Experts: US Defeat Not Surprising

Chinese experts responded to the failure of the United States to get re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, saying, "it is not surprising" and "it deserves the defeat."

Zhu Muzhi, honorary president of the China Society for the Study of Human Rights, told Xinhua yesterday that the defeat was the inevitable end of the United States' long-biased condemnation of other countries using the camouflage of "human rights."

The United States, on Thursday, lost its seat on the commission at the organizational conference of the UN Economic and Social Council. It only won 29 votes among its 54 members in the election.

"People across the world have long been angry with the arrogance of the United States and its practice of imposing its own human rights standards on others," Zhu said.

He added that the exclusion from the UN human rights body once again showed the widespread resentment among the countries of the world towards the United States for its "hegemonism."

According to Zhu, the human rights issue is actually only a "big stick" for the United States to use on other countries for its own hegemonic purposes.

Zhou Jue, president of the China Society for the Study of Human Rights, said that "the United States has become used to blaming others while speaking nothing of its own human rights abuses, and this time the world's countries have taught the US a lesson."

The expert said that dialogue and cooperation on human rights issues have become the mainstream and a historical trend of our age.

However, according to Zhou, despite its failure and embarrassment, the United States is likely to continue its hegemonism and intervention in the internal affairs of other countries in the name of human rights, and the world's countries need to remain vigilant against this.

(Xinhua 05/05/2001)