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Who is America to Judge?
After Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and extraordinary renditions, other countries now challenge America's standing on human rights
The US state department's annual human rights report got an unusual amount of criticism this year. This time the centre-left coalition government of Chile was notable in joining other countries such as Bolivia, Venezuela and China – who have had more rocky relations with Washington – in questioning the moral authority of the US government's judging other countries' human rights practices.
It's a reasonable question, and the fact that more democratic governments are asking it may signal a tipping point. Clearly a state that is responsible for such high-profile torture and abuses as took place at Abu Ghraib and Guanátnamo, that regularly killed civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq and that reserved for itself the right to kidnap people and send them to prisons in other countries to be tortured ("extraordinary rendition") has a credibility problem on human rights issues.
Although President Barack Obama has pledged to close down the prison at Guantánamo and outlaw torture by US officials, he has so far decided not to abolish the practice of "extraordinary rendition", and is escalating the war in Afghanistan. But this tipping point may go beyond any differences – and they are quite significant – between the current administration and its predecessor.
In the past, Washington was able to position itself as an important judge of human rights practices despite being complicit or directly participating in some of the worst, large-scale human rights atrocities of the post-second world war era – in Vietnam, Indonesia, Central America and other places. This makes no sense from a strictly logical point of view, but it could persist primarily because the United States was judged not on how it treated persons outside its borders but within them.
Internally, the United States has had a relatively well-developed system of the rule of law, trial by jury, an independent judiciary and other constitutional guarantees (although these did not extend to African-Americans in most of the southern United States prior to the 1960s civil rights reforms).
Washington was able to contrast these conditions with those of its main adversary during the cold war – the Soviet Union. The powerful influence of the United States over the international media helped ensure that this was the primary framework under which human rights were presented to most of the world.
The Bush administration's shredding of the constitution at home and overt support for human rights abuses abroad has fostered not only a change in image but perhaps the standards by which "the judge" will henceforth be judged.
One example may help illustrate the point: China has for several years responded to the state department's human rights report by publishing its own report on the United States. It includes a catalogue of social ills in the United States, including crime, prison and police abuse, racial and gender discrimination, poverty and inequality. But the last section is titled "On the violation of human rights in other nations".
The argument is that the abuse of people in other countries – including the more than one million people who have been killed as a result of America's illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq – must now be taken into account when evaluating the human rights record of the United States.
With this criterion included, a country such as China – which does not have a free press, democratic elections or other guarantees that western democracies treasure – can claim that it is as qualified to judge the United States on human rights as vice versa.
US-based human rights organisations will undoubtedly see the erosion of Washington's credibility on these issues as a loss – and understandably so, since the United States is still a powerful country, and they hope to use this power to pressure other countries on human rights issues. But they too should be careful to avoid the kind of politicisation that has earned notoriety for the state department's annual report – which clearly discriminates between allies and adversary countries in its evaluations.
The case of the recent Human Rights Watch report on Venezuela illustrates the dangers of this spillover of the politicisation of human rights from the US government to Washington-based non-governmental organisations. More than 100 scholars and academics wrote a letter complaining about the report, arguing that it did not meet "minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy or credibility".
For example, the report alleges that the Venezuelan government discriminates against political opponents in the provision of government services. But as evidence for this charge it provides only one alleged incident involving one person, in programmes that serve many millions of Venezuelans. Human Rights Watch responded with a defence of its report, but the exchange of letters indicates that HRW would have been better off acknowledging the report's errors and prejudice, and taking corrective measures.
Independence from Washington will be increasingly important for international human rights organisations going forward if they don't want to suffer the same loss of international legitimacy on human rights that the US government has. Amnesty International's report last month calling for an arms embargo on both Israel and Hamas following Israel's assault on Gaza – emphasising that the Obama administration should "immediately suspend US military aid to Israel" until "there is no longer a substantial risk that such equipment will be used for serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses" – is a positive example.
