender” was totally debunked, and the country has become the “biggest destroyer” of human rights in the world, the report said.

According to the report, in the U.S., political manipulation led to a sharp surge in COVID-19 deaths; shooting deaths hit a new record; fake democracy trampled on people’s political rights; violent law enforcement made life harder for migrants and refugees; discrimination against ethnic minority groups, especially Asians, intensified. In the meantime, unilateral U.S. actions created new humanitarian crises across the globe.

Despite having world’s most advanced medical equipment and technology, the U.S. has the biggest number of COVID-19 infections and deaths globally. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., the epidemic prevention and control has been highly politicized, which has become a tool and a bargaining chip for Republicans and Democrats to attack, reject and confront each other.

The U.S. government’s unscientific, unequal and irresponsible epidemic prevention and control conducts have seriously undermined its people’s rights to life and health. People’s mental health deteriorated due to the uncontrolled outbreak. The number of the homeless is staggering. The elderly’ rights to life are flagrantly violated.

According to statistics, the average life expectancy of U.S. citizens fell by 1.13 years, the biggest drop since the Second World War. In particular, the decline in life expectancy among African Americans and Latinos was much more than that among whites. Rather than promoting international cooperation on vaccines, the U.S. has repeatedly coerced the WHO and been keen on shifting the blame and political manipulation.

As developing countries are in dire need of vaccines, Washington vigorously pursues “America First” and is engaged in “vaccine nationalism," interfering and dragging down global anti-pandemic cooperation. What the U.S. has done is disregard for the rights to life and health that should be enjoyed by all the people in the world, including Americans.

The U.S. has long been habitually touting itself as the "beacon of democracy." However, as a matter of fact, American people's political rights are trampled on by politicians who manipulate fake democracy. Money politics become increasingly rampant in the U.S., which makes politicians more neglectful of people’s interests and demands. Democrats and Republicans are doing everything to restrain and harm electors’ right to vote. The election chaos in the country has further intensified political polarization and continues to tear the society apart.

Investigations indicated that the public trust in the government has fallen to almost historical low since 1958, and international confidence in the U.S. democratic system continues to decline.

Though American democracy is rotting, the U.S. is still reluctant to face up to the reality. It is trying to politicize democracy and takes it as a tool to force other countries to pick sides and form cliques to divide the world. Under the disguise of protecting "democracy" and "human rights," the U.S. initiated the so-called Summit for Democracy. However, it only ended up as a farce that drew wide criticism from the international society.

The U.S. has always pursued hegemonism, unilateralism and interventionism to maintain its global hegemony. The country frequently uses force, resulting in a large number of civilian casualties. Its abusive use of unilateral sanctions has caused humanitarian crises.

According to the New York Times, investigation found that more than 50,000 U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan were reckless and poorly targeted, killing tens of thousands of civilians. A study by an American university indicated that the 20-year U.S. military operations in Afghanistan have killed 174,000 people, including more than 30,000 civilians, and injured more than 60,000 people. A total of 3.5 million Afghans have been displaced.

The belligerent U.S. is challenging justice with hegemony, trampling on righteousness with self-interest, and wantonly violating human rights in other countries. It has become the biggest obstacle and destroyer of the sound development of the international human rights cause.

The U.S. should face up to and solve its own human rights problems and stop politicizing human rights. It should also join other countries in obeying the principles and rules of the UN Charter and carrying out constructive dialogues and cooperation in the sphere of human rights, so as to jointly promote the healthy development of the international human rights cause.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)