China report on U.S. human rights violations reveals American hypocrisy, double standards

-- Following the U.S. government's reckless COVID-19 response, the virus spread beyond control in the United States and became a human tragedy that has claimed more than 500,000 American lives, according to the report.

-- Ethnic minority groups have suffered "systematic racial discrimination" in the United States, the report read.

-- At a time when global unity is needed to fight the pandemic, the United States persists in pursuing an "America First" agenda, isolationism and unilateralism, wantonly imposing sanctions, bullying and threatening international organizations, and treating asylum seekers with cruelty.

BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The hypocrisy and double standards of the United States, which has long masqueraded as a defender of human rights, have been laid bare in a new report on human rights violations in the country.

A protester breaking into the U.S. Capitol building is captured on a screenshot in a video feed from NBC news seen in Arlington, Virginia, the United States, Jan. 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2020, released on Wednesday by China's State Council Information Office, cited among many examples the tragic outcomes of America's out-of-control COVID-19 situation, hate politics, systemic racial discrimination, and soaring numbers of shootings.

"The U.S. government, instead of introspecting on its own terrible human rights record, kept making irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in other countries, exposing its double standards and hypocrisy on human rights," the report read.

It urged the U.S. side to drop its hypocrisy, bullying, big stick diplomacy and double standards and work with the international community to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

HUMAN TRAGEDY

Refrigerated trailers are seen at a temporary morgue in Brooklyn of New York, the United States, on May 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Following the U.S. government's reckless COVID-19 response, the virus spread beyond control in the United States and became a human tragedy that has claimed more than 500,000 American lives, according to the report.

Home to less than 5 percent of the world's population, the U.S. accounts for more than a quarter of the world's confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly one-fifth of global deaths from the virus.

The then U.S. leaders ignored warnings from experts, downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, and released misleading signals to the public, read the report.

The United States was too slow in locking down cities and limiting social contact, and too hasty to restart its economy due to political concerns, it added, citing epidemiologist and former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) William Foege who called the pandemic "a slaughter" for the country.

Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2021 shows the front page of that day's USA Today, which reports the United States has reached the grim milestone of half a million coronavirus deaths. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The report drew attention to the disorder of U.S. democratic institutions, which has led to political chaos, further tearing the fabric of the country's society apart.

Money-tainted politics is turning U.S. elections into a "one-man show" for the wealthy, and people's confidence in the American democratic system has hit a 20-year low, it said.

Amid increasing political polarization, hate politics evolved into a national plague and the Capitol was stormed during post-election riots, which shocked the world.

"The scenes (the U.S. Capitol building violence) we have seen are the result of lies and more lies, of division and contempt for democracy, of hatred and rabble-rousing -- even from the very highest levels," said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the report noted.

"I CAN'T BREATHE"

A protester holds a sign near the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on June 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Ethnic minority groups have suffered "systematic racial discrimination" in the United States, the report read.

African Americans are "three times" as likely as whites to be killed by police and "one in four" young Asian Americans have been targets of racial bullying, it added.

The report noted that the death of African American George Floyd, who called out "I can't breathe" as a police officer kneeled on his neck, has sparked a national outcry.

Ensuing protests for racial justice erupted in 50 states. The U.S. government suppressed demonstrators by force, and more than 10,000 people were arrested, it noted.

Demonstrators are arrested during a protest against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the United States, May 31, 2020. (Photo by Angus Alexander/Xinhua)

The report also touched on other topics such as the record-breaking gun trade and shooting incidents in the U.S.

"More than 41,500 people were killed in shooting incidents across the United States in the year, an average of more than 110 a day, and there were 592 mass shootings nationwide, an average of more than 1.6 a day," it read.

Concerning the growing polarization between the rich and the poor in the United States, the report noted, "The richest 1 percent of Americans have a combined net worth that is 16.4 times that of the poorest 50 percent."

TROUBLEMAKER FOR GLOBAL SECURITY

Homeless people are seen near a subway station in New York, the United States, April 27, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

At a time when global unity is needed to fight the pandemic, the United States persists in pursuing an "America First" agenda, isolationism and unilateralism, wantonly imposing sanctions, bullying and threatening international organizations, and treating asylum seekers with cruelty.

In doing so, the U.S. is becoming the "biggest troublemaker" for global security and stability, the report said.

By imposing sanctions against International Criminal Court staff and bullying other countries, the United States has escaped international probes into possible war crimes in other countries and police violence targeting its own citizens, it said.

It continued to comment on the unilateral sanctions imposed by Washington on countries including Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria, noting that the sanctions made it difficult for the countries to obtain necessary anti-pandemic medical supplies in a timely manner.

Asylum seekers have been treated cruelly in the United States, it added, noting that the U.S. government had expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied immigrant children despite serious protection risks during the COVID-19 outbreak.

People wait to receive food at a food distribution site in the Brooklyn borough of New York, the United States, May 14, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

The then U.S. president's pardon of Blackwater contractors convicted of war crimes in Iraq violated U.S. obligations under international law and had the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future, it said.

Experts say the report, mainly based on widely circulated surveys, analysis reports and media reports, came in sharp contrast to reports from the U.S. State Department, which were released in the name of "human rights" and fabricated groundless charges against China.

The report from China "is not meant to interfere in another country's internal affairs, but to faithfully reveal the true human rights situation in the U.S.," said Chang Jian, director of the human rights study center at Nankai University.

"We welcome fact-based constructive criticism from others, rather than attacks on China's human rights situation with trumped-up accusations based on lies, distortions and ideological biases, as the United States has done in its annual report," said Li Xiaojun, an official with the State Council Information Office, at a briefing on the report on Wednesday.