The report's statement that "Israel's military intervention in the Gaza Strip has been equipped to a large extent by US-supplied weapons, munitions and military equipment paid for with US taxpayers' money" undoubtedly didn't win friends in the US government. But this is the kind of independent advocacy that strengthens the international credibility of human rights groups, and it is badly needed.
- Posted in
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Show AllThe author has it right on when it comes to HRW and it's phony condemnation of Venezuela! Glad to see someone else speaking out against this liberal American "human rights" organization. It's sad that "human rights" are always viewed through a capitalist perspective where one is free to live under a bridge if one "so chooses", but an economic system that forces so many to do, is NEVER condemned. CD should stop running the nonsense published by HRW in its "Progressive Newswire". There is nothing progressive about HRW. Rather it is a tool of American imperialism.
Yesterday I watched Cspan as Nancy Pelosi went on and on lecturing China on its human rights record in regards to Tibet and doing so with a bunch of her Republican friends. It is obvious this woman is a moron and has no idea. If she showed just a bit of concern about the human rights abuses her government has been perpetuating around the world, she might have some credibility. Alas, she shows none. And this is the "progressive" wing of the American political system? Disgusting.
-----------------------------------------
What Is Marxism? - a short primer on a subject the working class needs to know.
http://www.marxist.com/Theory/what_is_marxism.html
America lives by the Golden Rule. He who has the most gold makes all the rules.
Hoa binh
Reminds me of that old adage - "People who live in glass houses shouldn't!"
I could be wrong but I'm not !
The sad thing with China is that it only published a human rights record in response to the US one, it does not care one iota what happens in other countries unless its against its interests(and that doesnt include pollution, it likes toxic water and air, apparently).
Here's a question to ponder.
If a murderer sees someone raping a child, and he finds it immoral, does he have a right to intervene or must he look the other way because he has his own house to get in order?
People seem to stack up moral cases according to the Biblical notion: "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
The Bible isnt the best manual for developing moral standards.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" -- one of the best Jesusisms and one of the most ignored and disregarded.
It's ignored because it's crap.
A good analogy would be saying that a smoker has no right to warn others that smoking is bad.
We can improve America's human rights record at the SAME TIME as keeping watch on others.
Sorry, but no. A better analogy would be the smoker demanding jail time for another smoker who has given his daughter cancer from his own second hand smoke.
The US Has forfeited any moral high ground from which to lecture anybody on anything.
There are many human rights violations in the US. Police murders and abuse that go unpunished. The use of supermax prisons where people are basically buried alive. The use of the death penalty. The list goes on and on. These are domestic human rights violations not what the US does externally. Imagine if the US is willing to imprison so many of its citizens and permit other abuses - what they are willing to do in the world outside the US? The US needs to clean up its act and the world needs to push it along. The american people are very backwards though and their political leaders are abhorrent. Even when there is a need for change the american politicians just seem to do nothing (Remember the jim crow period). But then they are basically about economics and their own economics first.The american state for African Americans was basically a fascist police state until the 60s. Does anyone consider that?
Actually, the international community has questioned America's stand on human rights for quite some time. Some recognize blatant hypocrisy, as seen in our wars, international exploitation,etc., as well as in the public approval of domestic policies that blatantly disregard international human rights standards per (for example) the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Examples of the latter aren't only such things as our treatment of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, but our prisons, our welfare "reform" policies (some of which blatantly violate international human rights)and our education and health care systems that effectively block out the poor, and so on. What we accept as issues hardly worth mentioning are recognized by the world community as a general disregard for human rights, leading to the contempt that other nations often express toward the US.
China accusing us of human rights abuses!?! You have got to be kidding.
We're not perfect, but CHINA!?! That's like Cuba or Venezuela accusing us. It's insulting and absurd. No, we're not perfect, but we're not exactly a totalitarian society who imprisons and tortures people just for trying to exercise their freedom of speech.
Ask the Dali Lama who has a better human rights record, China or the US?
