The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China has released a meticulously prepared 25-page report on human rights violations in the United States in 2023. This vital document lays bare the United States’ hypocritical stance on human rights, exposing the stark contrast between its rhetoric and its domestic and international practices. While the U.S. positions itself as a global champion of human rights, this report underscores the political motivations underlying America’s use of human rights as a tool for global hegemony.
The United States has long leveraged human rights to assert its dominance on the world stage, often using it to justify interventions and influence in other nations’ affairs. However, this report reveals contradictions within America’s borders—political dysfunction, systemic racism, economic inequality, and widespread violations of civil liberties. These realities challenge the moral authority the U.S. claims in its global human rights advocacy.
China’s report is not just a critique; it is a guide for the international community. By exposing these inconsistencies, it invites countries to scrutinize the true motivations behind the U.S.’s human rights discourse. This report encourages global leaders to question whether the U.S. is genuinely committed to the principles it espouses or if these principles are merely a facade for maintaining geopolitical power.
Furthermore, this document calls for a more balanced and equitable approach to human rights on a global scale. It urges nations to look beyond the surface of U.S. policies and consider the broader implications of its actions. In doing so, it promotes a more inclusive dialogue on human rights—one that respects the sovereignty of nations and recognizes the diverse paths to achieving human dignity and justice.
Deceptive Diplomacy and Human Rights Manipulation
Since the late 1970s, the U.S.’s deceptive emphasis on “human rights” and “universal values” has served as a façade for its diplomatic maneuvers. US administrations have hypocritically taken the moral high ground, spouting slogans like “human rights diplomacy,” “humanitarianism,” “human rights over sovereignty,” and “humanitarian intervention,” especially after the end of the Cold War. Washington has arrogantly acted as a “human rights preacher,” “humanitarian policeman,” and “practitioner of global human rights protection.” It has shamelessly used “universal values on human rights” as a pretext for its imperialistic interventions on a global scale.
Hypocrisy Exposed: The True Face of US Human Rights Diplomacy
The US government, alongside the elitist cabal within the country, has blatantly shown the world the true face of its “human rights diplomacy,” particularly in its hypocritical response to university actions supporting Palestine. This reveals that only the US and its cronies decide who is deemed human. The US’s blatant double standards, contradictory humanitarianism, and “human rights diplomacy” dictated by a handful of oligarchs and lobbyists are a global catastrophe.
Political Dysfunction and Civil Rights Violations
The report criticizes the U.S. government for its political infighting, dysfunction, and failure to protect civil and political rights. The intense struggle between the two main political parties has led to a deadlock that showcases America’s unique brand of democracy in action. The two parties continue to manipulate elections with such finesse that it could almost be considered an art form. Money politics reigns supreme, with campaign expenditure hitting astronomical levels. For instance, in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial elections, candidates from both parties spent a staggering $91 million on campaign advertisements alone—more than triple the amount spent in 2019.
Gun violence remains a pressing issue, with approximately 43,000 people dying from gun violence in 2023, averaging 117 deaths per day. Despite these tragic figures, meaningful gun control measures remain elusive, highlighting the government’s failure to address one of the nation’s most pressing crises. Police brutality is also significant, with at least 1,247 deaths attributed to police violence in 2023, the highest number since 2013. This lack of accountability perpetuates a cycle of violence and mistrust between the police and the communities they are supposed to protect.
Mass Incarceration and Racial Injustice
The U.S. is characterized as a “carceral state,” with only 5 percent of the global population but 25 percent of the world’s prison population. This reflects systemic issues within the criminal justice system, where mass incarceration is a norm. Political manipulation of elections through gerrymandering and repeated crises in the House of Representatives further erode public trust in the federal government, which currently stands at a mere 16 percent.
Racism remains deeply entrenched in American society, particularly within the police force and the criminal justice system. The report cites United Nations experts who highlight systemic racism against African Americans. This racism extends to healthcare, where African American women face a maternal mortality rate nearly three times that of white women. Asian Americans also face significant discrimination, with nearly 60 percent reporting racial bias, exacerbated by policies like the “China Initiative,” which targets Chinese scientists. The proliferation of racist ideologies across various sectors, including social media, music, and gaming, makes the U.S. a major exporter of extreme racism globally.
