China’s former deputy DCM at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan Lijian Zhao, who is currently serving as Spokesperson and DDG at Information Department in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, went to Twitter to highlight the five sins of the US.
He started by saying, “The US should take a hard look at its own Human Rights issues and take concrete measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the indigenous residents of Guam.”
The recent spar between US and China began on 18th March, at the first face-to-face meeting between Chinese and US officials after the Biden administration took power.
The United States has been a global hegemon for a long time, but recently, China, through its economic might is claiming its place as a regional hegemon in Asia, and the world by extension.
There has been much debate on whether China’s rise would be peaceful, and for now, it’s good that it remains so, minus some sparring here and there.
Keeping the recent events in mind, Mr. Zhao said that the more the US paints itself as a Human Rights champion, the more it is exposed within its borders. He said the country has sinned in the past including, “colonialism, racism, exporting turmoil, interventionism, and double standards.”
Then he tweeted each one of them in five total tweets, starting with colonialism.
Read More: Chinese FM slams Western Powers, says they are not qualified to preach ‘human rights’
He highlighted the first sin by mentioning the US’s killings of native Americans during early settlement days, saying “Over the 100 years after US founding, native Indians were expelled and killed during the Westward Expansion.” He mentioned how only 5% of their original population remains today.
Sin No.1: #Colonialism. The #US committed genocide and crimes against humanity. Over the 100 years after US founding, native Indians were expelled and killed during the Westward Expansion. Their population plunged from 5 mln in late 15th century to 0.25 mln in early 20th century.
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) April 7, 2021
The second sin according to Mr. Zhao is racism within US borders. He said that following the advent of the pandemic, hate crimes against Asians increased 150%. He added, “During this year’s UPR at the UNHRC, over 110 countries criticized the US. Human Rights conditions and urged it to address racial discrimination and other systemic problems.”
However, according to a BBC report published five days ago, the crimes are up 1200 percent in one of the counties in California, where 6 million Asian-Americans live.
The third sin is “Exporting Turmoil”, which talks about the US’s global police invasions and operations in “about 80 countries in the name of counter-terrorism, costing 800,000 lives including 330,000 civilians and displacing millions in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.”
4th is similar, as it deals with unilateral “interventionism” in the name of R2P. Mr. Zhao said,” Hiding behind the banner of #HumanRights, the #US has launched strikes against sovereign countries in defiance of the UN Charter. How could there be unbroken eggs under a toppled nest?”
The last sin is double standards or discrimination in the population. He said, ”In 2017, the former US administration issued the anti-Muslim ban, making the US the only country to have issued a ban targeting the Muslim community. A US poll showed that over 80% of those surveyed believe Muslims face discrimination in the US.”
China has been demanding mutual respect from the US for a long time, but it is new that the Chinese diplomats are returning full-blown replies to their American counterparts, giving them the same disrespect the US gives to China. So, what happened on 18th March?
Read More: Can Biden afford dragging South Asia towards strategic instability?
What Happened on the 18th of March?
For the 18th of March meeting in Anchorage Alaska, the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Yang Jiechi, the director of the Office of the Central Commission flew 6000 miles to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
However, things did not go well. Mr. Blinken started off the conversation and began talking about ‘rule-based order’ and their deep concerns with what is happening in Hong Kong Xinjiang and other places.
Then Mr. Sullivan went on to talk about China’s ‘economic and military coercion and ‘our principals’.
However, Mr. Jiechi replied to the comments by turning the tables on the US itself, and the human rights abuses in China. He talked about ‘not invading through use of force’, targeting the US. He talked about the US-style democracy as a bad precedent, and words like ‘long-arm jurisdiction were thrown’.
Similarly, Mr. Wang also briefly urged the US to leave such a blame game and leave the hegemonic practice of interference.
It was quite clear that China is not ready to take disrespect from even the US anymore, and would reply with full force to any accusations.
Read More: WHO chief toughens tone on China with lab probe call