US guilty of myriad human rights abuses: China Daily editorial

The State Council Information Office of China issued its "Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2023" on Wednesday, detailing the country's deteriorating human rights situation.

As the report indicates, although the US likes to portray itself as a champion of human rights, lecturing other countries on the subject, the human rights situation in the US continued to deteriorate last year, and US society is becoming increasingly polarized. Basically, human rights are a privilege enjoyed by only a few in the US.

While a ruling minority dominates political, economic and social affairs in the country, the majority of ordinary people, especially the non-white population, are increasingly marginalized, with their basic rights and freedoms being disregarded or violated.

The chronic disease of racism persists, as African Americans face serious discrimination and inequality in fields such as law enforcement and medical services. Asian Americans have also experienced intensified discrimination and the rights of Native Americans have been systemically violated. Racist ideology is spreading virulently in the US, and it is spilling across its borders, as the report said.

This has resulted in civil and political rights being reduced to empty talk. The worsening problems in the US include gun violence, political polarization and partisan fights, police brutality and ineffective police enforcement accountability, mass incarceration and forced labor, election manipulation and declining government credibility.

Meanwhile, growing economic and social inequality make life extremely difficult for the poor in the country.

Economic, social and cultural rights are stigmatized as "welfare cheese" in the US, and the US government refuses to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The phenomenon of "in-work poverty" is widespread, with the gap between the rich and the poor further widening.

The report also highlights the persistent violations of the rights of women and children in the country. Notably, the US has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and remains the only United Nations member state which has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Overseas, the US has long pursued hegemonism, practiced unilateralism and power politics, and created humanitarian crises, taking human rights protection as an excuse to interfere in other countries' internal affairs.

The humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan after the US aborted its 20-year "democracy" experiment, and the conflict in Gaza, where a large number of civilians have been killed by US weapons and millions more are suffering from hunger as a result of the US administration's unwavering support for Israel, have further exposed the hollowness of the US' claim to be a paragon of human rights.

The country's various human rights problems seriously threaten and hinder the healthy development of the world human rights cause.

That being said, the report calls on the US government to take concrete measures to tackle its human rights problems, and respond to the expectations of the US people and international concerns.

What global human rights governance needs is not the politicization and confrontation practiced by the US but communication and cooperation so as to pool different countries' efforts to better contribute to worldwide progress in human rights.

The US should stop weaponizing human rights issues for geopolitical purposes, and stop using human rights to divide the world.

Human rights are the foundation of people's dignity and serve to improve people's lives. The situation in the US and its actions around the world belie these fundamental purposes, and reveal which country should make up its missed lessons on human rights.