US Shouldn't Shine Spotlight on Countries' Human Rights Inappropriately

“On Oct. 10, the U.S. ‘Congressional-Executive Commission on China’ published that under the new president, China’s human rights record has not improved. According to the BBC on Oct. 11, the committee’s annual report states that China doesn’t like to suggest political reform to its citizens, even lacking a tolerant attitude. The ‘Congressional-Executive Commission on China’ altogether has 23 members, including 18 congressmen and five government employees. Its annual report doesn’t express government policy.” (Zaobao, Oct. 11, 2013)

As the author states, in 2011 the U.S. criticized [China’s] human rights record, releasing their own human rights warning, portraying themselves as the human rights “master.”

Why should the U.S. consider itself the “master”? China has an opera called “The Fisherman’s Revenge,” which has a “master” character. He is bent over, frail with a sagging face and squinted eyes, filling the stage with an overbearing presence as he wobbles out. Regarding human rights, America’s conduct and deeds give people this “master” impression. On March 19, 2011, hundreds of anti-war protesters gathered outside the White House to acknowledge the eighth year since the start of the Iraq war, at the same time protesting the government’s using military force against Libya. One hundred thirteen protesters were apprehended by the police. This is a bit ironic regarding the so-called human rights policy in the U.S., a slap in the face for the “master” of human rights.

Briefly looking at America’s human rights record for 2012, it’s not difficult to see that the U.S. has fallen behind on human rights issues.

To protect America’s image, U.S. domestic human rights problems that horrify people are suppressed, even in the face of logic and reason. In reality, the human rights record of the U.S. is one of constant failure. One undeniable example is that because of an overflow of guns in the U.S., some people have used them to gun down innocents, the proof being that school shootings already have taken place at numerous campuses.

Remember that on Feb. 5, 2010, in Geneva, when the United Nations Human Rights Council deliberated about human rights in the U.S., 87 countries requested to speak, even though only 56 countries were qualified to speak. However, while speaking, they questioned the approval of the U.S. regarding core aspects of the International Human Rights Law, raising issues concerning minority and aboriginal rights, anti-discrimination record, closure of Guantanamo, etc. Using the platform of the U.N. Human Rights Council, an overwhelming 47 countries asked the U.S. government to improve its domestic human rights situation. France and Ireland also asked President Obama to close the prison in Guantanamo. It’s obvious that the U.S. doesn’t admit its own human rights situation to the international community.

U.S. human rights problems obviously exist behind the rationalization, “We don’t acknowledge our problems, therefore other countries don’t acknowledge them.” Why does America point fingers at other countries, especially China, when the U.S. should point a finger at itself? Is China’s human rights situation getting worse and worse, as the U.S. claims? No!

In actuality, since the financial crisis caused the world’s economy to fall into a depression, the Chinese government put effort into “urgent protection of growth and organization.” From 2008 to 2012, new construction of roads in rural areas reached 1.465 million kilometers; remodeling 10.33 million units of rural housing, solving more than 300 million rural residents’ problems of water safety and the problems of 4.45 million people without electricity. Citizens’ income rose; according to new standards regarding assistance to the poor, at the end of 2012 the population of the rural poor was 98.99 million, having shrunk from the previous year by 23.39 million. For the entire year of 2012, with economic growth slowing down, there were 12.66 million people with new jobs, with 55.2 million unemployed people finding other jobs, the unemployed being 1.82 million people, at year end the unemployment rate being 2.1 percent, the same level as that in the previous year. Of those people, more than 66 percent often comment on the Internet. Chinese life expectancy reached 72 years, quickly catching up to developed countries’ average of 75 years. The Chinese human rights situation improved, obtaining world recognition. In 2012, revisions to written Chinese criminal procedure included content on “respect and protection of human rights.” The specific words written into regulations pertained to evidence procedure, defense quality, enforcement procedure, investigative procedure, examinations of lawsuits and trial procedure. These revisions to policy were perfected to improve respect and protection of human rights. This undertaking to clarity the law represents important progress for human rights in China.

In discussions of human rights issues, why do opinions between the U.S. and China, along with other countries, differ so greatly? There are many reasons, but America’s casting a “spotlight” on others is an important reason. A spotlight only illuminates others — not whoever is casting it — while hiding one’s own problems, even terrible problems. In human rights issues, the U.S. doesn’t bring up its own problems, keeping them hidden; because of this hiding, those problems get cast aside, the U.S. trying to swiftly sweep the matter under a rug. In the long run, anti-terrorism in the U.S. is famous, the country’s personal interests are known, using its dominance on the Internet to infiltrate Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc. Using the nine major website communication servers to secretly gather and monitor information about its own citizens, including citizens’ phone records and Internet history, wantonly encroaching on public privacy rights, violating the coveted Western principle of free speech. On Oct. 12, the Russian news site Rianovosti (rusnews.cn) published information stating that U.S. federal courts will allow [the Department of] Homeland Security to continue to monitor U.S. citizens’ telephone records to gather important information. Unexpectedly, all this is also with the knowledge and support of Congress and the Justice Department, making no secrets about it. People across the world want to ask this question: Is this a constitutional government? After the Boston bombings, in order to capture and punish the perpetrators, the government used no small amount of extreme measures. For example, the government imposed curfew, closed schools and stopped subways. The Massachusetts governor’s ordered more than 10 million citizens not to go out but to stay indoors. And the government stopped public transportation between Boston and New York aside from the airport. When holding a spotlight on others, one still lacks the obvious: to shine it on oneself. If people lose self-awareness, they lose self-control; if a country loses self-awareness, it also loses rationality, attracting international controversy.

A reason everyone knows as to why the U.S. holds a spotlight on others is some Americans’ mentality; they’ve always thought of the U.S. as perfect and of other countries as being in turmoil, labeling those that don’t follow U.S. demands as enemies and insisting on carrying out punishment. This hits the nail on the head. In the international community, the U.S. always uses its spotlight line of thought regardless of the consequences.

Human rights issues [between countries] are due to cultural differences. Different countries with different political parties have different understandings of human rights. However, the U.S. has ignored cultural differences and acted for its own interests while greatly exaggerating other countries’ problems, with arrogance. A crucial point for protecting human rights is the communication and exchange of ideas, not just imposing one human rights opinion and using it to attack other countries’ human rights policies. This spotlight method to criticize other countries’ situations should not be tolerated. Otherwise, it just adds confusion and no one benefits.