环球时报2012年5月26日刊 社评：美国对华谈“人权”为何总是怪怪的

美国国务院24日发布2011年度国别人权报告，将中国直称为“独裁国家”，并称中国人权在主要领域“继续恶化”。中国国务院新闻办25日迅速发布《2011年美国的人权纪录》，批评美国在人权的六个方面做得很“糟糕”。中美人权论战再呈针锋相对之势。

美国长年对世界多国发动人权外交攻势，中国是它的主要打击对象之一。随着中国舆论的开放，美国对华打人权牌的成本越来越低，轰动性却似乎在增加，这鼓舞了美国。

其实美国人很清楚，就一般性大众人权状况来说，中国这些年进步很快，中国政府为此所做的努力他们也很了解。美国继续保持对中国人权的批评态度是故意和成心的。华盛顿不仅自己批评中国人权，还在设法影响世人对中国人权的看法，破坏中国形象。

美国的做法就是抛开中国人权进步的基本面，集中讨论中国的个案。所以中国的几个“异议人士”总是被美国挑出来，作为中国人权的“形象代表”，他们同中国体制的对抗被做了更容易打动西方人的包装。从宣传技巧上讲，个案总是更吸引人，因此美国用个别“异议人士”的故事抹黑中国屡试不爽。

从刘晓波到艾未未，再到陈光诚，美国及其西方盟友包装中国“异议人士”已经像流水线一样熟练。其实这些个案都与中国大众人权状况相距甚远，他们的经历和遭遇在中国都是极低概率的，而且这些故事很多与西方发生了奇特的联系。中国人甚至搞不太清楚，这些突出的“异议人士”究竟是“不幸的”，还是“幸运的”。

普通中国人对自身人权的切实感受与美国指责形成的反差正在越来越大。当美国人同我们讲人权时，总让我们觉着怪怪的，散发着来者不善的气味。这种感觉没有错，因为人权牌的确已经成为美国对付中国的战略筹码。

美国并不是真的关心中国人权。从美国的利益讲，中国人权得到改善对美国没有实际好处，而找出中国人权的毛病，进而抹黑并压制中国对美国则很重要。在美国对华经济牌急剧变少，军事牌又不能轻易乱用的时候，美国对华打人权牌正好做到了扬长避短。

中国社会已经融入全球化，但中国的政治特色得以保留，它同世界迄今的磨合制造了中国崛起的惊人空间。但中国社会的政治自信度仍不够高，西方相对富裕小环境里的文明成果令不少人羡慕，能不能或者怎样把这些成果都搬到中国，争论很多。

让中国人全都理解要走一条“自己的人权发展之路”，这很困难。挑出一两个极端例子，来说明中国人权“在恶化”，更容易抓住公众的注意力。要让公众逐渐领悟这种“人权斗争”其实斗的根本不是人权，大概需要一个相当长的过程。

然而可以肯定地说，中国虽有些被动，但美国人权进攻的“法力”不是无边的，它会增加中国的一些麻烦，但仅此而已。中国不需为此烦恼，甚至可以大度地辩证对待外部批评，把它们同时当作加速改进人权的动力。中国应坚持实事求是解决国内问题，这样就能一点点消耗美国的战略压力。

中国公众不是傻子，大家慢慢会把真正的人权同美国人对我们要求的“人权”分开。

Human rights still weapon for the US

The US State Department issued its annual human rights report on other countries on Thursday that labeled China an "authoritarian country" and said the human rights situation in China has "deteriorated." China's State Council responded by issuing its 2011 human rights record report on the US the following day. It's a tit-for-tat quarrel once again.

The issue of human rights is a conventional weapon the US uses to pressure other countries, among which China is a major target. Now that the Chinese public has freer access to information, it's easier for the US to use human rights diplomacy, which has proved more effective.

The US should be clear that China has been making rapid progress in securing human rights of the general public. It not only comments on human rights of China, but also wishes to tarnish China's image in the world.

The US's method is to focus on individual cases while ignoring the general situation. This is why it always highlights a couple of dissidents and labels them "representatives" of China's human rights. The struggle of these people against China's system is packaged to more effectively resonate with those in the West.

The US has been skillful in packaging dissidents including Liu Xiaobo, Ai Weiwei and Chen Guangcheng. In fact, the experiences of these people represent rare cases in China, and their stories have mysterious connections with the West. The Chinese are puzzled whether these people are miserable "dissidents" or a lucky draw for US politicians.

The issue of human rights has become a bargaining chip for the US in dealing with China.

Improving human rights in China brings no benefits to the US. On the contrary, discrediting China by finding fault with its record on human rights is important to the US. Washington now has no ace in the hole other than playing the "human rights" card in an age when it is losing its economic advantage and its military might cannot be used at will.

It's enviable that the West enjoys stronger wealth, but debatable how feasible it is to apply its model to China.

It is difficult to make Chinese people all understand the necessity of adopting a new way to protect human rights. Ordinary people need some time to realize the struggle for human rights is in fact not about human rights.

China seems to be at a disadvantage in the struggle, but Washington's human rights offensive is not invincible. China should adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts when solving domestic problems, and thus will resist strategic pressure from the US.

The Chinese public are not fools, and will eventually differentiate real human rights from the "human rights" that the US demands.