GENEVA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's unbridled attacks on the election of China, Russia and Cuba to the UN Human Rights Council exposed his consistent self-conceit, arrogance and hypocrisy, the Permanent Mission of China to the UN Office at Geneva said.

Pompeo's remarks once again highlighted the fundamental differences between China and the United States on human rights issues, the Chinese mission said in a press statement released on Thursday.

According to the statement, Pompeo, in startling shamelessness, also boasted and whitewashed the United States as "a force for good in the world" on Tuesday.

"China upholds the principle of putting the people first," the statement said, adding that in China, a total of 850 million people have been lifted out of poverty and the world's largest systems of education, social security, health care and grass-root democratic election have been put in place.

In contrast, in the United States, racial discrimination is deeply rooted in the society while police violence is getting even more fierce and social injustice increasingly perpetuated, it added.

Citing George Floyd's cry "I can't breathe" and the inhumane experience of immigrants in the detention centers and their forcedly separated children, the statement raised the question, "Is this what makes the United States a 'force for good'?"

In the face of the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, China has spared no expense to protect the lives and safety of its people, it said, adding that the whole country has come together and made strategic achievements in the fight against the pandemic.

In the United States, on the other hand, politicians have been ignoring people's lives and health, challenging science and common sense, and responding negatively to the increasingly serious epidemic, the statement said.

In a country that boasts the most advanced medical technology and the most complete epidemic prevention system, nearly 8 million people have been infected and over 216,000 lost their precious lives, it added.

China has always adhered to multilateralism and been committed to maintaining the international system with the UN at its core, the statement said, adding that the country has always been an advocator for human rights dialogue and cooperation and participated in the work of the Human Rights Council actively and constructively.

"The United States, very much on the contrary, pursues blatant unilateralism, adopts 'America first' attitude, advocates or brushes aside international mechanisms purely based on its own calculation, and has withdrawn from a number of multilateral treaties and organizations," the statement added.

The U.S. withdrawal from the Human Rights Council validates the presumption that the United States stands not only on the opposite side of the international community but also the wrong side of history, it said.

"China's re-election as a member of the Human Rights Council has won wide-ranging support from the international community, which fully reflects the international community's recognition of China's human rights development and its active participation in global human rights governance," it said.

The statement added that China is willing to work with other member states to continue active and constructive participation in the work of the Human Rights Council and jointly promote the sound development of the international human rights cause.

"The United States is advised to get rid of its Cold War mindset, do its own 'homework' well, abandon confrontation and pressure-exerting, and return to the correct track of promoting the international human rights cause," the Chinese mission said.