In championing human rights, US is really weaponizing them: China Daily editorial

Since the end of the Cold War, in which it considered itself to be the winner, the United States has felt a sense of superiority that is manifest in its institutional arrogance and prejudice against countries with a different political system, believing that the US system is universal and all countries should follow its lead.

It is this conceit that prompts it to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries. And when it cannot find clauses in international laws to justify its interference, it invariably holds aloft the banner of "human rights". In politicizing and weaponizing human rights, the US has caused numerous humanitarian crises and violent unrest. 

How long will the international community continue to put up with the US abusing and debasing human rights around the world for its own ends?

The report on the US' politicization of human rights the China Society for Human Rights Studies published on Monday highlights how the US invariably raises "concerns" about human rights issues in other countries to realize certain political interests of its own. The US evaluates human rights conditions in the countries it is "concerned" about using a double standard and then adopts coercive measures to "resolve" "the problems" it identifies.

It employs economic, political and military strategies under the banner of human rights to pursue its interests. On the one hand, it links human rights with economic assistance — countries that accept its assistance must also accept its human rights standards. On the other hand, it takes military action against those countries that resist the pressure of its human rights diplomacy to achieve its purpose. 

The US' double-edged human rights diplomacy has seriously eroded the foundation of global human rights governance, gravely threatened the international development of human rights and had egregious consequences. 

The decades in which the US has been committed to "improving" human rights conditions around the world have witnessed a dramatic widening of the wealth gap, worsening hunger and the rise of many global problems such as terrorism.

The human rights conditions have markedly improved in places such as China and other less-developed countries because of their own efforts, not the condescending assistance of the US. 

As the CSHRS report underscores, the non-politicization of human rights is the foundation and precondition for the smooth global governance of human rights. Those people around the world who have seen through the US' self-styled superhero mask and the deceitfulness of its efforts to portray itself as a noble and beleaguered "defender" of human rights should stand together to uphold justice and oppose its despicable and hypocritical moves. 

Preventing the weaponizing of human rights is an important guarantee for promoting the sound development of the international human rights cause. When US politicians talk about "human rights", it deserves the world's attention as in most cases it is a prelude to an open violation of human rights.