U.S. commits serious crimes of violating human rights in the Middle East and beyond
August 09, 2022 By:Xinhua
U.S. commits serious crimes of violating human rights in the Middle East and beyond
The China Society for Human Rights Studies
The United States has committed a series of crimes that seriously violate international law, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, arbitrary detention, abuse of torture, torture of prisoners, and indiscriminate unilateral sanctions in the Middle East and surrounding areas, constituting systematic violations of human rights with lasting and far-reaching harm.
The U.S. crimes have not only led to frequent and repeated wars in the Middle East and other places, plunging them into the quagmire of conflicts and security dilemmas and seriously undermining local people's rights to life, health, personal dignity, freedom of religious belief, survival and development.
American historian Paul Atwood, in his book titled War and Empire: The American Way of Life that came out in 2010, pointed out that "war is the American way of life." Since the founding of the United States, there were less than 20 years in which it has not participated in a war, making it a veritable "war empire."
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been involved in almost all major conflicts and wars in the Middle East and surrounding regions, which have become the area hardest hit by the external wars launched by the United States.
Statistics from the U.S. Smithsonian Institution Magazine has shown that since 2001, wars and military operations launched by the United States in the name of "anti-terrorism" covered "about 40% of the countries on the planet."
The United States not only rallied its allies to launch the Gulf War (1990-1991), the Afghanistan War (2001-2021), the Iraq War (2003-2011), and so on, but also was deeply involved in the Libyan War and the Syrian War, creating a humanitarian disaster rarely seen throughout the world. The warmongering United States has caused direct, serious and lasting damage to local people's right to life and survival.
First, wantonly waging wars in violation of international law. The Afghanistan War and the Iraq War are the two largest wars launched by the United States in the Middle East and surrounding regions, spelling dreadful disasters to the lives and living condition of the people of the two countries.
The Brown University's Costs of War Project pointed out that more than 174,000 people died directly in the war in Afghanistan, of whom more than 47,000 were civilians.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan forced 2.6 million Afghans to flee abroad and displaced 3.5 million others.
In 2003, the United States bypassed the United Nations and violated the basic international law principle of the prohibition of the use of force to launch the Iraq War with excuses fabricated out of thin air, constituting aggression against Iraq.
According to Statista, a global statistical database, from 2003 to 2021, about 209,000 Iraqi civilians died in wars and violent conflicts, and about 9.2 million Iraqis became refugees or were forced to leave their homeland. The United States launched wars in the Middle East and other places, seriously undermining the right to life and survival of the people in the region.
Second, trampling on international law and killing innocent civilians indiscriminately. In order to achieve its own military goals, the United States disregards the lives of civilians in other countries.
Firstly, the United States has repeatedly and indiscriminately attacked civilians in the Middle East and other places.
On Aug. 12, 2005, a U.S. armored patrol vehicle shot at people coming out of a mosque in the suburban town of Ramadi, Iraq, killing 15 Iraqis, including eight children, and injuring 17 others.
On Nov. 21 of the same year, the U.S. troops stationed in Iraq opened fire on a civilian vehicle in northern Baghdad, killing a family of five, including three children. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry accused the U.S. military of launching indiscriminate attacks in Syria, causing civilian casualties and showing a reckless disregard for consequences, which constituted war crimes.
A United Nations report released in September 2019 noted that many of the airstrikes carried out by the U.S.-led coalition in places like Syria "did not take the necessary precautions to distinguish between military targets and civilians."
Secondly, the United States has widely used air strikes to carry out so-called "anti-terrorism" operations, which often killed civilians "by mistake," injured innocent people, and arbitrarily deprived them of the right to life.
The New York Times reported that based on an investigation of classified Pentagon documents, frequent U.S. airstrikes in Syria caused a large number of civilian casualties due to "serious intelligence deficiencies" and "mistargeting," which the Pentagon usually chooses to cover up or not to penalize.
In 2017, the U.S. military launched what it called "the most precise airstrike" on the Syrian city of Raqqa. The RAND Corporation, a U.S. think tank, pointed out in a released report that the U.S. military operation resulted in 38 incidents inflicting civilian casualties, killing 178 civilians and wounding dozens of others. Some human rights groups have estimated the number of civilian casualties could be as high as 1,600.
On March 18, 2019, U.S. drones killed at least 64 civilian women and children as they searched for "extremist groups" in the town of Baghouz on the Syrian-Iraqi border.
In February 2022, the U.S. military launched a raid in Syria's Idlib province, killing at least 13 people, including six children and three women.
On Aug. 29, 2021, a drone attack by the U.S. military in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, killed 10 local civilians, including seven children.
Thirdly, U.S. military contractors killed civilians for no reason.
The United States is given to using military contractors to exercise hegemonic repression in the Middle East, and they often escape accountability for their illegal and criminal acts there.
In 2007, employees of the American Blackwater Company carried out a massacre in Nisour Square in Baghdad, killing 14 civilians, including two children, and injuring at least 17 others.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump even pardoned Blackwater employees who committed war crimes in Iraq.
The United Nations Human Rights Council's Working Group on Mercenaries said in a statement that this act by the U.S. government has breached international humanitarian law and human rights and was an affront to justice and the victims and their families, calling on all States parties to the Geneva Conventions to jointly condemn it. The U.S. military troops' wanton massacre of civilians abroad undoubtedly constitutes a crime against humanity.
Third, indirect participation in wars resulted in a large number of civilian casualties.
The United States has extensively cultivated proxies in the Middle East and other places, and sold weapons in large quantities, causing large-scale humanitarian disasters.
The United States has been deeply involved in the war in Syria and the domestic conflict in Libya by fostering multiple proxies, causing the local wars and conflicts to drag on till today and the situation to become increasingly complex, which makes political reconciliation and social stability a faraway prospect.
Mustafa Abdul Jalil, former chairman of the Libyan National Transitional Council, said that the persistent civil unrest has led to the death of many Libyans, "and the United States does not care about the consequences of military operations and wars."
According to data released by the United Nations, U.S. military intervention has claimed at least 350,000 lives in Syria, displaced more than 12 million people, and left 14 million civilians in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The Syrian refugee issue has been called by the United Nations "the biggest refugee crisis of our time."
While Afghanistan and Iraq were still mired in wars, the U.S. government, which recklessly launched the wars, repeatedly decided to pull out its forces, with total disregard for the most basic humanitarianism, perpetuating the conflicts in those countries and further worsening their chaotic situation.
By destroying the original state apparatus of Iraq by force, the United States has weakened the Iraqi government's ability of control and provided space and conditions for terrorism to expand.
In 2011, the United States irresponsibly withdrew its troops from Iraq. Extremist groups such as "the Islamic State" took advantage of the situation and grew increasingly powerful. The ensuing frequent violent terrorist attacks become the biggest challenge threatening the security of Iraq and the region.
In August 2021, the United States also irresponsibly withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, and again turned a blind eye to the safety of the lives of the Afghan people during the withdrawal, resulting in many shocking casualties.
The United States has wantonly suppressed non-compliant countries and organizations in the Middle East, and coercively promoted American values in the region, so as to ensure U.S.-dominated global political, economic and security orders.
Its essential goal is to maintain America's military, economic and conceptual hegemony, which in consequence has altered the independent development paths of regional countries and severely undermined the sovereignty of related countries in the Middle East as well as their people's rights to development and health.
First, the United States subverted governments, interfered in other countries' internal affairs, and infringed upon others' sovereignty and human rights.
On one hand, after the end of the Cold War, in order to secure absolute dominance over the Middle East and other places, the United States launched wars against non-compliant sovereign countries in the region to directly push for regime change, and then forcibly transplanted "American democracy" and transformed regional countries' systems and development paths. The most typical examples are its invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq in 2001 and 2003 respectively to overthrow the governments it disliked.
On the other hand, the United States has long supported the infiltration of non-governmental organizations and proxies in the Middle East society, and repeatedly changed the development paths of the Middle East countries by means of "color revolution."
As a "pawn" and "white glove" of the U.S. government in its bid to interfere in other countries' internal affairs and instigate separatism and confrontation, the National Endowment for Democracy has served the strategic interests of the United States by carrying out long-term infiltration and subversion activities against Middle East countries. Its record has been notorious.
With continuous financial support from the White House and the U.S. Congress and by obeying orders from the U.S. government, the organization incited color revolutions in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Algeria, Syria, Libya and other countries by providing funding to pro-U.S. individuals and groups, and was the key mastermind of the "Arab Spring."
