The United States' attempt to abuse country specific resolutions to interfere with the internal affairs of other countries is doomed to failure because it runs counter to the spirit of the United Nations Charter and the purposes of the Commission on Human Rights, Head of the Chinese delegation Ambassador Qiao Zhonghuai said in Geneva Friday.

Speaking at the Commission's 57th session, Qiao said that the Chinese government always attaches importance to the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms enjoyed by the Chinese people and has registered achievements of worldwide attention.

Illustrating his point, Qiao said that there were 250 million poverty-stricken people in China in 1978 and that by the end of last year, with the exception of a few remote areas, China has wiped out abject poverty and achieved two historic leaps from poverty to adequate clothing and food, and then to a fairly comfortable life.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of democracy and the legal system, and great efforts have been made to implement the fundamental strategies of ruling the country by law and virtue so as to effectively guarantee, in conformity with the law, the enjoyment of civil and political rights by the Chinese people, he added.

The Chinese government has also committed itself to international cooperation in the field of human rights and has engaged in cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, he said, adding that last November, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on technical cooperation in the field of human rights and jointly held the Seminar on the Punishment of Minor Crimes last month in Beijing.

On February 28 this year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress decided to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Not long ago, the Chinese government signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts. In addition, the Chinese government has also carried out human rights dialogues with dozens of countries, which have yielded positive results.

Qiao said the above-mentioned measures taken by the Chinese government have reflected its firm conviction and determination to promote and protect human rights; the facts have also shown the present human rights situation in China is at its best in all times.

Therefore, the allegation that China's human rights situation is deteriorating is completely groundless, he noted.

At the dawn of the new century, exchange and cooperation have become an irreversible trend in the international field of human rights, Qiao said.

"Regrettably, the United States decision, out of its own selfish interests and domestic political considerations, to insist on tabling again an anti-China draft resolution at this session of the Commission, poses groundless allegations against China and provokes confrontation," he pointed out.

"This is an act contrary to the overwhelming trend of the new century and a total ignorance of the tremendous achievements of the Chinese government in promoting and protecting human rights and China's sincerity about engaging in international human rights cooperation," he noted.

The United States has always indulged in tabling country specific resolutions against others, Qiao said. "Instead of genuine concern about human rights, this is out of its ill intention under the pretext of 'protecting human rights,' to blatantly accuse the political systems of other countries and politicize the issue of human rights, in an attempt to exert political pressures upon other countries," he added.

The Chinese ambassador said that it is well known that there are gross violations of human rights in the United States. The United States is notorious with its recurrent and incurable racial and gender discrimination, the ever-widening division between the rich and the poor, police violence, gun abuse and judicial injustice.

What's more, he said, the United States has always been reluctant towards international human rights instruments. It still refuses to ratify the international human rights instruments widely accepted by the international community, among others, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The United States was also the only Western country that voted against the Declaration on the Right to Development.

"Facts speak louder than words. While launching a loud human rights crusade against other countries in the world, the United States is turning a blind eye to its own serious human rights violations. This only serves to prove the U.S. hypocrisy in its so-called concern for human rights," he stressed.

On the question of dealing with evil cults, the US government has adopted double standards, said Qiao. The United States has leveled irresponsible criticism against the handling of "Falun Gong" cult in line with law by the Chinese government, wantonly interfering in China's internal affairs. Numerous facts prove that "Falun Gong" deprives lives of innocent people and endangers social stability. "Falun Gong", like the "Davidians" of the United States, is in every sense an evil cult.

He told the session that the Chinese government has banned "Falun Gong" cult in consistence with law, persuading and educating the majority of the practitioners, helping them come back to their senses and return to normal life. This not only has protected the fundamental human rights of the Chinese citizens, but is also a great contribution to the international human rights cause.

The US government, which mobilized armed forces and used tanks and helicopters to crack down on the "Davidians", makes irresponsible remarks and confounding black and white with respect to the banning of "Falun Gong" cult by the Chinese government in consistence with law, Qiao said.

The US government has gone as far as providing refuge and support to an evil cult by allowing "Falun Gong" to establish its headquarters in the United States, he added.

"This is an approach of pure double standards," he said, adding, "the US concern for human rights is a sham."

"What the US really practices is power politics, and what it really pursues is hegemonism." he noted.

(Xinhua 03/31/2001)