Dialogue the way to human rights consensus
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China and the U.S. will hold human rights talks in Washington in mid May, marking the end of a two-year suspension of dialogue on the issue.
The two countries met 13 times between 1990 and 2008 to discuss human rights but tensions in mid-2008 led to talks being suspended.
Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Zhang Yesui says bilateral relations were seriously undermined by US arms sales to Taiwan, and Obama’s meeting with Dalai Lama. Both touched on core issues of Chinese sovereignty.
But the recent meeting between President Hu Jintao and President Obama at the Washington nuclear summit paved the way for the resumption of dialogue.
It is well known that China and the U.S. have different understandings of human rights. The U.S. has often attacked China's human rights record. But the human rights record of the United States is by no means perfect as China has pointed out in its own reports on the issue.
For example, the U.S. attack on Iraq was a gross violation of human rights, but somehow America managed to portray it as a battle for justice. Far too often, Washington uses human rights as a smokescreen for actions taken to maintain US hegemony.
Why did Obama insist on meeting with the Dalai Lama? Again the excuse given was "supporting human rights". It is clear that as far as far Washington is concerned, "human rights" means whatever suits US policy at the time.
The U.S. continually points the finger on human rights issues. But often this is little more than a cover for supporting separatists and interfering in other countries' internal affairs. More and more governments are seeing through this ploy and have stopped paying attention to what the U.S. says.
China has its own clear principles on human rights. It puts people first by providing social security, free education for children, and medicare for senior citizens. China has won the respect and trust of its own people on human rights issues.
This doesn't mean that China's concept of human rights is perfect. It just happens to be different from that of the U.S.; and dialogue is the best way to settle differences.
(This article was translated by Zhang Ming'ai.)
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