The United States attempts to transform regional countries and establish fragile, dependent regimes to serve its global hegemony. Its forced "institutional exports" with strong hegemonic undertones have crippled regional countries' efforts to independently explore their development paths and caused a series of disastrous consequences. Its forced transformation of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, among many others, has disrupted political order, and destroyed social and national cohesion in these countries.
Such acts of toppling the governments of other countries by force, interference in the internal affairs of other countries, and forcible export of the so-called "democracy" not only violated the basic norms of international relations such as prohibiting the use of force and non-interference in internal affairs, but also seriously violated the rights of the people of the relevant countries to choose their own development paths as well as their basic human rights.
Second, the United States has abused unilateral sanctions against sovereign countries, causing severe economic losses and a decline in the quality of life of the people in those countries. The United States is the only "sanctions superpower" in the world. According to the Treasury 2021 sanctions review, the United States has had more than 9,400 sanctions in effect by the 2021 fiscal year.
Since 1979, the United States has imposed various unilateral sanctions on Iran and other countries. In 1996, it issued the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, forbidding foreign companies from investing in Iran's and Libya's energy industry, and implementing long-arm jurisdiction, which is gravely harmful and has had a far-reaching impact.
Since then, the United States has imposed more and more sanctions on Iran. The Trump administration exerted sanctions and maximum pressure on Iran in an attempt to effect change and overthrow the Iranian government. Former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, while in office, said U.S. sanctions imposed by the Trump administration cost Iran at least 200 billion U.S. dollars in economic losses, describing U.S. sanctions as inhumane and a terrorist act against the entire Iranian nation.
From 1980 to 1992, the United States imposed unilateral sanctions on Libya, and from 1992 to 2003, it coerced and roped in its allies to expand the unilateral sanctions against Libya. The World Bank said the Libyan economy has lost 18 billion dollars due to sanctions, while an official Libyan estimate put the loss at 33 billion dollars.
After the first Gulf War, the United States imposed brutal unilateral sanctions on Iraq with severe consequences. From August 1990 to May 2003, sanctions cost Iraq 150 billion dollars in losses of oil revenues. To date, Iraq's per capita annual income has fallen short of its 1990 level (7,050 dollars).
In addition, the sanctions have caused a serious humanitarian disaster in Iraq, with the infant mortality rate doubling and the under-five mortality rate increasing sevenfold. Meanwhile, Iraq's education, health and social security systems were destroyed, and its literacy rate fell from 89 percent in 1987 to 57 percent in 1997.
After withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan in 2021, the United States has not only imposed economic sanctions on Afghanistan, but also froze billions of dollars of foreign exchange reserves of the Afghan central bank, bringing the Afghan economy to the brink of collapse and worsening the life of the people. World Food Program officials pointed out that the U.S. economic sanctions on Afghanistan has exacerbated the local food crisis, with 98 percent of Afghans not consuming enough food and nearly half of children under 5-year-old going to be in a state of severe malnutrition.
However, on Feb. 11, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order demanding that the 7-billion-dollar frozen assets of the Afghan Central Bank in the United States be divided equally, with half of the money going to a fund for 9/11 victims and the other half to an account of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to "help the Afghan people," while making clear that the assets would not be returned to the Taliban authorities. The U.S. government's blatant plundering of the Afghan people's properties, a hegemonic act, has been widely condemned by the international community.
In an article published in Foreign Affairs magazine, Daniel W. Drezner, a professor with Tufts University, criticized the abuse of economic coercion by successive U.S. governments. Sanctions have become the go-to solution for nearly every foreign policy problem, which do not work but exact a humanitarian toll.
The unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States against countries in the Middle East and elsewhere have ultimately hurt the ordinary people, and seriously undermined the right to development of the sanctioned countries and their people.
Third, the United States has created humanitarians crises, severely undermining the right to health of the people in related countries. The U.S.-initiated Gulf War, the Iraq war and subsequent violent conflicts have destroyed much of Iraq's infrastructure, grossly reduced the capacity of the country's public services, and the people are faced with a lack of water, electricity and medical care, with the poor, children, widows, the elderly and other most vulnerable groups suffering the most.
Take the health sector for example. After the Gulf War, the level of medical care in Iraq declined significantly. In 1990, 97 percent of Iraq's urban population and 71 percent of its rural population had access to public health services. After the Iraq war in 2003, some 20,000 local doctors fled and many medical facilities were ruined in the fighting. As a result of the damage to power plants and water treatment facilities caused by U.S. bombings, the number of people suffering from diarrhoeal diseases was four times higher than pre-war level. In Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, nine of its 13 hospitals were destroyed, leaving this city of 1.8 million people with a meager 1,000 hospital beds available.
In addition, when the United States launched the Iraq War, it used depleted uranium munitions in large quantities, causing enormous damage to the health of the local population and seriously violating their right to health.
Turning a blind eye to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government still insists on imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran, Syria and other countries, making it difficult for the sanctioned countries to obtain medical supplies needed to fight the pandemic.
In 2020, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said: "At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended. In a context of global pandemic, impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for all of us."
As a result of the sanctions, Iran has been unable to import essential medicines and medical equipment, which has seriously affected the health of millions of Iranians.
The Iranian government applied for a 5-billion-U.S.-dollar special loan from the IMF to raise funds against the COVID-19 pandemic, but was blocked by the United States. The United States has blocked Iran's access to COVID-19 vaccines by freezing Iran's overseas funds and threatening vaccine suppliers.
In 2020, Iran said it had tried three times to pay for vaccines under COVAX, the WHO's COVID-19 Implementation Plan, but failed due to U.S. sanctions and restrictions.
According to an op-ed published by the Brookings Institute, rather than easing sanctions to help Iran manage the pandemic better, the United States piled on more sanctions. Had sanctions eased when the pandemic hit Iran, the article said, 13,000 lives could have been saved.
Showing no respect for the diversity of civilizations, the United States has been hostile to Islamic civilization, destroyed the historical and cultural heritage of the Middle East, imprisoned and tortured Muslims recklessly, and seriously violated the basic human rights of people in the Middle East and other places.
First, the United States has spread the "Islamic threat theory" around the world. It has advocated the superiority of Western and Christian civilization, despised non-Western civilization, and stigmatized Islamic civilization by labelling it as "backward," "terror" and "violent."
Using the 9/11 incident as an excuse, the United States has hyped up the "Islamic threat theory" in the world, deliberately misled or even incited people to be hostile to Islam and discriminate against Muslims, and provoked a "clash of civilizations," mobilizing public opinion and inventing a pretext to justify its global war on terror.
The "Islamophobia" created by the United States was once widespread in the country and other Western nations, seriously damaging the national dignity and international image of Islamic countries and violating the personal freedom and freedom of religious belief of Muslims.
Obstructed by the United States, the legitimate national rights and legitimate demands of the Palestinian people have long remained unresolved, not to mention peace, development and human rights.
Second, the United States has ruined the cultural heritage of the ancient civilization in the Middle East. The United States has pursued Western-centrism and advocated the "democratic peace theory" and "democratic transformation theory," disregarding the long history and splendor of the Middle Eastern civilizations.
After the U.S. military launched the Iraq War, its military actions directly caused regime change, social unrest and prolonged conflicts. Worse still, during the U.S. invasion and occupation, Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, was once plunged into a state of anarchy, and the Iraq Museum, which is listed by UNESCO as one of the top 11 museums in the world, was plundered of 170,000 artifacts featuring the essence of ancient art and civilization of Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and other historical stages in the region. Human civilization were tragically destroyed.
Under international law, such as Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, and the Geneva Convention, the occupant is required to maintain social order in the occupied area.
However, after occupying Baghdad, the U.S. military, under the excuse of not being a police officer, refused to take timely measures and avoided its obligation under international law to maintain social order. This led to the biggest case of cultural destruction in human history, and its harm was so profound that it completely ran counter to the modern civilized world.
The deputy director of the museum was outspoken in his accusation in 2003 that the U.S. military was responsible for what had happened.
In addition, the United States has suppressed, insulted and bullied Middle Eastern countries, undermining the cultural confidence of the nations and their people, and destroying the national pride and self-confidence of the Middle Eastern people.
Third, prisoner abuse and torture seriously undermined Muslims' right to human dignity. Since the United States launched its global war on terrorism, prisoner abuse scandals against Muslims have been heard all the time.
According to a report from the Costs of War Project at Brown University, following the 9/11 attack, the United States orchestrated a system of black sites in at least 54 countries and regions worldwide under the guise of "anti-terrorism," involving hundreds of thousands of people, including Muslims, women and children.
