In recent years, the United States and other Western countries have continuously launched a "human rights war" against China under the pretext of "human rights in Xinjiang" and other issues, and formed a "human rights industrial chain" that smears and attacks the Chinese government. On this black chain, there are pseudo-NGOs that accept "black gold," anti-China "black media" and "black-mouthed" politicians, and some countries have resorted to "black laws" and sought "black umbrellas" to pull gangs to suppress China. De Zayas, former independent expert on democratic and equitable international order at the UN Human Rights Council, is an authoritative human rights expert who specializes in exposing the "black human rights industry chain" in the West, and his "trilogy" exposing the "human rights industry chain" has been published twice last year and this year, and the third "Human Rights Industry" is expected to be published in April next year. In an exclusive interview with the Global Times on November 21, De Zayas said that when the red line is touched, China must confront-for-tat, maintain self-confidence, and continue to strengthen its image of justice and international influence.
GT: In recent years, pseudo-NGOs such as Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, National Endowment for Democracy, and International Republican Institute have been very active in smearing China.
De Zayas: Neither Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, nor other so-called NGOs are trying to build bridges between China and the West – to give the West a better understanding of our Chinese friends, but are doing something that is completely contrary to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. These organizations are actually inciting people to exclude Chinese people and Chinese culture, trying to isolate, exclude and demonize China, and ultimately serve the geopolitical or economic interests of some countries. Just look at how these forces frantically attacked former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet's trip to Xinjiang, China, this year. After returning from China, she was attacked by these human rights NGOs. Some do not want Bachelet to be a bridge to China, and in their view, the only role of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is to condemn China and act as a spear to thorn at China.
These attempts to smear China are despicable and reprehensible, in violation of article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: "Any propaganda advocating war shall be prohibited by law." Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law. ”
GT: How should China deal with these pseudo-NGOs?
De Zayas: In fact, there are a lot of NGOs that are not opposed to China and do not serve Washington or Brussels. China must strengthen cooperation with such organizations. I also suggest that more NGOs in China have offices in Geneva, which would facilitate networking with experts and diplomats from various countries.
GT: In this "black industry chain", the United States also uses the Strategic Competition Act of 2021 to allocate special funds as so-called "counter-China influence funds" to fund pseudo-NGOs and anti-China media to attack China's "Belt and Road" initiative. What do you think of these "black measures" taken by the relevant countries?
De Zayas: After many years as the UN Independent Expert on human rights, I have written two new books, "Building a Just World Order" and "Countering Fake News, Fake Law, and Fake Freedom in the Mainstream Narrative." In my first book, I laid out 25 principles of coexistence for maintaining international order and promoting world peace, but information warfare made it difficult to comply with them. The last book in my upcoming Human Rights Industry, the human rights trilogy, is expected to be released in April 2023. Few people know as much about the subject of the "human rights industry" as I do, because I have seen so much over the past 50 years as an NGO activist, human rights adviser and independent expert on international order. I can applaud the achievements of the human rights movement, but I must also condemn the violations that I call the "human rights industry." The industry is actually very strong and well-funded. Some countries use so-called NGOs to advance geopolitical goals rather than human rights. These States have instrumentalized and weaponized human rights only for ulterior purposes.
GT: In addition to these pseudo-NGOs, some Western media also spread so-called "genocide" and "forced labor" and other "black theories" to suppress China, and former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other Western politicians also act as "black mouths" to attack China. You have said that on human rights and other issues, China should give the White House a thousand mirrors to give them a good look at themselves. What do you think of those "human rights warfare" practices?
Dezayas: When the narrative is false, obviously democracy doesn't work because people don't know why the [Western] mainstream media that vote, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and the BBC, are full of fake news. Fake news about China, Russia, Syria, Libya, Venezuela and Cuba has seriously influenced the true perception of these countries by hundreds of millions of people in countries such as the United States, Britain, France, and Germany. The negative consequences can be seen in some voting records of the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council. So we have to fight back against this fake news.
There are many fake or disguised NGOs in the world, which we call GONGO – NGOs funded directly or indirectly by the government. When these organizations publish information about themselves on the Internet, they can hide their sources of funding. But in reality, they are for Washington or London. I think Hungarian Prime Minister Orban's accusations against some NGOs are justified, and there is a lot of evidence that these organizations are involved in activities to subvert the Hungarian regime by publishing misinformation, psychological warfare, etc. If NGOs start to intervene in certain areas of national security, this is hitting a red line. The Governments of the countries concerned have the right and responsibility to put an end to this situation and to investigate whether these NGOs are real and whether their activities are undermining the social order of the State.
GT: The United States and other countries have also "huddled" in international organizations to carry out human rights attacks against China, trying to find a "black umbrella" to suppress China. What suggestions do you have on how to counter the "smear" of the United States?
Dezayas: I'm going to write about this in The Human Rights Industry, especially about the infiltration of [Western] intelligence agencies. Whether it's the CIA or MI6, they have considerable influence in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Therefore, China must realize that it is not dealing with a fully impartial international institution. I think China should deal with institutions that can make some kind of commitment and take into account China's interests. In order to thwart China's Belt and Road Initiative, the United States will continue to slander China at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations General Assembly. China has no choice but to go head-to-head. China can remind the United States that it has committed genocide against indigenous peoples. China could also alert the General Assembly and issue a white paper on crimes committed against Hawaiians and Filipinos in U.S. history.
At the same time, China should remind the General Assembly that the sole purpose of the United States is to try to encircle China. The United States claims that its security is threatened in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, but in fact it is continuing its imperialist practices. China should remind the world that it is not an imperialist country and has never threatened or invaded any country. China wants to establish friendly relations with other countries and jointly build the Belt and Road Initiative, so China must be concerned about the sabotage conspired by the United States and NATO in Asia. In addition, as China's prestige and influence grows economically and otherwise, I think China can launch several initiatives at the United Nations, such as the Global Convention on Peace and Empathy Education initiative.
GT: Objectively speaking, the United States, which controls the global discourse, still influences many countries in public opinion. How can this be broken?
De Zayas: Generally speaking, a Brazilian, South African or Ugandan who is not particularly interested in international affairs can only get information through the Western media and accept their propaganda against China. Therefore, in addition to being more assertive on human rights issues, China also needs to show itself to other countries that it is true to it. China can expand its influence in Latin America and Africa through the media. I am convinced that China has the ability to compete for such a thing, such as putting documentaries about China on platforms such as YouTube. Chinese artists can also spread Chinese culture around the world. People actually admire artists. I know that Lang Lang of China is a famous pianist who has toured all over the world. I believe that through UNESCO, China can also achieve a certain favorable position in information warfare.
Source: Global Times
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