Explaining human rights approaches of America and China (2017-2020)

This study aims to evaluate the attitudes of China and the United Stated to the concept of human rights. Then, an attempt has been made to address the human rights policies of the two countries from 2017 to 2020. This article used descriptive and explanatory method. The research’s question is: What human rights attitude did China and the United States adopt from 2017 to 2020? The following hypothesis is proposed in response to this question: The United States of America, as the leader of the Western world and the liberal front of human rights, had an instrumental perspective on human rights by adopting pragmatism and realism attitudes in foreign policy in the mentioned period. In other words, human rights were marginalized for the Trump Administration. However, the Chinese state under the leadership of Xi Jinping interpreted the concept of human rights as emphasizing the principles of national sovereignty, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, and cultural relativism. They also consider human rights as an internal issue and based on the cultural and national contexts of each country. The findings of this study indicate that Trump's human rights policy led to the attenuation of liberal human rights, so that liberal institutions, groups, and parties were weakened and marginalized in the world. However, the success of China's development model and the alignment of the human rights and attitudes of this country with many developing and authoritarian countries promoted and enforced illiberal human rights worldwide