As early as 2003, the U.S. military, in serious violation of international human rights law, blatantly abused detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, many of whom were detained without just cause, resulting in a large number of deaths.
In addition, the United States established Guantanamo Bay detention camp to lock up a total of nearly 780 "terrorists" from the Middle East and elsewhere total, many of whom have been held without bringing any criminal charge.
More than 30 people, old and frail, remain in the prison, who are deprived of liberty for long periods of time and subjected to endless mental and physical torture.
In addition to widespread abuse and torture at Guantanamo, U.S. personnel have tortured prisoners by desecrating the Quran and violating Islamic beliefs, including throwing the Quran into toilets, tearing to pieces or burning the Quran under the guise of searching for weapons, and having female guards spy on naked prisoners in bathrooms, which sparked collective protests and even caused mass suicides among the detainees.
In September 2021, the U.S. prison and prisoner abuse practices at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan were exposed by the media. Evidence from the International Criminal Court investigation revealed that U.S. forces in Afghanistan ignored international justice and trampled on international norms, and inflicted "torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual abuse" on detainees for a long time, including putting at least 30 prisoners in a cage, leaving tortured prisoners to die in concealed areas, parading naked prisoners with blindfolds, among others.
The humiliating and cruel treatment of prisoners by the U.S. military constitutes a grave violation of their fundamental right to human dignity and of the U.S. obligation under international human rights law to prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Facts show that the United States has seriously violated the basic human rights of local people in the Middle East and other places, causing permanent damage and irreparable losses to countries and people in the region. The nature of American hegemony and the barbarity, cruelty and perniciousness of its power politics have been completely exposed, and the people of the world have a better understanding of the hypocrisy and deception of the American democracy and the American human rights.
Chinese NGO reveals U.S. violation of human rights
December 30, 2022 By: Xinhuanet
U.S. path to hegemony leads to dead end
The United States earlier this month gathered 49 African heads of state and the head of the African Union in Washington for its ambitious U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit after an eight-year hiatus, to demonstrate its "unchanging" commitment to the developing continent. However, the White House has not been met with the expected response, but with growing skepticism and criticism, as with so much on the international stage so far this year. U.S. website Politico commented on the summit that African leaders "feel like they've already been fooled once -- when former President Barack Obama used the first such summit in 2014 to signal growing commitment to the continent. Instead, Obama cut funding to combat AIDs in Africa and reduced foreign aid to the region." Such reaction of African leaders is understandable. The overbearing role of the United States backfires -- it frequently and unscrupulously bullies other countries, and breaches trust on bilateral and multilateral diplomatic occasions. The United States, for long, has blatantly invaded many countries under various pretexts, causing lasting disasters to the victims. The country has invaded 84 out of the 194 countries recognized by the United Nations and has been militarily involved with 191 of those, according to "America Invades: How We've Invaded or been Militarily Involved with almost Every Country on Earth," co-authored by Christopher Kelly and Stuart Laycock. Besides the invasions, Washington, labeling itself a "beacon of democracy," has also intensified its bullying practices under the guise of "democracy" and "human rights," including coercing others to take sides, imposing unilateral sanctions on non-compliant countries, provoking conflicts in many regions and profiting from the chaos.
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-12/30/content_10208620.htm
December 26, 2022 By: William Jones
Biden's defense bill merely a cover for containment of China
Just in time for Christmas, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a big Christmas bonus for the Pentagon in the form of a $863 billion bill to fund the Department of Defense (DoD) for 2023. Rather than a Defense Authorization bill, it should be characterized as a whole-of-government mobilization bill to contain China. The bill pertains to military outlays for the Pentagon. There is a significant increase for the U.S. Navy, which will carry the brunt of U.S. operations in the declared "Indo-Pacific" region. But with regard to the People's Republic of China, which is mentioned 268 times in the bill, the powers of the DoD have expanded far beyond the sphere of national security. The legislation calls for the U.S. National Security Council to create a Task Force, to examine so-called Chinese economic coercive policies and implement a strategy to counter them, as well as to prevent the federal government from purchasing semiconductors from several Chinese chip firms. The DoD will likely use the authority of the Pentagon under the expanded "national security" label to prevent much of the cooperation, which already exists between the U.S. and Chinese companies. This will be especially targeted to those companies that engage in high-tech production as most such production is of a so-called "dual-use" character. The document also calls for an investigation into the educational facilities of the U.S. military, including military schools to assure that materials that are produced under the aegis of the Communist Party of China or the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) are eliminated. But it is not only military schools that are getting targeted, but also civilian educational institutions, particularly those receiving funding from the Defense Department. Apparently, if a university or college is receiving such funding and has courses that don't exude absolute hostility toward the lawful government of China, they could have their funding slashed. The tactic has already been used extensively to target Confucius Institutes, which conduct Chinese language courses and are partially supported by funding from the Chinese government; many of them have been forced to close under similar DoD pressure. The legislation also calls for reporting on educational institutions "domiciled in China," which have connections to the PLA.
December 22, 2022 By: Global Times
Peace prospects dim as US ratchets up aid to Ukraine
While Washington and Kiev strengthen their united front against Moscow, Russia has to consider increasing its military response to the tighter cooperation between the US and Ukraine. The conflict is bound to become even more brutal, intense, and prolonged as the US increases its support for Ukraine. With the risk of spillover of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, the world, already in crisis, is unlikely to see peace soon in the new year. US President Joe Biden welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on Wednesday local time. This is the first known overseas visit of the Ukrainian president since Russia launched its special military operation against the country in February. Zelensky was reportedly greeted with extended applause from US lawmakers across the aisle when delivering a speech to the US Congress. For many US politicians who want their country to sustain support to Kiev in the attempt to continue exhausting Russia, the Ukrainian leader's visit might be a good Christmas gift. In many senses, the White House needs such a high-profile event to maintain its advantages in public opinion. As the Republicans are about to take control of the House of Representatives in January, Biden is expected to face more trouble from the GOP, including more uncertainties regarding the Ukraine crisis. Therefore, the Democratic Party has to take the opportunity while it still can to pressure Republicans to keep supporting Ukraine.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282425.shtml
December 21, 2022 By: Fei Xue
Is Washington’s selfishness crumbling US alliance system?
Recently, the Diplomat magazine published an article titled "Are US Allies Falling out of 'Alignment' on China?" The author of the article claims that the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), both of which Washington regards as major domestic achievements, have raised concerns among US allies because they unfairly favor US firms over foreign counterparts. Given this, the fact that the US alliance system has become unsustainable under "America First" conditions is becoming more and more apparent. Following Donald Trump's four years in power, the US alliance system has suffered a devastating blow. Joe Biden has continuously emphasized the importance of allies to the US since he took office, precisely because alliances are one of the most strategically valuable tools in US diplomacy. But if Washington wants to continue using alliances to satisfy its interests, it has to shape enemies around the world. In Europe, it has made Russia an enemy, and in the Asia-Pacific region, it is framing China as an enemy. By constantly hyping up the so-called Russia and China threat theories, the US aims to strengthen its alliance system. In particular, by creating a series of crises and exaggerating a divided world, it can push forward confrontation and reap benefits.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282356.shtml
December 17, 2022 By: Hu Yuwei
US prolongs Russia-Ukraine conflict for three aims, aggravates nuclear war risk: experts at GT annual forum
A prolonged and expanded Russia-Ukraine conflict will have a far-reaching impact and damage the future of the globe, and increase the risk of a runaway control and nuclear crisis, Chinese foreign affairs experts and scholars warned at the 2023 Global Times Annual Conference on Saturday. "The conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a typical 'proxy war.' The prolonged conflict in Ukraine is inevitable, and its troubles and shocks will further spill over to other parts of the world," Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Nanjing University, said, addressing the 2023 Global Times Annual Conference, held both online and off-line. The US and the EU have not made substantial efforts to ease Russia-Ukraine conflict, and have even moved in the opposite direction by providing weapons and ammunition. The key to solving the crisis lies in the hands of the US and EU, Zhou Li, former vice minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted at the conference. There are three major uncertainties in the future development of the Russia-Ukraine conflict - direct military confrontation between Russia and NATO members, nuclear contamination in Ukraine, and Russia being forced to use nuclear weapons, Zhu said. "It is fair to say that the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the most important strategic challenge and the most serious uncertainty facing the world today," Zhu stressed.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1282059.shtml
December 08, 2022 By: Li Zhe
Three questions not answered in US 2022 Nuclear Posture Review
The US Department of Defense released in a package its National Defense Strategy (NDS), Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and Missile Defense Review (MDR) on October 27, 2022, to further elaborate on the incumbent administration’s security outlook after issuing the National Security Strategy on October 12. Among them, the NPR gave a pretty comprehensive review of the main nuclear security challenges faced by the country now and its countermeasures in store, coming to the strategic judgment that China is a pacing threat to the US. The document has inherited both Trump’s “major-country competition” theory and Obama’s arms control vision of a “nuclear-free world”, which is just one example of its logical paradoxes. There are three questions the document doesn’t answer, at least not clearly. How to realize the ideal of nuclear arms control in the context of major country competition? How to maintain “strategic stability” in the context of major country competition? How to balance “extended deterrence” with “nuclear non-proliferation” in the context of major country competition?
