The Current Discussion: The U.S. State Dept. says China's no longer one of the world's worst human rights offenders. Are they right?
Does it matter, one might ask, whether the U.S spills tons of ink accusing China of all kinds of human rights violations or absolves China of any wrongdoing at all? For many years, the U.S. State Dept. was criticizing many countries, including China, for their human rights records. Most of these countries, however, knew that the U.S. human rights reports were just like the boy who cried wolf. Leveling criticism without accompanying it with punitive action makes such reports meaningless.
The U.S. had listed China as one of the worst human rights offenders due to China’s oppression of the Tibetans and Uyghurs, its shackling of the will of the Taiwanese for 60 years, its torture of political dissidents and its degradation of human dignity in child labor and sweatshops. Despite all that, America still continued all these years to renew China’s most-favored-nation trading status. Now China has launched its worst repression campaign against the Tibetan people just after America dropped it from the human rights offenders list. That appears to be a divine ritribution for the U.S. issuing such an unwarranted clean bill.
The U.S. State Dept. also repeatedly criticizes many of its Middle Eastern friends for their dismal human rights records. But some of these countries remain as major recipients of U.S. aid.
Even the traditional guests of every American human rights report such as Russia, Syria and Iran have learned long ago that “It Ain't Truth If It Doesn't Hurt”. These countries never fail to point fingers quickly at America’s hypocrisy with its own human rights record in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and its rendition flights. This is truly the pot calling the kettle black. The real issue, therefore, may be for America to show the world that when it names, it really means to shame.
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