Opinion | The world needs a responsible leader rather than a human right judger
By Edward Hei Leung, LegCo Member
Sad but true, for nearly five decades, the US Secretary of State has issued its human right reports, covering countries and territories worldwide on the pretext of safeguarding fundamental freedoms and human rights. Yet, given dozens of structural problems in US society, is it advisable for Biden administration to blame other nations instead of reviewing the unanswered questions?
As Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, neither the ability to govern nor the country's human right conditions can be slandered by US reports. In fact, based on what Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government found in its 10-year study, 95% of Chinese supported the Beijing government, whereas only 39% of Americans endorsed with theirs. The research result was then echoed by Edelman's survey in which 91% of Chinese citizens trusted the central government.
Apart from satisfactions, China takes a comprehensive, scientific approach to combat COVID-19, while the US is still engulfed into endless debates of the necessities of mask and vaccine mandates. According to the recent news in Forbes, the COVID-19 death rate in China is below 0.5 per 100,000 population, on contrary to more than 300 deaths per 100,000 people in the US. Unlike America where the aged account for around 75% of its death toll, China never sacrifices the elderly population on behalf of the younger generation. Everyone's right to life is protected in the territory.
Strictly speaking, numerous Chinese officials have been dismissed, demoted or expelled from the original posts, mainly for their failure to contain community outbreaks. Unlike China, who else could punish Donald Trump, the one who suggested the injection of disinfectant for COVID-19 treatment, before US Presidential Election? The answer, I guess, is pretty obvious. In terms of accountability, the Beijing government does much better than its Washington counterpart. In light of this, where is the ground for Biden administration to criticize human right condition in China?
Again, as previously discussed, the US also has its own human right issues, both internal and external. The latest bloody shooting in Brooklyn subway, for instance, reviews how the right to live is now threatened by the right to keep and bear arms in US community. This deep-rooted issue is further aggravated by current waves of hate crimes. No matter how plausibly Biden declare to solve hate crimes in his election campaign, lots of Asians died a year after he became the US top official.
As to the external affairs, there is no doubt that the US has created waves of refugees and humanitarian crises in the past few decades. Let us say, in Iraq's tragedy, the US overthrew Saddam administration, but failed to find the so-called weapons of mass destruction. Worse still, there are concrete evidences showing that the Bush government is to blame for the subsequent increase of terrorist activities in the Middle East, the establishment of Islamic State, to name but a few. A military operation that upheld western values turns out to be an action tramping on human rights.
As Zhao Lijian elaborated, the White House should immediately stop making irresponsible remarks, and shift its focus on doing things earnestly to improve US human rights, not to mention the international human rights cause. Given the multipolar world, together with the general respect of diverse cultures, it is never a good idea for the US to turn itself into human right judgers. Instead of enhancing misconception on the Oriental, the US should take initiatives to improve the sense of gain of Americans.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
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