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-12/08/content_10204319.htm
December 08, 2022 By: Ministry of National Defense
China strongly opposes US arms sale to Taiwan: Defense Spokesperson
China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the US’s recent announcement that it will sell military aircraft parts and related equipment worth$428 million to Taiwan, and has lodged solemn representations with the US side, said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, in a written statement on Thursday. The defense spokesperson said that the US’s move has blatantly ignored China's solemn position and once again grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. It has gravely violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, severely jeopardized China's sovereignty and security interests, and seriously undermined the relations between the two countries and two militaries as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. The spokesperson pointed out that in recent years, while making serious commitments to China on the Taiwan question, the US has hollowed out the one-China principle, continued arms sales to Taiwan, kept introducing negative bills related to Taiwan, and sent senior officials to visit Taiwan, further aggravating tensions across the Taiwan Straits. The US breaks its promises while its words still ring in the ears. Such self-contradictory move fully reveals its hypocrisy of saying one thing but doing another, and seriously damages its political credibility and international reputation.
http://eng.mod.gov.cn/news/2022-12/08/content_4928236.htm#
December 01, 2022 By: Global Times
US curbs national security threats at home, but fuels them abroad
Some US elites have a shameless double standard when dealing with forces threatening national security. They condemn and even sentence those who incite violence in the US to long prison terms, but when it comes to anti-China disruptors, they spare no effort to defend them. A US federal jury on Tuesday found two members of the far-right organization Oath Keepers, including founder Stewart Rhodes, guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The two are expected to face the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. According to The New York Times, seditious conspiracy is the most serious charge leveled against January 6 rioters. Experts told the Global Times that the verdict confirms for the first time that there was a conspiracy to undermine or even subvert the regime in the Capitol riots. The sedition convictions have a positive effect on maintaining US national security and social stability, intending to deter and curb the violent impulses of extreme right-wing forces that tend to turn to violence to express their political demands. The Capitol riots have severely traumatized the already unstable US politics and society, making Americans distinctly feel the dangers of violent confrontation and realize the importance of national stability. However, when talking about the recent high-profile trial of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, an instigator of the Hong Kong riots in 2019, some US forces have portrayed Lai as a "fighter for democracy." For example, a Washington Post editorial on Tuesday said Hong Kong's right to freedom of expression and association will be "in the dock" with Lai. All governments, including that of China and the US, firmly oppose inciting riots and violence in their country. But when it comes to China, some forces in the US suddenly lose common sense. Waving the banner of human rights, they turn a blind eye to the secessionist behavior of these "fighters." This reveals the hypocrisy of some US elites regarding internal and external affairs. When there is an attack on the US Capitol, it is a seditious conspiracy and a danger to US national security. However, when a similar situation occurs in Hong Kong, it is about democratic expression and protecting freedom of speech. Such hypocritical behavior originates from the hysteria in Washington's strategy toward Beijing. The US political elites have positioned China as the strategic competitor that poses the greatest threat to their country. Now all they can think about is how to engage in a confrontation with China and win it. This means they support all voices and forces that could smear and undermine China's development. In their eyes, anything that could create unrest in China should be encouraged. They wish for more opposition forces in China that the country's rule of law cannot constrain. Therefore, these elites try to rationalize all the behaviors of the Hong Kong rioters. Some US elites fantasize about making Hong Kong a model for promoting "color revolutions" in other parts of China, weakening the power of the central government and ultimately achieving the Westernization, or to be more specific, Americanization, of the Chinese system.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1280928.shtml
November 18, 2022 By: Lao Du
In-depth report on US unilateral sanctions in cyberspace
The 77th United Nations General Assembly recently adopted a resolution demanding the US to end the economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba with 185 votes in favor, 2 votes against, and 2 abstentions. This is the 30th consecutive time that UN member states have overwhelmingly supported the end of the US embargo against Cuba. The US has already become a "United States of Sanctions" in the real sense of the word. It has applied economic, financial and other traditional tools to implement sanctions, while continuously upgrading sanctions in the cyber world. In August 2022, a special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights submitted a special report entitled Unilateral Sanctions in the Cyberworld: Tendencies and Challenges, detailing the unilateral cyber sanctions by the US-led countries and condemning their violations of human rights. The special report has noted "the accelerating expansion of unilateral sanctions involving cyber means or in cyberspace". From 2011 to 2021, the US sanctioned 303 individuals and entities from 10 countries, including Russia, for the so-called reason of engaging in "malicious cyber activities". The means of sanctions are various, including blocking access to public online platforms, banning trade in software or information and communication devices, and blocking social media accounts. In addition, the US has also expanded the list of restrictions on software trade, and it is more commonly seen to block the social media accounts of targets under sanction. The US has insisted that the targets under its sanctions all have engaged in "malicious cyber activities". However, the special rapporteur found after investigation that the US tends to widely spread negative information about relevant individuals and enterprises with no sufficient evidence while "bypassing the presumption of innocence and due process guarantees". This move is in a flagrant violation of international conventions. Unilateral sanctions in the cyber field have seriously violated the human rights of other countries, including the right to information, education, health, life and development.
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-11/18/content_10200191.htm
November 17, 2022 By: CGTN
The U.S., champion and vindicator of her own
The United States has for long championed the cause of democracy; however, the ground reality reveals an ugly undemocratic side that is widely prevalent across the U.S. CGTN's five-episode documentary series "Fragile Democracy, Divided America" showcases the deep political, social, economic, and cultural divisions in a country that is arguably the world's oldest democracy. The series illustrates the contradictions of the U.S.'s self-proclaimed mission of promoting the "American model of democracy" globally with how an exalted political idea has been subverted in practice and backfired at home. The fifth episode focuses on the role America plays in human right protection at home and abroad. On November 3, the UN General Assembly approved its 30th non-binding resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. While 185 countries voted in favor, the U.S. still voted against for the 29th time, having abstained in 2016. Saying "no" is a routine act for the United States. The UN resolutions that the U.S. most commonly rejects are the ones that support the common interests of humankind, but do not serve in favor of the U.S.'s national interests. The former U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams said, "(America) is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." The U.S. has always remained unilateralist, especially when it comes to human rights and the use of force.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/REVIEW_1117/2358.html
November 14, 2022 By: Xinhua
Thousands of Iranians died of COVID-19 due to US sanctions: official
A top Iranian human rights official on Sunday blamed US sanctions that deny Iranians access to essential medicines for thousands of deaths in the country during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights and deputy chief of the Iranian Judiciary for international affairs, made the remarks while speaking to Iranian media in New York, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported. During the visit, he will attend the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee meetings, according to IRNA. Gharibabadi noted that the sanctions, preventing Iran from transferring money through financial channels, made it difficult for the country to import COVID-19 vaccines and the necessary medicine during that period. The United States and some European countries claimed to support Iranians' human rights, particularly during the recent "riots" in Iran, while the lives of millions of Iranians have been affected by the US unilateral sanctions and some European countries' compliance, he said. "We see that those countries that consider themselves human rights advocates, particularly the United States and some other Western states, are extensively violating such rights in their own territories or in other countries. We maintain that these states are in no way eligible for being the flagbearers of human rights," he noted.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/WORLD_1114/19223.html
November 14, 2022 By: Veronika S. Saraswati
Dominative mentality of US, its allies must be countered with power of solidarity of East
Economic certainty and security stability are the two main factors needed for successful development. These conditions should not only be met for domestic governance, but also global governance. Development and security, as the two main driving wheels of governance, are two wings of one body. The two factors are very prominent to maintain stability. Instability, insecurity and economic uncertainty are not merely natural phenomena. This situation is a result of a disorientation of development, which puts the ambitions of dominance of hegemonic powers ahead of people's life. The fall of Global North countries (the US and North Europe) into a great economic recession is inseparable from an individualistic mentality and monopolistic economy. It can be clearly seen on how the UK decided to withdraw from the European Union (EU) as economic recession began to bring economic bankruptcy in the EU's regionalism. In the West, there is no sense of solidarity and mutual aid. The UK does not want to be co-opted into huge economic debts by other EU member states. And it is precisely China, through the Belt and Road Initiative, that strongly supports many EU member states' economic sectors so that the EU member states, such as Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain, can still survive in economic development. Even more EU countries, such as Germany and France, have sought to build a closer relationship with China recently. These countries in the EU have faced a worsening economic situation due to the pandemic and the effects of US sanctions on Russia. This worsening situation led to social unrest, economic uncertainty, and a gloomy future.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1279473.shtml
November 12, 2022 By: CGTN Insight
Cyberbully U.S.: Weaponizing content, manipulating minds
The United States has for long championed the cause of democracy; however, the ground reality reveals an ugly undemocratic side that is widely prevalent across the U.S. CGTN's five-episode documentary series "Fragile Democracy, Divided America" showcases the deep political, social, economic, and cultural divisions in a country that is arguably the world's oldest democracy. The series illustrates the contradictions of the U.S.'s self-proclaimed mission of promoting the "American model of democracy" globally with how an exalted political idea has been subverted in practice and backfired at home. The fourth episode focuses on how the cyberbully U.S. endangers global freedom and cyber security. "Congress must ensure that the next generation of Americans is able to speak and associate freely, without fear of surveillance," warned the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In 2021 alone, the FBI has conducted up to 3.4 million warrantless searches of Americans' phone calls, emails and text messages. For decades, the U.S. has conducted indiscriminate mass surveillance of its citizens, foreign governments and even its allies. Nadim Siraj, an India-based journalist and author of Secret Notes from Iran: Diary of an Undercover Journalist said: "It's just a paradox. In fact, it's not just in 2013 that we first got to know that the NSA was running a sweeping espionage program on Americans also. It has been happening for a long time. Now we've entered the realms of the digital world. The hunger to carry out surveillance programs of their own people is now happening on the digital front." Besides mass surveillance, it influences the internet through media manipulation, cyberattacks and cyber espionage. This kind of cyber hegemony is endangering both its own and global freedom and security.