Turn off Fox News, read something - or have someone read to you and try to learn something, please.
They hate us because of our freedom! Right, and I have this bridge....
I don't watch FOX. I prefer to read. But if I watch the TV News it's either Democracy Now, MSNBC (Olberman and Maddow), or Al Jazeera (english).
Please, do yourself a favor, read what the Dalai Lama has to say about human rights in China. He's one of the most spiritually enlightened people alive in the world today.
“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion. ”
—The Dalai Lama.
[...but we're not exactly a totalitarian society who imprisons and tortures people just for trying to exercise their freedom of speech.]
Joehope (although I think Trollbait is your actual name), give your fingers a break. I'm sure you can't be serious when you write these ridiculous posts on CD anyway because even in your AmerKKKan, anti-the rest of the world brain, you don't believe a word you're typing. If you actually do...I guess I'll have to be left speechless.
It is useless to respond to you because like all conservatives deliberately mis-educated on how their country works and about the rest of the world, you are living in a plastic world where imperfection is not seen, despite it being all around you. You are plugged into a Matrix that you will never escape from. And you don't want to, do you? I'm sure it's really nice in there. If I was in it, I probably wouldn't want to leave either. I would love to think that my country wasn't a totalitarian society who imprisons or tortures people just for trying to exercise their freedom. But it is. Of course, the "liberal media" doesn't show that to us as readily as it shows us the rest of the world's war crimes. Why should it? Ought'nt Americans be allowed to live the dream without worrying if their moral integrity has been compromised? (just worry about those car payments and that foreclosure notice!) But now let me skip my self-righteousness and skip to the point. I'm going to ATTEMPT to educate you a teeny bit about your country, since you apparently don't know anything about it.
Once upon a time, there was this guy -- I don't know if you've heard of him, his name was Martin Luther King and he did some stuff that white people didn't like (basically, he was black and white people had some things against black people at that time) such as, he organized black people into this movement called the Civil Rights Movement which was supposed to help them to free themselves of...now, I don't want to call it totalitarian rule, but it was something kind of like that. Under a different word. I think it started with "A" or "R". Anyhoo, so this guy Martin made a speech in which he said that his country -- the United States of America, because that's where he was living/born -- was "the number one purveyor of violence in the world".
Now, maybe he was just pissed off because white people wouldn't let black people drink out of the same fountain and cops kept crashing their raucous parties with dogs and water hoses and hicks kept hanging them from trees and stuff, but we have to look at the history behind his words. We can literally point to a map -- usually anywhere on a map -- and find out about some atrocity that happened there. I don't have the time nor the desire to explain it ALL -- that will require some reading on your part that I know you won't do. The bottom line is, you know those crumbs that Gretel (or was it Hansel) left so that they could find their way home? Well...it SEEMS like the US leaves a lot of them scattered all around the globe. There's crumbs in Vietnam of course...Brazil, China even, Japan -- they're STILL feeling the effects of those crumbs -- um, oh, Palestine -- they're being hit with US crumbs as we speak -- Iraq of course, Afghanistan, the whole entire continent of Africa is positively riddled with crumbs, etc, and so on, and of course, America herself. Visit any Native American res and they'll have some stories for you. But the POINT is...when faced with facts, or smidgens of facts, like any happily deluded conservative...you kind of don't have anything to say except for the same tired stupidity over and over again. Which even you start to get tired of, I HOPE.
So go back to the Stormfront forums where you belong, eh?
- Insurgent
joehope -
you have not heard of 20 million africans ENSLAVED by america? that's how it built its power, u know....
and to add insult to injury what has america done to their offspring and descendants?...turn them into a "bottom class"...even until TODAY.
what has america DONE to the native indians? just STOLE their land and committed GENOCIDE upon them...millions of them..and today where are they? CORNERED in their "reservations" without any real say in how the affairs of the nation are to be made --
that was THEIR LAND...that's THEFT, MASS MURDER and GENOCIDe AND LYING about history.
america IMPRISONS coloreds far more, and now includes TEENAGERS and CHILDREN -- for PROFITEERING prison industries....
the chinese , cubans, etc...can not even BOAST of SUCH CLEVERNESS in profitmaking -- on human BODIES.
that's a SPECIAL american trait!