Economic Inequality and the “Working Poor”
Economic inequality in the U.S. is another major concern, with a growing “working poor” population struggling to make ends meet. The report highlights that long-standing disparities in income distribution have created the most severe wealth gap since the Great Depression of 1929. Despite 11.5 million low-income working families, the federal minimum wage has not been raised since 2009, significantly diminishing its purchasing power. This economic strain forces many families to forgo basic necessities like food, rent, and energy, leading to over 650,000 people experiencing homelessness—the highest in 16 years. The disillusionment of the “working poor” shatters the “American Dream,” contributing to widespread labor strikes.
Gender and Children’s Rights
The U.S. is criticized for its systematic violation of women’s and children’s rights, with no constitutional provisions for gender equality. The U.S. remains the only UN member state that has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2023, the Senate rejected a constitutional amendment to guarantee gender equality. Pregnancy discrimination results in approximately 54,000 women losing their jobs annually, and over 2.2 million women of childbearing age lack access to maternity care. Strict abortion laws in at least 21 states further erode women’s rights. Sexual violence is prevalent in various settings, and children’s rights are jeopardized by inadequate healthcare assistance, gun violence, and drug abuse. The underreporting of missing foster children further illustrates the neglect of children’s welfare.
Immigration and Hegemony
Immigration policies in the U.S. are marred by exclusion and discrimination, continuing a legacy from historical injustices like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the recent “Muslim Ban” of 2017. Immigration has become a tool for partisan gain, with policies reduced to political theatrics that ignore the rights and welfare of immigrants. This results in widespread arrests, human trafficking, and exploitation of immigrants, highlighting the hypocrisy and polarization in U.S. politics.
International Actions and Military Interventions
On the global stage, the U.S. is accused of pursuing hegemonism, practicing power politics, and abusing its military might. The continuous delivery of weapons, including cluster munitions, exacerbates regional conflicts and results in numerous civilian casualties and humanitarian crises. Extensive “proxy forces” operations undermine social stability in other nations, while the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay prison remains a symbol of the U.S.’s disregard for international human rights norms.
Indifference to Global Human Rights
The US’s utter disregard for human rights is best evidenced by its indifference to the deaths and injuries of over 110,000 civilians in Gaza, coupled with its vetoing of four consecutive UN Security Council efforts to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. This is the clearest proof of the US’s contempt for and trampling on human rights.
Human Rights as Political Tools
Human rights are merely tools for the US to unite its allies and partners to suppress its rivals. Despite needing cooperation with China on various fronts, the US simultaneously slanders China. Human rights and democracy are not values the US genuinely cares about; they are merely bargaining chips in its foreign policy. Domestically, human rights protection is an empty promise the US has never fulfilled. Externally, human rights protection is a façade for the US government to mask its agenda of seeking global dominance.
Politicizing Human Rights Reports
US human rights reports consistently criticize the Chinese mainland while separately listing Taiwan, blatantly undermining the one-China principle and politicizing human rights. Year after year, Washington exploits these so-called “human rights reports” to slander and smear China on issues like Taiwan, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong. For 40 years, Washington’s so-called Human Rights Report has been a tool to categorize countries based on their obedience to the US. “Unfriendly” countries and competitors are regularly featured, while US “friends” are rarely mentioned. In Washington’s eyes, a country’s human rights status and democracy are determined by its compliance with US geopolitical interests.
The “Human Rights Report”: A Tool for Coercion
The US State Department zealously produces the “Human Rights Report” every year because it serves as a “price list” for coercing and extorting other countries, a “brochure” for demonizing and suppressing competitors, and a “political dessert” for its cliques, categorizing countries into different grades. The US disregards the well-being of people globally, engages in despicable tactics of hegemony in the name of “human rights,” and continues to wield the stick of interference and sanctions to exploit the world.