November 10, 2022 By: Li Jiabao
US nuclear arsenal upgrade scourges Europe, world
According to a report by American magazine Politico, American officials told their NATO allies in Europe in a recent closed-door meeting in Brussels, Belgium that they will accelerate the deployment of the enhanced nuclear bomb B61-12 at multiple NATO bases across Europe. Britain’s The Guardian reported that the national defense budget document for the fiscal year of 2023 submitted by the Biden administration to the US Congress planned to allocate US$384 million to upgrade America’s nuclear storage facilities in six NATO member states – the UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye– to enable them to deploy B61-12. The B61-12 nuclear bomb is the latest version of America’s B61 series of tactical nuclear bombs and a key member of its future tactical nuclear attack system. The US side’s evasiveness cannot hide its obvious intention of upgrading the nuclear arsenal in Europe, and its accelerated deployment of new tactical nuclear weapons amid the ongoing geopolitical conflict now will incur dire consequences in many ways.
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-11/10/content_10198407.htm
November 09, 2022 By: Xin Ping
Russia-Ukraine crisis, a bonanza for U.S.
For the United States, war is an extremely profitable business. In fact, the country was crowned as the world's sole superpower by the largest and most devastating war in human history. Its gross national product (GNP), measured in constant dollars, grew from 88.6 billion U.S. dollars in 1939 to 135 billion dollars in 1944, and the share of war-related production in GNP jumped from only 2 percent to an astonishing 40 percent, according to British economic historian Alan Milward. Right now, history seems to be repeating itself. Eight months into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, when the flames of war are putting ordinary folks in Europe through a hard time, Uncle Sam's war business is also on fire -- riches are piling up from arms sales, Europe's energy crunch, and dollar weaponization. Arms production and sale have always been a cash cow for the United States. Just when the country's general economy is struggling against multiple headwinds, its notorious military-industrial complex is enjoying a golden opportunity.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/1109/c90000-10169045.html
November 07, 2022 By: Global Times
Drop any illusions that Washington could promote peace for Ukraine
What Washington is concerned about isn't the peace of Europe and Ukraine, but how to bring down Russia using Ukraine as a pawn and taking advantage of Europe, as well as how to consolidate its hegemony in Europe and across the whole world. The international community should discard any illusions about any of the US' moves which appear to promote peace. The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine's leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless Russian President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, according to people familiar with the discussions, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. Instead of relieving or addressing the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Washington's main purpose is actually to adopt a new strategy diplomatically in which Ukraine can gain more lasting support from US' European allies in its conflict with Russia.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1278956.shtml
November 06, 2022 By: Xin Ping
Why is the world's richest country starving its people?
Weeks before Americans line up to vote for the midterm elections, another line is swelling at LeMoyne Community Center in Washington County, Pennsylvania: more than 100 people turn up as early as 7 a.m. every Saturday, waiting for food distribution. Similar stories could be heard from food banks across the U.S. Last year, one-third of people in Washington D.C. experienced food insecurity at some point and many relied on food banks and food stamps to get by, including those who were college-educated and full-time employed, according to a report released by the Capital Area Food Bank in June. The long queue for food should be an embarrassing scene for one of the wealthiest countries worldwide, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 34 million people in America are food insecure, including 12 million children. One in 10 American households struggled to feed their families last year, with more than five million families missing meals and cutting portions due to poverty – many of them did not qualify for federal nutrition programs for extra support.
November 03, 2022 By: Hu Xijin
US better give up attempt to contain China by utilizing Southeast Asian countries
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China has achieved remarkable results. Ties between China and its neighboring countries are mainly supported by inter-governmental relations and huge trade volumes. But when it comes to China and Vietnam, the ruling parties of the two have maintained a close relationship, providing additional solid bonds and resilience for ties between the two countries. China and Vietnam are two countries led by the Communist Party. Both are facing the common task of developing their economies, continuously improving people's living standards, supporting each other politically, taking a socialist path that suits their own national conditions, and avoiding being overthrown by external forces. Trong's visit has greatly consolidated the relationship between the two parties and injected more stability into the relationship between the two countries. Both general secretaries spoke highly of the relations between the two parties and the two countries, and appreciated each other's great achievements. The strong foundation and development momentum of bilateral relations were fully displayed during this visit. Trong said that Vietnam attaches great importance to its ties with China and regards developing friendly cooperation with China as a top priority in its foreign policy. It is the common will and task of both China and Vietnam to handle disputes in the South China Sea and not let it disturb the bigger picture of relationship between the two countries. This principle has been reinforced during the visit. The two sides agreed to properly manage differences and maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. They also agreed to, through consultations and negotiations, discuss temporary, transitional solutions that do not affect stances and policies of each side and seek basic long-term solutions acceptable to both sides. This further eliminates the risk of bilateral ties being distracted by the South China Sea issue. The US has always wished to build an anti-China united front in the South China Sea with Japan, Australia, and Southeast Asian countries. Among them, Vietnam is a key US target to rope in. However, Vietnam is clearly aware that the US wants to use it as a pawn, so Hanoi is vigilant while developing relations with the US. During this visit, Trong reiterated that Vietnam will not allow any country to establish a military base in Vietnam, or join any military alliance, or use force against any country, or work with one country to oppose another. He also said that Vietnam firmly follows the one-China policy, opposes any form of "Taiwan independence" separatist activities, and will not develop any official relations with Taiwan island.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1278649.shtml
November 02, 2022 By: Global Times
The US and its allies’ efforts of sowing discord between China and Vietnam will be doomed
The ruling parties of China and Vietnam have maintained a close relationship, providing additional bonds and flexibility. The US and its allies’ efforts of sowing discord between China and Vietnam will be doomed.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1278574.shtml
October 28, 2022 By: CGTN
Event on Xinjiang organized by U.S. and others is a political farce
On October 26, the Spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations expresses firm opposition to a side event on the so-called human rights situations in Xinjiang organized by the United States, the United Kingdom and a few western countries. The Spokesperson points out that the side event is full of lies and disinformation, further exposing their political attempt to use Xinjiang to contain China. Such an event is widely resisted by the overwhelming majority of Member States and is a self-staged political farce. The Spokesperson points out that the side event is a desperate struggle of the U.S. and a few western countries after their lies about Xinjiang exposed. The U.S. fabricated lies of "genocide" in Xinjiang, which finds no support at all and only shamed itself. They tabled a draft decision on Xinjiang to the Human Rights Council in Geneva with attempt to put Xinjiang-related issues on the agenda, but failed in the vote. The Human Rights Council explicitly rejected their political maneuver and refused to endorse the so-called "assessment" on Xinjiang released by the OHCHR under Western countries' coercive diplomacy. Not willing to accept failure in Geneva, they turned to New York to continue to hype up the issue of Xinjiang, and invited a few anti-China "experts" and "witnesses" to perform such a farce. No matter how the U.S. and a few Western countries glamorize the side event, it is a political farce contrary to the fact and truth and has been rejected by the majority. The Spokesperson stresses that the side event serves the political interest of the U.S. to suppress others and maintain its hegemony. The U.S. fears the rise of developing countries, and regards China's development as a challenge and threat to its hegemony. So the U.S. and a few Western countries are trying to use Xinjiang to create mess in and contain China. The U.S. turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the terrorist attacks on Xinjiang. Now when Xinjiang enjoys stability and prosperity, the U.S. began to make political farce and maliciously attack and smear China. It is clear to all that the U.S. cares nothing about human rights in Xinjiang but its own hegemony. The U.S.'s attempt to undermining China's development is against the trend of the times and doomed to fail. Human society has entered the 21st century, the days when Western countries intimidated and bullied developing countries are long gone.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/WORLD_1028/19185.html