Who is America?
United States of America is . . . brutal tyrannical war criminal scumbag nation.
Hmmm, hates America... has no knowledge of history... prone to hyperbole...
Let me guess, do you worship Nader or LaRouche?
why do some americans have this knee-jerk reaction that criticism of america is "hates america?":
if that were true - as the "only love america" folks say - then is it not proper to HATE the EVILS that america promotes?
is it NOT evil to BOMB countries and invade them under false pretenses that kill millions of their citizens, create havoc, starvation, homelessness and MORE evil? that's what the USA DOES. simply because it can't leave other countries alone to their OWN decisions on how to arrange their societies. what rule is there in the world the USA has ANY right to dictate to other countries how to order themselves?
america is trying to undermine IRAN -- iran has NEVER invaded any country for the last 500 hundred years.
how MANY countries has the USA interfered with in the last 50 years ?
has cuba INVADED america? - has cuba THREATENED america? -
did HAITI THREATEN america and interfered with washington's politics?
how many south american dictatorships did america have presidents and leaders TRAINED IN TORTURE lead them?
what was american's business in VIETNAM? who asked the americans to go there - LIE and create an excuse to escalate the war by claiming the vietnamese "attacked" an american warship next to vietnam's shores, even if it turned out it was an AMERICAN SERVICE MAN'S incompetence that caused the ship to sink? what was america DOING in the NEIGHBORHOOD of a country thousands of miles away ? to "defend america" FROM VIETNAM?, like IRAQ? like IRAN? like Afghanistan? like dozens of countries around the globe?
THIS is supposed to be GOOD about america and this is supposed to be cause to "love america?"
america is a PARASITIC nation. PERIOD.
I do believe that violations of human rights should be exposed, no matter who the perpetrator might be - whether or not they have problems in their own country is irrelevant - after all, nobody (and no system) is perfect. But the gross unfairness of failing to note one's own shortcomings is NOT excusable. Political prisoners - such as the victims of the US' 'war on drugs' - should be noted, as well as the US (in)justice system that favors plea bargains - often extracted with threats that force even innocent people to 'cop a plea' rather than get pulverized by the vicious police-state machinery more intent on conviction rates than actually catching offenders.
The rest of the western world is complicit in allowing the US to set standards that Americans do not even try to meet in their own country. The US couldn't get away with this garbage without the political screen provided by its perceived 'allies' - which can change on a whim. Just look at what happened in Iraq - the US and its 'coalition of the willing' killed far more Iraqis than Saddam ever did, and conditions in Iraq have been far worse since the invasion - which the whole world knew was illegal and immoral, and judging by past experience, the rest of the world also knew this result was inevitable. (Not to mention Cuba, Haiti, and other on-going insults.)
Human Rights Watch should realy get is own house in order as it has become complicit through doctoring stastics in genocide and murderous activities. Its best estimates are so out of synchronization as to be lose all credibility with regards to Western crimes. In short it is a corrupted entity. It should be properly examined and investigated for criminal negligence.
I generally approve of Human Rights Watch except for their constant attacks against the US and Israel. But they have done some very good reporting on Venezuela, Cuba, Sudan, and China for example.
Why do you insist on lumping Venezuela and Cuba into your comments? My Fox News comments below still apply.
We all need laughter. Personally, I watch Lucy reruns or George Carlin when I need a laugh; I do not come to CD. But, then, there are your posts - - - -
They hate us because of our freedom! Right, and I have this bridge....
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"
At least then there wouldn't be so many stones flying around the place.
How a government responsiple for human rights violations as flagrantly as the US govt can pretend to hold a monopoly on deciding who is breaching basic human rights is beyond me.
