ANKARA

Decrying the US record on the COVID-19 pandemic and civil rights abuses such as the George Floyd case, China on Wednesday released its report on US human rights for 2020.

The report began by quoting the phrase “I can’t breathe,” the dying words of Floyd, an African-American who was killed last year as a US police officer knelt on his neck, triggering nationwide protests.

In the 18-page document, China's State Council Information Office also slammed the US – the nation with the highest COVID-19 death toll in the world – for its failure to contain the pandemic.

“The United States, which has always considered itself an exception and superior, saw its own epidemic situation go out of control, accompanied by political disorder, inter-ethnic conflicts, and social division,” the report said.

In the US, “the epidemic went out of control and turned into a human tragedy due to the government’s reckless response,” it argued.

Turning to politics, the report said: “Disorder in American democratic institutions led to political chaos, further tearing the fabric of society apart. Money-tainted politics distorted and suppressed public opinion, turning elections into a ‘one-man show’ of the wealthy class and people’s confidence in the American democratic system dropped to the lowest level in 20 years.”

“Amid increasing political polarization, hate politics evolved into a national plague, and the Capitol was stormed in post-election riots,” it added, extending the report to the deadly Capitol riot this Jan. 6.

The report also charged the US with systematic racial discrimination against ethnic minorities.

“African Americans are three times as likely as whites to be infected with the coronavirus, twice as likely to die from COVID-19, and three times as likely to be killed by the police. One in four young Asian Americans has been the target of racial bullying,” it explained.

The report comes on the heels of last week’s shooting in Atlanta, Georgia of eight people, including six Asian women, and amid a rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans in general.

Gun sales surge 64%

The report also went into more detail on mass shootings and guns.

“Gun trade and shooting incidents hit a record high, and people’s confidence in social order waned,” the report said, adding that Americans bought 23 million guns last year, a surge of 64% compared with 2019.

“First-time gun buyers exceeded 8 million.”

It said more than 41,500 people were killed in shooting incidents across the US last year, an average of more than 110 a day, and there were 592 mass shootings nationwide, an average of more than 1.6 a day.

On the killing of George Floyd, the report said US government suppressed demonstrators by force, and more than 10,000 people were arrested.

“A large number of journalists were attacked and arrested for no reason.”

'Wealth gap widens'

“The gap between the rich and the poor widened, with the people at the bottom of society living in misery,” said the report.

“The epidemic led to mass unemployment. Tens of millions of people lost health insurance coverage.”

Vulnerable groups became the biggest victims of the government’s “reckless response” to the epidemic, the report said.

“The US government, instead of introspecting on its own terrible human rights record, kept making irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in other countries, exposing its double standards and hypocrisy on human rights,” the report said.

“It is hoped that the US side will show humility and compassion for the suffering of its own people, drop hypocrisy, bullying, ‘Big Stick’ and double standards, and work with the international community to build a community with a shared future for humanity,” it added.