October 26, 2022 By: Jerry Grey
NED's Taipei stunt shows it is a 'national endowment for hypocrisy'
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is set to hold its annual democracy assembly in Taipei. Some people find this news surprising. That the meeting is being hosted by NED is not a surprise at all, but that they chose China's Taipei as the venue may be something of a surprise to some people. The NED was formed in 1983 to "promote freedom around the world." To the casual observer, this is a noble and righteous cause, but if one looks a little deeper it becomes less noble. The NED is not the righteous campaigner for democracy and freedoms it claims to be. Rather, it is a deliberate cut-out for what used to be CIA funding. Its leadership is not promoting democracy, rather they do the opposite by promoting American interests wherever they are. This might seem to be a conspiratorial view but it is one held by many researchers and a very interesting fact sheet on the NED from the Chinese government released just a few months ago. People may wish to ignore China's input into this or even criticize it as being biased against an organization formed as a nonprofit by Ronald Regan, but the well-researched and supported information provided by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes that a very difficult position to defend. The NED does not have the democratic rights of the people in the 100 plus countries in which it operates at heart, it is solely interested in the maintenance of US power. Once the reader embraces the information found in the report, the obvious answer to any questions as to why Taipei was chosen as the site of this summit will become clear. Taipei is a city on China's Taiwan island and NED is never happier when it is prodding US-perceived enemies with a sharp stick. So, holding a democracy meeting on a Chinese island, so soon after the visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is exactly that.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202210/1278061.shtml
October 19, 2022 By: Xinhua
OHCHR should investigate U.S. human rights violations: Chinese envoy
A Chinese envoy on Thursday called on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate U.S. infringement on human rights and release relevant reports. He also urged the United States and a few other countries to face up to and address their own poor human rights records.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/REVIEW_1019/2329.html
October 18, 2022 By: Wang Shida
US pushes nuclear fears for strategic self-interest
US President Joe Biden made astonishing remarks at the reception of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) a few days ago. He said that Pakistan has "nuclear weapons without any cohesion" and may be "one of the most dangerous nations in the world". In his speech, Biden also exaggerated that the threat of nuclear war caused by the Ukraine crisis is "at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis." This remark also caused huge controversy. Washington has frequently created nuclear fears recently but what is its real intention? The relationship between the US and Pakistan has not been very pleasant in recent years, and the US is the main reason. On the one hand, the Bush and Obama administrations maintained cooperation with Pakistan and took care of Pakistan's sensitivities and concerns to resolve the Afghanistan issue. However, since the Trump administration, the US has continued to adjust the focus of its global national security strategy, shifting from counter-terrorism to major power competition. The Biden administration has inherited and developed the "Indo-Pacific strategy" proposed by the Trump administration, and deal with other countries based on its self-confidence and strength. For this reason, it is necessary for the US to reduce investments in things that are not priorities such as the Afghanistan issue. Against this backdrop, Pakistan's importance to the US has clearly declined. On the other hand, Pakistan has made great sacrifices in cooperating with the US in its war on terror. The war in Afghanistan has cost Pakistan tens of thousands of casualties and tens of billions of dollars in damage. However, Washington took anger at Pakistan because of the defeat in the war in Afghanistan and repeatedly accused Pakistan of poor cooperation. Recently, US-Pakistan relations have improved thanks to the joint efforts of personnel from both sides. However, Biden's remarks about Pakistan's nuclear weapons being poorly controlled and Pakistan probably being one of the most dangerous countries in the world caused an uproar in Pakistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Shabazz Sharif stressed that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state, and its national nuclear security is protected by the highest standards. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan questioned, "What basis does Biden have to question Pakistan's nuclear security?" "When did Pakistan show aggression compared to the US's involvement in wars around the world?" And Federal Minister for Energy of Pakistan Khurram Dastgir Khan accused Biden of baseless. All these reveal Pakistan's anger at Washington's irresponsible behaviors.
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-10/18/content_10193277.htm
October 13, 2022 By: Xin Ping
US disinformation campaigns on Xinjiang: A playbook of "thief crying 'stop thief'"
In July and August 2022, Twitter and Facebook removed two overlapping sets of accounts for violating the platforms' terms of service. The suspended accounts, according to analysts, "consistently advanced narratives promoting the interests of the United States and its allies while opposing countries including Russia, China, and Iran". A detailed analysis of the suspicious accounts can be found in a report titled "UNHEARD VOICE: Evaluating five years of pro-Western covert influence operations", coauthored by the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO) and Graphika. It turns out that the accounts are part of a series of covert campaigns over a period of almost five years rather than one homogeneous operation. As disclosed by the report, the disinformation campaigns used "inauthentic tactics" to flood the information space with pro-Western propaganda. The banned accounts, for instance, showed "clear signs of automated or highly coordinated posting activity". They created fake personas with sophisticated A.I.-generated images to manipulate the online discourse by sharing similar content, posed as independent media outlets to enhance the credibility of the fake users, launched online petitions and started hashtag movements in an attempt to hype up narratives that served the agenda of the forces behind the scenes. It came as no surprise that Twitter identified the US as one of the "presumptive countries of origin", and Facebook said the US was "the country of origin". As always, the US calls its mass production of disinformation "investing in its values". It has been scaling up input to make that happen. The Strategic Competition Act of 2021 adopted by the US Congress authorized $300 million each year to "counter the malign influence" of China. According to the SIO-Graphika analysis and US media reports, the US military is suspected to be involved in managing the "trolls"on these two social media platforms, with a purpose to conduct secret information warfare against China and others. This explains why the accounts have shown a particular interest in all the lies related to Xinjiang, such as the so-called "genocide" and "forced labor" of the Uyghurs.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/1013/c90000-10157639.html
October 10, 2022 By: China Daily
Racism stain of shame on 'world democratic paradise'
In the 51st Regular Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council from Sept 12 to Oct 7 in Geneva, the Chinese representatives, along with representatives of some other countries, expressed their deep concerns over the United States' discriminatory law enforcement against minorities, urging the US to face its own racism and racial discrimination, so as to avoid the tragedy of George Floyd from happening again. The US administration has apparently not drawn its lessons from it, as more than 200 African Americans have been killed by police officers during law enforcement over the year following the death of Floyd. These tragedies have again and again exposed the hypocrisy of human rights in the US and made people see clearly that the US society is not the so-called "world democratic paradise" that its politicians boasted of, but instead a sick society in which even the basic rights of human survival are at stake. In addition to African Americans, Asian Americans, Muslims and other ethnic minorities have also been marginalized due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the discriminatory policies of the US government. When US politicians failed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, they openly scapegoated ethnic minorities and fueled racial conflicts and hatred to absolve their own responsibilities. In the US, ethnic minorities are only given symbolic attention when election politics demand it. The politicians have no interest in improving the social soil in which racism breeds and the various institutional flaws that reinforce it. In August this year, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination criticized the deeprooted problem of racial discrimination in the US when reviewing its implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/OPINIONS_1010/19070.html
October 08, 2022 By: Global Times editorial
Global audiences are fed up with US-led West’s ‘show’ on human rights
