The US wants an unjust world, not a rules-based one

President Joe Biden and other members of his administration are often heard uttering the phrase ‘rules-based international order’. The phrase describes a world where all conduct their activities by agreed rules that have evolved over the ages. The rules include international laws, arrangements, protocols, and other instruments.

However, the sugar-coated phrase is often pronounced by the US to portray its perceived opponent China as a violator of the generally accepted rules while running its international affairs. The falling superpower is misusing the phrase to discredit China as an unruly global power that, according to the US, has no respect for international rules and instruments.

U.S. soldiers stand guard at the site of car bombing in Nangarhar Province, east Afghanistan, Jan. 5, 2015. (Xinhua/Tahir Safi)

International analysts have already declined to buy this US description of China. The analysts are of the view that the US is trying to pass the buck on China. They believe that the US itself has a long history of breaching the rules to achieve its interests. Yet, the US is laying the blame for the offenses it is repeatedly committing at China’s door.

American historian Christopher Kelly and British historian Stuart Laycock have mentioned in their book “America Invades: How We’ve Invaded Or Been Militarily Involved With Almost Every Country on Earth” that the US has invaded or fought in 84 of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations and has been militarily involved with 191 of those 193 – a staggering 98 percent.

Independent observers have questioned under which rules the US has invaded those countries, resulting in the killings of millions of people including innocent civilians all over the world, especially in its rival countries.

David Swanson, an American anti-war activist, has written that since World War II, the US military has killed or helped kill some 20 million people, overthrown at least 36 governments, interfered in at least 85 foreign elections, attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders and dropped bombs on people in over 30 countries. The US is responsible for the deaths of five million people in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and over one million in Iraq just since 2003.

He further mentioned that since 2001, the US has been systematically destroying a region of the globe, bombing Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Syria. The US has “special forces” operating in two-thirds of the world’s countries and non-special forces in three-quarters of them.

The world has the right to ask the US why it blatantly interferes in the internal and external affairs of other independent and sovereign countries. They deserve a legitimate explanation from the US about which provisions of the international rules allow it to act in this way.

To date, the US has sanctioned more than 36 countries (either unilaterally or in part) including the Balkans, Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Nicaragua, DPRK, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Russia, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

People have the right to know based on which rules the US is imposing sanctions on its rival countries, causing starvation and death for millions of innocent civilians including women and children. They want to learn which rules the US is following in pushing other sovereign countries to comply with the sanctions it imposes on its rival countries.

The US is seen to be very vocal against the violations of human rights around the world. For many years, it has been causing a huge hue and cry over so-called human rights violations in Xinjiang, China. The US should explain why it is now stopping short of even calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The world is eager to learn which rules it is following and which human rights it is protecting in approving the sale of precision-guided weapons to Israel worth $735 million at a time, when calls for a ceasefire are mounting from all over the world.

People also have the right to ask the US why it has blocked a unified statement three consecutive times in a week at the United Nations Security Council that would have "condemned Israel's military response and called for a ceasefire."

Though it is very vocal over human rights, the US does not commit to any rules or laws in reality. The superpower is only driven by its vested interests. People have already understood how the US has transformed the world into an unjust place, which is exactly what it wants.

Just as the US once used the rhetoric of the ‘war on terror’ to destroy Muslim powers, so too is it now using the phrase 'rules-based world’ against China. People understand that it’s nothing but a new strategy of the US to hold back China’s rise and maintain its unjust supremacy in the global arena.

This article is edited and republished from Chinatimes24.com

Md Enamul Hassan is a news editor and broadcast journalist at China Media Group (CMG) in Beijing, China.