China: US is world’s biggest human rights violator
China’ Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin asserts that the US has connived at racial discrimination and failed to take effective measures to address systemic racial discrimination, which constitutes grave violation of its obligations under the Convention. For example, after COVID-19 broke out, senior officials of the US administration openly engaged in stigmatization and racial discrimination against the Asian community.
“There are frequent violent acts targeting the Asian community in the US. A latest survey reveals that two-thirds of the Asian American residents in Los Angeles County said they are worried about being a victim of racial discrimination. In private prisons, people of color and migrants suffer from gravely unfair treatment. Killings of African Americans and other ethnic minorities driven by racial discrimination occur every now and then. The US’ human rights violations have been called out by several rapporteurs of the UN human rights special procedures,” he said.
Wenbin added: “In the face of such a deplorable human rights record, the US, instead of reflecting upon itself, styles itself as a human rights lecturer and chooses to politicize and weaponize human rights and use it as a tool to interfere in other countries’ affairs, pressure them and wantonly criticize their human rights conditions. This is flagrantly undermining international law and basic norms governing international relations. It also runs counter to the international community’s efforts to eliminate racial discrimination and respect and protect human rights.”
He urged the US to let go of its arrogance and bias and take a hard look at its problems in the mirror of human rights and earnestly abide by international human rights conventions including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It should admit to and rectify its mistakes, truly deliver equity and justice to ethnic minorities, offer real protection for the safety of people of Asian descent suffering from hate crimes and violence, and take concrete measures to improve its human rights situation.
“I would also like to stress that recently in some western media reports, there is an emphasis on the “white people” identity and a race-based “civilization hierarchy” by their own standards. They display their so-called sympathy selectively and make such comments as “these are not refugees from Syria. These are Christians, they’re white, they’re very similar people”. These racist remarks deviate severely from the original mission of humanitarianism and the principle of protecting human rights. Responding to such remarks in western media, a spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency recently stressed that no matter where the displaced persons come from, Ukraine, Afghanistan or Syria, we must remember that they are all human beings. We hope some western media will discard double standards as soon as possible, do more things conducive to promoting exchange between civilizations and serve peace in real earnest instead of being reduced to a platform for racism,” he concluded.
Source: Xinhua