The 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) on Thursday voted on a US-led Xinjiang-related draft decision. The result shows that the draft was strongly opposed by most members of the HRC, especially developing countries, and was not passed. The US and some other Western countries have already consumed a substantial quantity of resources in advance for propaganda and diplomatic agitation for the draft, hyping the vote as a "duel" with China, and sparing no effort to force other member states to be obedient. But this weaponization of human rights is deeply unpopular. This is the second time in the council's 16-year history that a draft decision has been rejected. Public opinions worldwide almost unanimously believe this is a "major setback" for Western countries. Some Western public opinion even made another stab - calling the outcome a setback to the "West's moral authority." This undoubtedly upset the sensitive nerves of some organizations and individuals in the US and the West. They argue that the result "makes a mockery of everything the Human Rights Council is supposed to stand for," the Muslim countries which voted down the motion are "shameful," and African countries "yielded." Some even call Ukraine's abstention "betrayal." The draft was put forward by Western countries including the US, the UK and Canada in a bid to hold a debate on "Xinjiang human rights situation" at its next session in March. Many Western media outlets said in their reports that the draft lowered the tone and "called just for holding a debate," in order to avoid the scenario in which enough other countries reject their proposal. Yet this exposes the real purpose of this draft: It is by no means to discuss any human rights issue, but to try to indefinitely hype up a "problem" that does not exist, so as to suppress and contain China.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/1008/c90000-10155193.html
October 07, 2022 By: CGTN First Voice
U.S. presence a key factor of instability in the Korean Peninsula
Tensions are high in the Korean Peninsula, yet again. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday fired two more ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters and scrambled a squadron of 12 fighter jets close to the airspace of the Republic of Korea (ROK). This was the DPRK's 6th ballistic missile test within the past two weeks – including the one on Tuesday that flew over Japan – and came a day after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) met to discuss the situation in the peninsula. If one goes by the narrative the U.S. and its allies have traditionally pushed as they did at Wednesday's UNSC meeting, it would appear as if Pyongyang is solely responsible for the heightened tensions in the peninsula. "These launches violate multiple Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to not only the region but to the entire international community," Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, said, presenting a joint statement at the UNSC meeting on behalf of a handful of allies including ROK and Japan. "We will not stay silent as the DPRK works to undermine the global nonproliferation regime and threaten the international community," the U.S. envoy said as she called on all UN member states, and especially UNSC members, to join Washington in condemning Pyongyang's "reckless behavior." What this narrative conveniently, or rather deliberately, overlooks is Washington's relentless incitement against the DPRK for decades – including the ongoing joint U.S.-ROK military exercises – that is at the core of the volatile situation in the Korean Peninsula. These exercises have seen the redeployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan, in Korean waters and involved joint bombing and missile drills. The DPRK has fervently justified its tests as necessary countermeasures against the U.S.-ROK joint military drills as it blamed Washington for intensifying military tensions in the region. Any objective observer would agree that there certainly is merit to Pyongyang's assertions. As such, the recent spate of DPRK's missile launches shouldn't be seen in isolation but as a response to the latest U.S. provocation along with the relevant historical background and contexts, a point that was rightly highlighted by the Chinese envoy to the UN at Wednesday's UNSC meeting. "We have taken note of the recent launches by the DPRK. We have also noticed the multiple joint military exercises held by the U.S. and other countries recently in the region. A brief examination will reveal that the DPRK launch activities took place either before or after such military exercises, and did not exist in isolation," stated Geng Shuang, the Chinese Ambassador to the UN.
September 27, 2022 By: China Daily
US is 'largest spreader of disinformation'
The United States is "the largest spreader of disinformation", Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, adding that the disinformation it has fabricated is being seen through and rejected by more and more people. Wang made the remark on Monday at a daily news conference when a reporter sought his comments on a report issued by the Stanford Internet Observatory in August. The observatory said it has found in a joint investigation "an interconnected web of accounts "on social media platforms that "used deceptive tactics to promote pro-Western narratives". "These campaigns consistently advanced narratives promoting the interests of the United States and its allies while opposing countries including Russia, China, and Iran," the observatory said. Wang cited the report, and said, "Many US media have disclosed that these fake accounts are suspected to have been managed by the US military with a purpose to conduct secret information warfare."
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/WORLD_0927/18979.html
September 26, 2022 By: CGTN
China urges U.S. to stop military interventions in Syria at UN session
A senior Chinese diplomat on Thursday urged the U.S. to stop illegal military operations in and stealing oil from Syria, and stop unilateral sanctions against Syria to return human rights, wealth, freedom and dignity to Syrians. "We strongly condemned the illegal military intervention by the United States in Syria that undermines the basic human rights of the Syrian people and urged the United States to immediately stop its human rights violations," said Jiang Duan, minister of the Chinese Mission to the UN at Geneva, at the 51st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Vienna. Noting the Syrians still struggling with the poverty and war, Jiang said the U.S. and other Western countries should bear the responsibility for the tragedy. "The U.S. has frequently launched military interventions in Syria, resulting in massive civilian casualties and displacement and incalculable property losses," he said. In August, the U.S. launched a new round of airstrikes in eastern Syria. Jiang said the strikes "continuously violated Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity and exacerbated the suffering of the Syrian people."
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/WORLD_0926/18970.html
September 23, 2022 Source: China Military Online Editor: Chen Zhuo
US seeking hegemony with nuclear force to harm other countries and itself
Recently, according to a report from the website of the US Defense News, Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of the US Air Force Global Strike Command, stated that the US military enterprises are facing supply chain problems due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and the recent international situation, which have shown influence on the progress of the US nuclear-weapons modernization programs. Analysts believed that the supply chain problem is just one of the multiple problems faced by the US nuclear-weapons modernization programs, and the negative consequences of the US’ “seeking hegemony with nuclear force” to others will boomerang on itself as well.
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-09/23/content_10186894.htm
September 23, 2022 Source: China Military Online By: Zhang Jiadong Editor: Li Jiayao
Why America's "new alliance system" is doomed to fail
In the history of international politics, the domination of a few countries over world politics is often transient and unsustainable. In terms of the West as a whole, it has dominated the world for more than 500 years, a rather long time in human history. In terms of sovereign states like Spain, the Netherlands, the UK and the US, the US has dominated world politics for nearly 100 years, the second longest after the old British Empire. The challenge to America’s domination in the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century comes from within the West, which in the broad sense includes the Soviet Union, Germany, and Japan. During the Cold War, the West was split into two blocs, one headed by the Soviet Union and the other by the US, while countries like China and India belonged to the Third World whose relation with both blocs was unstable. As America’s rival, the Soviet Union in a way consolidated the alliance between the US, Japan and Europe, which gave Germany and Japan strategic opportunities after WWII. After the end of the Cold War, the world regained peace under American rule, but has also brought itself another crisis as, with the disappearance of a common threat, the global values were no longer able to resist the revolutionary pressure stemming from the adjustment of the international landscape. From the 80s to the 90s of the last century, Japan and European countries were on a constant rise while the US was on a relative decline. In 1995, Japan and Germany had a combined GDP larger than America’s. Under such circumstances, they were moving increasingly away from the US and dared to say “no” to it more often. When the financial crisis broke out in 2008, the West’s global position suffered a serious blow, and so did America’s leadership within the western hemisphere. In Asia, on the contrary, Southeast Asian countries, Japan, ROK and China were growing ever closer in economic and trade ties. In Europe, Germany and France had widening divergences on the Russian issue, with French President Macron claiming NATO is “brain dead”. America itself felt lost too, as people represented by former President Trump began to lose confidence and interest in maintaining American hegemony.
