UK's report on human rights a farce

The British government has indulged itself in political farce again by making biased and irresponsible remarks to blemish China's human rights record.

In its latest annual report on human rights, it disregards its own flawed human rights record and listed China as one of 28 "countries of concern".

The report selectively ignores the real and continuous human rights progress made in China, which is obvious to any person without prejudice.

As a developing country, China has been improving its human rights situation, including improving people's livelihoods, eliminating poverty, upholding the rule of law, and investment in cultural and economic projects in ethnically inhabited areas, among others.

Chinese people of various ethnic groups enjoy fundamental rights conferred by the country's Constitution according to the law, and the level at which they enjoy these rights has risen significantly.

In the past year, the Chinese authorities have moved to ensure justice and transparency by introducing measures to correct and prevent wrong verdicts and making judgment documents and court proceedings accessible online.

New rules for the better management of petitions were also released to prohibit putting petitioners under any form of confinement.

Promoting the protection of human rights for Chinese people and allowing every citizen to live with dignity is a core target of China's reform and opening-up efforts.

Most of the countries listed in the report are developing countries.

Why doesn't the report highlight some Western countries, including Britain itself, that have violated human rights?

The British government has simply turned the report into an ideological political show.

Instead of squandering time and taxpayers' money on pointing fingers at other countries, the British government should sweep its own doorstep instead.

While setting itself up as a defender of human rights around the world, Britain has violated human rights.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with Britain as a major player in the US-led military operations, resulted in a massive number of civilian casualties.

Britain's remote drone operations in Afghanistan have spurred anti-war protests at home. Even before innocent civilians were slaughtered, the protestors demanded an end to the remote killing when the Royal Air Force started to operate drones in Afghanistan from British soil.

The UK phone-hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's News International, which dominated media coverage worldwide, also cast doubts over the "freedom of the press" upheld by Western media organizations and raised concerns about privacy rights in the country.

Differences still exist among nations on human rights issues due to their different levels of cultural and economic development, and China stands for narrowing them through dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and equality.

China is ready to discuss human rights issues with Britain, and they have established mechanisms for dialogue to exchange ideas and settle differences.

But a human rights dialogue between China and Britain scheduled this week has been called off because of Britain's latest human rights report, which includes irresponsible comments about China's political system and has tarnished the country's human rights record.

Instead of helping to create a way to see and feel the real China, Britain has built a wall that stands in China's way to the world and closed the door for dialogue by taking human rights issues as a pretext for interfering in China's internal affairs and judicial sovereignty.

It is advisable for Britain to refrain from making wrong accusations against China on human rights and create conditions conducive to future human rights dialogue.