What is happening in Venezuela in terms of human rights violations is nothing compared to Guantanamo or Afghanistan, or Iraq, or Diego Garcia and all the places it occurs on behalf of the US citizens.
Sometimes I think US citizens forget their government is acting on behalf of them, with their money.
free press, democratic elections or other guarantees that western democracies treasure in the US? Since when?
"But what I really want to know is, is there a Ritz in Caracas, so the hacks on the gravy train can meet to overturn a democratically elected government at our expense? And this stuff happens because we let it happen. If we choose to be a nation of sheep, we have only ourselves to blame"
http://tinyurl.com/49d326
The people repeatedly warned US elites over the past eight years that if they continue their rampage they will lose the thing they cherish the most: Their influence. We thought it was the right thing to do, to dangle one of the only carrots they can smell, to try and stem the destruction they perpetrated on the planet. But we knew they would most likely ignore us, and severely damage themselves int he process, which is a good thing. The world is far better off now, without US influence. And we're watching the world realize its great potential after shedding US influence. All of the systems and methods employed outside the USA have received a boost in credibility, in contrast to the grand failures of the USA.
HRW has all of the objectivity of CNBC.
some people just dont get it....
joehope
**China accusing us of human rights abuses!?! You have got to be kidding.**
when two people both living in glass house get into a spat, the one who cast the first stone is the hypocrite.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050211144655/http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/97/0502/ed1.html
**We're not perfect,**
now that might be the understatement of the yr.
ebean390.tripod.com/jerrewhy.htm
**but CHINA!?! That's like Cuba or Venezuela accusing us. It's insulting and absurd.**
where are those "rogue" states, they arent even in sight ?
www.time.com/time/europe/gdml/peace2003.html
**No, we're not perfect,**
[sic]
** but we're not exactly a totalitarian society who imprisons and tortures people just for trying to exercise their freedom of speech. **
yeah yanks are alway meant for larger aim in life, such as torturing for land grab.
**Ask the Dali Lama who has a better human rights record, China or the US?**
an ex serf king n cia agent with an axe to grind and money to take isnt exactly my idea of an objective observer.
www.timboucher.com/journal/2005/07/25/dalai-lama-on-cia-payroll/
but this is what he says ab0ut those Criminals In Action.
"Tibetans know they are being played as pawns. In his book Freedom in Exile, the Dalai Lama writes that the CIA supported ST CIRCUS “not because they cared about Tibetan independence, but as part of their worldwide efforts to destabilize all Communist governments."
tinyurl.com/ch2ode
**I don't watch FOX. I prefer to read. But if I watch the TV News it's either Democracy Now, MSNBC (Olberman and Maddow), or Al Jazeera (english).**
u also read cd, but a fat lot of good it does.
**Please, do yourself a favor, read what the Dalai Lama has to say about human rights in China. He's one of the most spiritually enlightened people alive in the world today.**
do yourself a favour, always got both sides of the story.
which is the truth, half way in between, 60% in hmdl's favour, 70% to ccp....only god knows !!
www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html
my advice....keep this in your mind
"do not simply believe everything - always check for yourself. Treat the stories and quotes as pointers and use the information to find out more. Learn to think and check all information. The facts are there if you look for them."
www.krysstal.com/democracy_whyusa.html
“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not the absence of violence. Peace is the manifestation of human compassion. ”
—The Dalai Lama.
We are not perfect---that is getting to be the motto of this nation, repeated whenever we piously undertake correcting the poor behavior of some other country.
Let's clean up our own act. Blame America first? Good idea.
why dont yanks clean up the shits on their own doorstep before they try to police the god damned world ?
Jackowski for prez ?
http://tinyurl.com/2t3cjk
political insurgent,
Thanks for your comments to joehope. Thanks for taking the time, though I don't think joehope is worth it. I didn't believe in trolls until I continued to read his thoughtless dribble. Sad, isn't it?
"THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE USA HAS ALWAYS BEEN GEARED ...towards gathering as much of the world's resources unto ourselves...at the expense of other nations. it has nothing to do with democracy or human rights...the TRUE purpose of our Military is to enforce the will of OUR BIG Banks, Big Money and Big Finance and our US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE upon other countries...they have their "big Brains" - men who identify threats to our designs to destroy them ...I WAS its CHIEF ENFORCER...the Leader of our Military which , you might call our BIG MUSCLE....all in Service of our BIG BOSS....our SUpernationalistic Capitalism....You might then say -- I was the CHIEF RACKETEER for our Nation of Racketeers"....
General Smedley Butler.
"WE ARE AN EMPIRE...the largest the world has known...and we have gotten away with building this empire through Manipulation, Murder, Blackmail, Torture, Covert and overt MIlitary expeditions , Undermining other countries and economies to do our bidding.....I was tasked with underming their economies and Make them Subject to our Business complex ...first we undermined their economies...then if they still did not obey ...we resorted to murder and assassinations to install those we prefered....if that didn't work -- we used economic sanctions...if that didn't work -- that's when we send in our Military...that's what you're seeing in Iraq"......
JOHN PERKINS -- former CIA "economic hitman" -- "CONFESSIONS of an Economic Hitman".
forget the US problem of double standards in "human rights"........
the ONE thing the USA is about is MONEY and PROFIT and POWER;
since the USA has largely gotten away with "building this empire through manipulation" (JOHN PERKINS, Former CIA "economic hitman" : "Confessions of an Economic Hitman") ..
and since "the problem with US americans is: when our dollar can only buy 6 percent at home...we want to go abroad so it can buy 100 percent...and where the Dollar Goes...our Flag follows...where our Flag goes..our Military Follows...we are really a Racketeer Nation"....General Smedley Butler, US MARINE General. 1933.
CHINA , whom the neocons, and congress are setting sights on as the "next BIG enemy" -- stoking tough talk about "human rights" in china -- has begun to RESPOND..not only be issuing ITS own "human rights report" -- much of it based on AMERICAN reports themselves after all...
but more importantly perhaps -- is calling the USA UP on its DEBT OBLIGATIONS -- which the US DOLLAR HEGEMONY for the last several decades has allowed the USA to get away with "printing Fiat Money with NO INTENTION to PAY BACK DEBTS to other nations but forcing them to SUPPORT the Dollar DEBT US Economy"...HENRY CK LIU : Asiatimesonline writer.
======read below:
what the BANKER OF THE USA is starting to "drop" as hints........
the USA should be THANKFUL China has NOT ALREADY DUMPED the dollar forthwith - or the entire US economy AND DOLLAR will collapse OVERNIGHT! and americans WILL be seeing MASS demonstrations, homelessness, entire businesses and industries collapsing quicker than a lightning strike!
---------------
Mar 14, 2009
Click Here!
Wen puts US honor on the debt line
By Olivia Chung
HONG KONG - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, faced with growing concern that United States efforts to stem the financial crisis will hit the value of China's vast holdings of US debt, used the world's press on Friday to demand that the US honor its promises.
Wen told a press conference after the conclusion of a two-week meeting of the country's legislators that he was "a little bit worried" about the safety of Chinese assets in the US, and called on the US "to maintain its good credit, to honor its promises and to guarantee the safety of China's assets." He also reiterated that other countries had no right to push China into appreciating its currency, the yuan.
Various efforts by the US to resolve the country's financial crisis
by selling ever more debt to pump money into the financial system are raising concern that this will drive up inflation and pull down the value of the US dollar, which would cut the value of debt held by China, the largest creditor of the US.
"We are very concerned about the economic developments in the US economy," Wen said. "The US administration of President Barack Obama has taken a series of measures to counter the financial crisis. We look forward to the effectiveness of those measures."
Wen called on the US government to ensure that the value of Chinese assets in the US is maintained amid the crisis.