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-09/23/content_10186896.htm
September 19, 2022 By: Ecns.cn Editor: Chen Tianhao
(W.E. Talk) The U.S. 'Indo-Pacific Strategy' set to counter China and harms Asia-Pacific peace and security
Since taking office, the Biden administration has gone all out to promote the Indo-Pacific Strategy, trying to draw in regional countries to contain China. But why is the strategy more of a threat to the peaceful development of the Asia-Pacific region? How does the Republic of the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries view this strategy? In the face of American containment, how should China respond? In the latest W.E. Talk, Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, Research Professor of the School of International Studies at Peking University and Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, Member of the Board of Directors of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies were invited to discuss on the above topics. Hu Bo pointed out that the U.S. has viewed the Asia-Pacific region as the most important theater of operations, and it has deployed more than 60% of U.S. air and marine military platforms in this region. He emphasized that although the United States is trying to piece together an anti-China alliance in Asia, Southeast Asian countries are generally reluctant to take a side. Facing the complicated situation, China has the confidence and ability to face the challenge. Lucio Blanco Pitlo III said that ASEAN members are concerned that competition of great powers may force them to choose sides, so they hope to de-escalate the situation through dialogue.
http://www.ecns.cn/news/cns-wire/2022-09-19/detail-ihceauqk3928761.shtml
September 08, 2022 By Li Jiabao
Violations by US troops overseas arouse public outcry
For a long time, the American troops stationed overseas have claimed to maintain the so-called “order” and “rules” in the host countries under the pretext of “security cooperation”, while actually, they place themselves above the local laws under the protection of extraterritoriality. Their misconduct and violations have triggered a public outcry.
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-09/08/content_10183682.htm
September 07, 2022 By Guo Xiaobing
Why is US so eager to relax arms export?
American media reported that the US Department of Defense formed a so-called Tiger Team last month to be responsible for examining the efficiency of America's foreign arms sales and streamlining the process of the transactions. America's arms export is divided into two types. One is foreign military sales (FMS), which is implemented based on intergovernmental agreements; the other is direct commercial sales (DCS), which is through commercial channels. The limited information revealed by US media shows that the attempt to simplify the process mainly involves the intergovernmental FMS. This type of arms export is subject to the management of the Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers (RSAT) under the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State, which, however, needs to work closely with the DoD's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in the approval process, and much of the work is carried out by the DoD too. The new Tiger Team will reform the part of the FMS process involving the DoD, and perhaps also relax the screening of the final users of the exported military equipment. The US is the world's largest arms exporter. Statistics from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that during the five years from 2017 to 2021, America's arms deals accounted for 39% of the global total, twice as large as the second-ranking Russia's. Why then is it so eager to relax the regulations and expand its arms export?
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-09/07/content_10183746.htm
August 23, 2022 Source: ECNS.CN Editor: Wang Xinjuan
Plundering oil and food in Syria makes U.S. a world robber
U.S. forces have stolen 398 tankers of Syrian oil since Aug. 11 and sent them to bases in Iraq, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday. On Aug. 8, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Syria said that the average daily output of Syrian oil in the first half of 2022 was 80,300 barrels, while U.S. occupying forces and their "mercenaries" are grabbing an average of 66,000 barrels a day, accounting for over 83 percent of Syria's oil output. The ministry said that total losses in the oil sector amounted to about $105 billion by the end of the first half of 2022 since the beginning of the war on Syria, causing significant losses to the country's oil industry. The U.S. has listed Syria as a "state supporting terrorism" and occupied a large area of northeast Syria in the name of "anti-terrorism." But what it has actually done is plundering oil and gas resources in the country. Syria, which used to be an oil exporter, is now an oil importer, aggravating its energy crisis and hindering its reconstruction. The U.S. has long coveted oil in the Middle East. Former U.S. President Donald Trump has admitted in public that U.S. troops were left in Syria “only for the oil.”
http://english.pladaily.com.cn/view/2022-08/23/content_10179935.htm
August 22, 2022 By: CGTN
CGTN documentary ‘Remote Killing’ released
In the five years between January 2015 and January 2020, drone strikes killed 909 Afghan civilians, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Through interviews with victims, civilians who were mistakenly targeted, a former U.S. drone operator and independent investigators, "Remote Killing" exposes the numerous human tragedies caused by these unmanned but ruthless killers.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/REVIEW_0822/2230.html
August 22, 2022 By: People's Daily
Crimes U.S. has committed in Middle East: Establishing black sites, inhumanly treating prisoners
The United States has committed a series of crimes that have seriously violated international law in the Middle East and surrounding regions. Its torturing of prisoners from the Muslim community has become an indelible stain on the country’s human rights record. The “Costs of War” Project at Brown University in the U.S. has noted that following the 9/11 attacks, Washington orchestrated a system of black sites in at least 54 countries and regions across the world. Hundreds of thousands of people were detained at these sites, including Muslims, women and children. As early as 2003, the U.S. military blatantly abused detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq, resulting in a large number of deaths. In September 2021, the U.S. prison and prisoner abuse practices at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan were also exposed by the media. The Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, which the U.S. has continuously failed to shut down, is one of the notorious “black sites” the U.S. has established overseas to detain “terrorists” from the Middle East and elsewhere. The detention camp has locked up a total of some 780 prisoners, many of whom have been held without bringing any criminal charge. More than 30 people, old and frail, remain in the prison. They are deprived of their liberty for long periods of time and subjected to endless mental and physical torture.
http://en.people.cn/n3/2022/0822/c90000-10138190.html
August 19, 2022 By: Xinhua
Biden's PACT Act highlights US double standards on human rights: US scholar
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/WORLD_0819/18762.html
U.S. military interventions undermine world peace, violate human rights: Jordanian expert
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/REVIEW_0819/2226.html
August 18, 2022 By: Xinhua
U.S. violates human rights willfully, acting with arrogance and hegemony: Iraqi politician
An Iraqi politician has said that the U.S. uses economic sanctions on other countries to achieve its political goals, exercises arrogance and hegemony and violates human rights by any standard. Dr. Kawa Mahmoud, secretary of Central Committee of Kurdistan Communist Party, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that no one should be exempted from the consequences of human rights violations.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/REVIEW_0818/2222.html
August 12, 2022 By: Xinhua
U.S. abuses imprisonment, torture in Middle East: experts
The U.S. has created "clash of civilizations," and has abused imprisonment and torture, violating freedom of religion and human dignity in the Middle East and surrounding areas. This is according to a report released by the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) on Tuesday. The report said the U.S. has been hostile to Islamic civilization, destroyed the historical and cultural heritage of the Middle East, imprisoned and tortured Muslims recklessly, and seriously violated the basic human rights of people in the Middle East and other places. Check out what experts and former prison detainees have to say.
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/REVIEW_0812/2216.html
August 12, 2022 By: JAN YUMUL in Hong Kong/ China Daily
US deemed top culprit on rights abuses
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/WORLD_0812/18719.html
August 10, 2022 By: Xinhua
U.S. violation of human rights in Middle East denounced by experts
http://www.chinahumanrights.org/html/2022/REVIEW_0810/2213.html
August 09, 2022 By: Leng Shumei
Report on human rights violations in Middle East exposes US' barbarity, cruelty and hypocrisy
The China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) on Tuesday released a report, revealing a series of crimes committed by the US in the Middle East and surrounding areas that have seriously violated the basic human rights of people and caused permanent damage and irreparable losses to countries and people in the regions. The report, coming ahead of the first anniversary of the US' hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, which was left with a dire humanitarian crisis, shows that as the nature of American hegemony and the barbarity, cruelty and perniciousness of its power politics have been completely exposed, people of the world would have a better understanding of the hypocrisy and deception of American democracy and American human rights. Titled "US Commits Serious Crimes of Violating Human Rights in the Middle East and Beyond," the report focused on Washington's systematic violations of human rights, including launching wars, massacring civilians, and damaging the right to life and survival; forced transformation, unilateral sanctions, severe infringement of people's rights to development, life and health; creating a "clash of civilizations" and abusing imprisonment and torture, and violating freedom of religion and human dignity. The report said that the US has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, arbitrary detention, torture of prisoners, and indiscriminate unilateral sanctions in the Middle East and surrounding areas.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202208/1272590.shtml
August 09, 2022 By: CGTN
The Human Toll of U.S. Meddling
For more than two decades, from Afghanistan to Iraq and Libya to Syria, what type of human rights has the U.S. advocated? Are U.S. conflicts in the Middle East and beyond wars of necessity or wars of choice? Join us for "The Human Toll of U.S. Meddling," only on CGTN's "Dialogue".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkb1f5eqUpM
May 27, 2022 By: CGTN
CGTN documentary: The Warmonger's Legacy
Six hundred and twenty thousand civilians died in the Vietnam War, yet they have never received justice… Iraq was invaded, accused of developing weapons of mass destruction, yet this has been shown to be a lie. And for 20 years Afghanistan was a battleground in the war on terror, yet ultimately the Taliban regained power. Lies, self-interest and profit have created a vast web of international conflict, devastating the lands and peoples caught in it. And the responsibility rests with one country alone. The documentary "The Warmonger’s Legacy" reveals the shocking truth.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-05-27/CGTN-documentary-The-Warmonger-s-Legacy-1anA8t6Mbn2/index.html
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