On October 13, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo launched unbridled attacks on the election of China, Russia and Cuba to the UN Human Rights Council and, in startling shamelessness, boasted and whitewashed the US as "a force for good in the world." Mr. Pompeo's remarks exposed his consistent self-conceit, arrogance and hypocrisy, and once again highlighted the fundamental differences between China and the United States on human rights issues.

China upholds the principle of putting the people first. The Chinese government has always put the people at the center of its work and taken the people's aspiration for a better life as its goal. We have pursued development for the people and ensured that the people are masters of the country. In China, a total of 850 million people have been lifted out of poverty and the world's largest systems of education, social security, health care and grass-root democratic election have been put in place. By the end of this year, China will eliminate absolute poverty and achieve the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. In contrast, in the United States, racial discrimination is deeply rooted in the society while police violence is getting even more fierce and social injustice increasingly perpetuated. George Floyd's cry "I can't breathe" echoed the miserable feelings of all African Americans. The inhumane experience of immigrants in the detention centers and their forcedly separated children is nothing but the evil result of racism. Is this what makes the United States a "force for good"?

China upholds the principle of putting life first. In the face of the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, China has spared no expense to protect the lives and safety of its people. The whole country has come together and made strategic achievements in the fight against the pandemic. In the United States, on the other hand, politicians have been ignoring people's lives and health, challenging science and common sense, and responding negatively to the increasingly serious epidemic. In a country that boasts the most advanced medical technology and the most complete epidemic prevention system, more than 8 million people have been infected and over 200,000 lost their precious lives. And this has yet to awaken the conscience of some American politicians. So this is the "good human rights record" of the United States?

China upholds the principle of international cooperation. China has always adhered to multilateralism and been committed to maintaining the international system with the United Nations at its core, and has joined almost all universal intergovernmental international organizations and conventions. China has always been an advocator for human rights dialogue and cooperation and participated in the work of the Human Rights Council actively and constructively. The United States, very much on the contrary, pursues blatant unilateralism, adopts "America first" attitude, advocates or brushes aside international mechanisms purely based on its own calculation, and has withdrawn from a number of multilateral treaties and organizations. If the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Human Rights Council can validate anything at all, it only validates the presumption that the United States stands not only the opposite side of the international community but also the wrong side of history.

China's re-election as a member of the Human Rights Council has won wide-ranging support from the international community, which fully reflects the international community's recognition of China's human rights development and its active participation in global human rights governance. China is willing to work with other member States to continue active and constructive participation in the work of the Human Rights Council and jointly promote the sound development of the international human rights cause. The United States is advised to get rid of its Cold War mindset, do its own "homework" well, abandon confrontation and pressure-exerting, and return to the correct track of promoting the international human rights cause.