"We have lent a huge amount of money to the United States and of course we're concerned about the security of our assets and, to be honest, I am a little bit worried," Wen said in Beijing after conclusion of the second session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC). "That's why here I would like to urge the US to keep its commitment and promise to ensure the safety of Chinese assets."
About US$1 trillion of China's foreign exchange reserves, which increased 27% last year to $1.95 trillion, is invested in US government bonds and other securities. China held $696.2 billion in US government bonds as of December, up from $681.9 billion a month earlier, according to the US Treasury international capital flow report released on February 18.
China has accelerated its purchases of Treasury debt since August 2008, when holdings grew by $23.7 billion month-on-month to US$541.4 billion. By September, it had holdings of Treasury debt worth $585 billion, more than Japan, previously the top holder of US Treasuries. In August 2008, Japan cut its holdings to $573 billion from $586 billion.
As the global financial crisis sends asset values plunging, mainland leaders are under growing pressure at home to diversify the country's foreign exchange reserves.
In December at the fifth Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue in Beijing, Vice Premier Wang Qishan urged the US to adopt every measure necessary to stabilize its economy and ensure the safety of China's assets and investments in the United States.
Pauline Loong, senior vice president in charge of China policy and risk research at CIMB-GK Securities (HK) Ltd, said she did not think China would dump its dollar holdings .
"I cannot see Beijing dumping its dollar holdings," she said. "If the market thought there was anything to the talk, there would be a scramble to dump. The result would be exactly what Beijing would not want to see: a massive fall in the value of its dollar holdings. Also, Beijing has few alternatives. What is it going to switch into? There are few markets that are as deep and liquid as the dollar - and to park $2 trillion in exchange reserves, you can't be dabbling about.
"The fact that Premier Wen talks about being worried about the value of the country's dollar holdings is a good sign. If he is going to dump the dollar, he is not going to talk about it," she said.
Even so, a two-day gain in Treasuries juddered to a hold on Friday, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rising six basis points to 2.91% as the price of the 2.75% security due in February 2019 fell $4.69 per $1,000 face amount, to 98 19/32 in early London trade, according to Bloomberg.
Wen reiterated China's principle of guaranteeing the "safety, liquidity and good value" of its foreign exchange reserves and diversifying the investment of the reserves.
"On the foreign reserves issue, the first consideration is our national interest ... But we also have to consider the stability of the overall international financial system, as the two factors are interlinked," Wen said. "Currently, our reserves are generally safe."
Wen also ruled out any further strengthening of the Chinese currency in the intermediate future. He said no country had the right to press for either the devaluation or appreciation of the yuan. A stronger yuan would drive up the price of exports to the US while making it cheaper for US goods to be imported to China.
The yuan "has appreciated since the European and Asian currencies have dropped in recent year, in addition to the yuan's 21% appreciation against the dollar since July 2007", he said.
Loong, however, said there was a risk of incorrectly interpreting such comments as indicating policy was set in stone.
Governments everywhere, "not just in China, are devising strategies and coming up with policies on the run. If economic data in the coming months surprise on the upside or downside, then Beijing will need to revise policy," she said.
China, whose currency is not at present fully convertible into other currencies, is moving to make it more fully used in international trade. Wen said that a plan for the settlement of trade in yuan had been formulated and would be carried out as quickly as possible once it was approved by the State Council, or cabinet.
A pilot project involving yuan-denominated settlement of trade deals would start from Hong Kong, Guo Qingping, assistant governor of the People's Bank of China, or the central bank, said on Wednesday in Beijing.
Referring to China's ability to survive in the global downturn, Wen said the country was fully prepared for even worse conditions and had long-term preparations "with plenty of ammunition" to cope.
"We are ready to roll out new stimulus policies at any time," Wen said, without giving details. China last November announced a 4 trillion yuan (US$585 billion) stimulus package to help boost the domestic economy as exports slumped.
