As it does every year, the U.S. state department has issued its report on human rights around the world. And as happens every year, Beijing has not reacted well, and has issued its own report entitled “U.S. Human Rights Record in 2009.”
Is the United States out of line for issuing reports about human rights abuse in other nations? According to this article from China’s state-controlled China Daily, the United States doesn’t give the People’s Republic of China enough credit for the progress it has made over the past thirty years. Also notable is that the article denies that China is a communist state – preferring to refer to the growth of Chinese ‘social democracy.’
For the China Daily, columnist Zhu Yuan writes in part:
Why does the United States publish a report every year accusing China of having human rights problems? It seems that when it comes to human rights, the world leading power is accustomed to sitting on its moral high horse pointing fingers at others. But it seems unaware that human rights are a matter of perpetual effort in every nation – and that none should be audacious enough to brag about its human right record.
True, there is much to be desired in regard to human rights in China. But the same is true of the United States.
When evaluating human rights conditions, one mustn’t forget that this country has a history of over 5,000 years, and it’s not easy to shake off the influence of tradition. It takes time for new ideas to take root and for Chinese people to change their way of doing things.
Why, then, do some Americans always roll their eyes at what this country desires? Apart from being used to acting as the global police, it seems that they’re stuck in a Cold War mentality, believing that China is a Communist State.
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