U.S. needs to respect int'l rules itself, not lecture China

U.S. President Barack Obama urged China to start observing the international "rules of the road" during his address to the Australian Parliament Thursday. But for many around the world, it is the United States that routinely flaunts widely accepted international rules. China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has honored its international obligations by helping soothe regional tensions, calling for dialogue between conflicting parties, and pushing for more multilateral coordination instead of unilateral action when dealing with regional and global challenges. The country, as a fast-growing emerging economy, also shares its developing opportunities with other countries by opening its vast domestic market to global exporters and providing aid to other developing countries. At the World Trade Organization (WTO), China's decade-long performance in the influential global body has been rated as "A+" by its chief, Pascal Lamy, who said China had properly implemented its WTO duties, such as lowering trade barriers and boosting trade growth. Lamy also said China's entry into the trade bloc had benefited not only China, but the entire world. As for the United States, the world's sole superpower, it is high time it reviewed its own record in complying with international norms. From time to time, the United States seems to have felt free to do whatever it deems necessary to preserve its national interests worldwide, toying with the stipulations of the international laws and challenging UN authority. It spoke volumes for America's arrogance towards the rules it requires other countries to follow when it detoured around the UN Security Council in 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq on the basis of flawed intelligence. Moreover, the United States should be well aware that observing international rules starts with respecting the fundamental rights and interests of others, especially their sovereignty and territorial integrity. Some U.S. politicians have stubbornly tried to force China to appreciate the value of its currency, which, as many U.S. officials have argued, is a sovereign issue. The U.S. Senate passed a highly controversial bill last month that threatens to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese imports if China does not appreciate its currency. Even Obama has said the move might contradict U.S. obligations under WTO rules. China fully respects internationally accepted rules, but it is not obliged to follow the rules that are fixed by one or a few countries. Countries that try to impose their own rules on China will get nowhere. Today, when the world is still facing many difficult global challenges, the United States needs to first revisit its double standards on international rules and start observing them itself instead of lecturing China.