Loong said the Chinese government would do whatever it took to support economic growth, but timing remained a question.
"The 4 trillion yuan fiscal spending needs time to kick in and work its way through to the economy. Beijing, we believe, will not fire until it can see the white of the enemy's eyes. Why waste bullets?" she said.
"Any announcement of new stimulus money in the coming weeks as the market awaits news of the first quarter of 2009 gross domestic product [GDP] numbers is both good and bad news - good because it gives the government breathing space to tackle the basic problems of the economy; bad because the government clearly sees a need to prevent a seriously hard landing," Loong said.
Details of the package, including how much is actually new spending, are not yet clear. Wen conceded that some projects in the stimulus package, such as roads and railways, were included in the country's 11th five-year plan. Global stock markets declined sharply at the start of the NPC meeting when Wen, contrary to expectations, declined to announce any new stimulus funding.
China's stimulus package plan was not fully understood by the world, he said. "Rumors and misunderstanding set the world stock market on a roller coaster ride," he said.
Wen emphasized that although China would have difficulty in achieving its goal of 8% economic growth this year, it would be possible with "considerable efforts", given the advantages of a huge domestic market, a large amount of labor and a sound and stable financial sector.
"With a 1.3 billion population ... China has a bigger market than those of the Europe and the United States," Wen said.
Even so, confidence is what China needs most to carry out its all-around economic stimulus package, he said.
"We have proposed a stimulus package only less than half a year after the financial crisis began. To implement the plan, I still believe confidence is still the first and foremost thing," Wen said.
Olivia Chung is a senior Asia Times Online reporter.
(Copyright 2009 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
just watch:
ONCE , not IF, ONCE china firms up its internal changes :
Restructuring and refocusing its energies and wealth towards DOMESTIC consumption market development - and lessening its dependence on "export orientation" as it has learned is necessary and wise -- china will begin to UNLOAD more of its DOLLAR HOLDINGS. should it do THAT...especially if the USA continues to be recalcitrant and "threatening" with china (spying along its borders, for example, interfering with its internal politics..etc.)...
china in a mere five years can EASILY make the Wall Street financial collapse and banks collase and business collapse in the USA look like a PICNIC.
the USA - obama, to clinton , to congress and the neocons really don't KNOW what kind of Fire they are playing with -- when they are confronting the Oldest continuous civilization on earth that has awakened like a Dragon...
and the USA , if it hasnt YET learned in the middle east doesn't have any idea what the real meaning of "death by a thousand cuts" really means : an ancient chinese proverb.
if anything-- this "challenge by china" about the USA's OWN HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD is ALREADY one of those "cuts".
more is likely to come..and if the USA continues to want to "fight" china -- it is NOT going to survive that game from a civilization that thinks in THOUSANDS of years against a mere 250 yr old "empire" that is in DEBT and has lost respect all over the globe!
"WE WERE HERE LONG BEFORE YOU WERE TRIBES IN THE WEST.....WE WILL STILL BE HERE LONG AFTER YOUR EMPIRES ARE GONE"......
and ancient subcontinental Indian saying.
Certainly the USA holds most of the world records for murder of the innocent and helpless.
Already we seem to have forgotten Vietnam, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the deliberate "firestorm" murder of civilians at Dresden, Tokyo, Hamburg etc. their message to the Germans and the Japanese was ..... "Our new technology the 'firestorm' (and later the A bomb) allows us to hold your women and children as hostages. We will continue to indescriminately slaughter them by the tens of thousands until such time as you unconditionally surrender."
What most people still do not know is that civilians were deliberately targeted, because they were much easier to hit than factories.
We now have irrefutable proof that Eisenhower deliberately murdered up to 1 million German POW s chiefly through starvation and hypothermia (also plain shooting), mostly in May and June of 1945...AFTER THE WAR WAS OVER. I have perasonally interviewed 5 different survivors of these death camps.
The USA has murdered more women and children in one day than Osama and Saddam in their entire lifetimes.