Report exposes shamelessness
Yan Xizao  Updated: 2004-02-28 08:40

Each year around this time, the part-time human rights preachers in Washington grade the rest of the world's human rights records for the previous year.

The annual liturgy is conducted in the same manner a teacher marks his or her students' papers, although these instructors from Washington never even bothered to produce certifications of any kind assuring us of their credentials.

And nobody has any idea what or who has bestowed our volunteer mentor's own immunity from such apparently all-inclusive scrutiny.

But for our US lecturers that is nothing to worry about. Not at all.

Like on Wednesday, did you see anyone blush with either shame or embarrassment when they carried out their annual name-calling?

In contrast to the generous tributes to the fall of "tyranny" as well as emergence of "democracy" in both Afghanistan and Iraq, there was no mention whatsoever of the havoc that wars have inflicted upon innocent civilians in those two territories in Washington's human rights report.

Reading between the lines, you cannot help feeling that the few bright spots in the world's human rights picture can hardly be separated from Washington's "humanitarian" intervention.

For the ousting of Saddam Hussein, who was Washington's dearest buddy on its Middle East chessboard yesterday and only lately became public enemy No 1 in Washington's propaganda, innocent civilian lives were negligible.

It hardly matters that Saddam hardly ever changed his ruling style when he enjoyed and then lost US patronage.

Forget about Washington's past collusion with a devil, if Saddam ever was one. But he has to be portrayed as a demon now so that US troops can march in to "liberate" his people and "protect" his oil wells.

So the closet is open and the skeleton out. All of a sudden, Washington began to worry about the suffering of Iraqis under Saddam's rule.

What is confusing about Washington's "war of liberation" is that it showed little concern about those being "liberated."

With each and every US casualty counted and investigated to full thoroughness, has Washington ever attempted to give even a rough account of Iraqi lives lost during the "liberation?"

Saddam can be tried for "war crimes," but not anyone in the White House for the invasion of Iraq, which is yet to, and more than likely will never, find a legal footing.

Washington's allies received a clear message about their shared obligation to guarantee that no war crime charges against the US side be brought to the International War Crimes Tribunal.

You might have heard ethics groups talk of an emerging culture of shamelessness in our time.

Think about Washington's illusion that justice is on its side when it brands others as being guilty.

Who cares if it is a mere matter of Washington's Narcissus complex. But the self-appointed human rights crusaders in Washington evidently cannot help being meddlesome.

According to White House sources, Washington is again "in the direction of" sponsoring another motion at the United Nations Human Rights Commission censuring China.

China is no paradise for human rights. It will not be until no Chinese nationals have to worry about feeding, clothing and sheltering themselves. Until we no longer hear reports of police brutality and administrative infringements on individual rights. Until each and every Chinese citizen can claim with pride that there are full civic rights commensurate with his or her citizenship.

But our culture has no respect for gossip-mongers who wag their tongues freely in disregard of the truth.

Washington's judgment that China had been "backsliding on key human rights issues," for one, features an outrageous distortion of truth. Or, at the very best, it is a result of selective neglect of facts.

If the human rights watchdogs in Washington actually followed the current trends in China, they would not have come up with a conclusion which is essentially untrue.

We have no knowledge what the Dalai Lama and the few "political dissidents" on Washington's roster would comment on the changes regarding human rights in China. Few ordinary Chinese really care, though they have continued to be Washington's sole political barometer.

But unless one blinds himself or herself to what 2003 represented in Chinese history, he or she cannot but be impressed by Washington's unabashed boldness to stand facts on their heads.

In the collective memory of most Chinese citizens, with the exception of the few "political dissidents" perhaps, 2003 marked unparalleled advancements in terms of human rights.

In that year, the Communist Party of China proposed to amend the Constitution with the addition of promises to protect private property and to guarantee human rights. Both were ideological taboos in the country's political lexicon.

In that year, the Law on Administrative Licensing considerably reduced the government's latitude to impose restrictions on individual freedom.

In that year, people's rights to have access to the latest information got a substantial boost in the onslaught of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). A media relations system is now in place at various government agencies. And public hearings assumed new popularity as a means for decision-making involving broad social interests.

In that year, the 50-year-old compulsory practice of collecting and sending back people roaming in cities gave way to a sympathetic relief programme.

In that year, the Law on Resident Identification Cards prohibited police from conducting unwarranted checks on the identification documents of citizens.

In that year, a nationwide discourse following police apologies and compensation for their raid of the residence of a Shaanxi couple who watched adult movies at home resulted in a consensus that State power should be kept out of private bedrooms.

In that year, Beijing municipal authorities stipulated that citizens have no liabilities for behaviour not prohibited by law in explicit terms.

In that year, new rules on marriage registration and passport issuance excluded the previous prerequisite of employer approval.

In that year, a number of independent candidates ran for seats at local people's congresses in Beijing, Shenzhen and Hubei Province and several of them finally succeeded.

In that year, the authorities launched intensive crusades targeted at overtime detention of criminal suspects, forceful eviction in urban development, and defaults of wage payments for migrant workers.

In that year, public uproar stalled attempts in several cities to ban begging in public places, highlighting the legitimate rights of impoverished panhandlers as citizens.

Each of these developments would have been out of the question in any previous year. In Chinese eyes, these were monumental steps forward.

It is perplexing how those in Washington had positioned themselves when they saw these moves as "backsliding." They should not have uttered such wildly outlandish ravings had they had any respect for the truth.

Integrity is vital for anyone to be worthy of the name of teacher. Washington's latest human rights report, however, reveals an astonishing lack in that regard.

(China Daily)

Close