CCTV: On April 12, the US Department of State released the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices which attacked China on its political system and human rights condition. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the press briefing that “the Chinese Government continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs, among other minority groups, to erode fundamental freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong, and to carry out systematic repression in Tibet”. Does China have any comment?

Zhao Lijian: The China-related content in the so-called Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and relevant remarks by Secretary Antony Blinken misrepresent facts, confuse right with wrong, and are deluged with political lies and ideological bias. China deplores and firmly opposes it. 

The Chinese people can tell better than others how the human rights situation in China is and the international community has long come to an conclusion about China’s governance. Such facts cannot possibly be denied by a report or the remarks of certain people. The US government smears and denigrates China and attacks other places in the world by releasing the report every year, in an attempt to style itself as a “judge” and “role model” on human rights. This only serves to reveal its hypocrisy and double standards. 

Speaking of respecting and protecting human rights, the US is debt-laden both at home and abroad with its numerous wrongdoings. Domestically, human rights protection is an empty promise the US has never fulfilled. With the most advanced medical equipment and technology in the world, the US stands as the country with the largest number of infection and death of COVID-19. The US government, instead of fighting the coronavirus, seeks political manipulation, instigates the “lab leak” theory and allows racism to spawn alongside the coronavirus, which have resulted in the frequent occurrence of anti-Asian hate crimes. The persistent discriminatory migration policy in the US has squeezed the living space for migrants of Latin American, Asian and African descent to the extreme. The policy of separating migrant children from their families, extended custody, cruel torture, forced labor and many other inhumane treatments gravely threatens the life, dignity and freedom of migrants. The pervasive gun violence, denial of justice in law enforcement and prisoner abuse have left the American people living in hear and worry about their security. 

Externally, human rights protection is a pretense the US government uses to cover up its agenda of seeking hegemony. The subversion and wars launched by the US have forced people away from their homeland, including more than 20 million refugees and migrants in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria alone. The so-called “counter-terrorism” wars waged by the US have claimed over 900,000 lives. The US’ military operations in Afghanistan not only took the lives of over 100,000 people, but also looted the $7 billion live-saving money of the Afghan people. The US network of secret prisons across the globe created human rights tragedies that each set off an uproar in the international community. At a time when the world economy is suffering from the impact of COVID-19, the US is still using human rights as an excuse to wantonly pressure and threaten countries by imposing sanctions. This has not only aggravated the human rights crisis in relevant countries, but also endangered world economic recovery and stability of industrial and supply chains. 

The US should immediately stop making irresponsible remarks, attacking and smearing other countries’ human rights conditions. Instead, it needs to reflect on itself, mend its ways, and earnestly do things to improve its own human rights situation and promote the international human rights cause.