The United States should focus on dealing with its own human rights problems rather than that of other countries, an American professor told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Jon R. Taylor, a political science professor at University of St. Thomas in Houston, said that when dealing with human rights of its own, the United States tends to focusing primarily on civil and political rights while ignoring the more intractable issues in the country.
"From homelessness to gun violence to racism to a rampant drug problem, the U.S. has its own problems that are most assuredly serious human rights issues," Taylor said.
"While these issues may occasionally surface and then fade with the next news story, improving the underlying situation that creates these intractable economic, social, and cultural issues would take a sea change in American political culture," he said.
Commenting on the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released by the U.S. Department of State last week, Taylor said that while it exposes the shortcomings of the accused, it also exposes the shortcomings of the accuser as well.
Regarding to the U.S.-China relationship, Taylor said that by annually reporting on human rights issues, the United States attempts to promote its interests with China as well as to use China as an example when dealing with other countries.
"However, this approach fails to consider the Chinese view on what constitutes human rights, which commonly focuses on collective interests and economic achievements rather than Western-style liberal democracy and individualism," he added.
