China responded yesterday to a US report critical of its human rights record by releasing its own review attacking the US' rights record as "tattered and shocking."
The State Council, or Cabinet, released the report two days after the US State Department took China to task for widespread human rights violations.
China's report criticized violent crime in the US, its large prison population and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
PHOTO: AP
"It is high time for the US government to face its own human rights problems with courage ... and give up the unwise practices of applying double standards on human rights issues and using it to suppress other countries," the report said.
Washington's report this week detailed increased attempts to control and censor the Internet, and tighten restrictions on freedom of speech and the domestic press. It said that "China's overall human rights record remains poor."
The US report gave a chilling account of alleged torture in China, including the use of electric shocks, beatings, shackles and other forms of abuse. The report also details claims by citizens forced from their homes to make way for Olympic projects in Beijing.
China has voiced strong opposition to the State Department report, saying China respects and safeguards human rights.
"The efforts and remarkable achievement China has made on the issue have already been widely recognized by the international community," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) said in a statement on the ministry's Web site.
"We suggest the US government to stop depicting itself as a human rights watchdog and focus more on its own human rights problems," Qin said.
He said China was willing to have dialogue on human rights with the US and other countries.
The tit-for-tat charges came less than five months before Beijing hosts the Olympics Games, which have already put the spotlight on China's human rights record.
It also came as the economies of the countries become increasingly entwined and the two governments increasingly cooperate with each other on international problems, such as trying to strip North Korea of its nuclear program.
Beijing's report, gathered from a variety of US and international news sources, lambastes an increase in violent crime in the US, saying it poses a serious threat to its people's lives, liberty and personal security.
The report concludes by saying that the US human rights records is "best described as tattered and shocking."
It cites an FBI report on crime statistics released last fall that said violent crime had increased by 1.9 percent from 2005 to 2006, with 1.41 million cases reported nationwide.
Multiple cases are listed, including the April shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University, which left 33 dead and more than 30 injured.
The Chinese report cited news articles saying that 30,000 people die in the US from gunshot wounds every year and gun killings have climbed 13 percent since 2002.
It said the US has the largest prison system in the world, with the highest inmates-to-population ratio. The report cited police brutality and other instances where law enforcement officials violated civil rights.
The report also lambasted the US for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The invasion of Iraq by US troops has produced the biggest human rights tragedy and the greatest humanitarian disaster in modern world," the Chinese report said.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS