BEIJING- The hypocrisy and double standards of the United States, which has long masqueraded as a defender of human rights, have been laid bare in a new report on human rights violations in the country.

The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2020, released on Wednesday by China's State Council Information Office, cited among many examples the tragic outcomes of America's out-of-control COVID-19 situation, hate politics, systemic racial discrimination, and soaring numbers of shootings.

"The US government, instead of introspecting on its own terrible human rights record, kept making irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in other countries, exposing its double standards and hypocrisy on human rights," the report read.

It urged the US side to drop its hypocrisy, bullying, big stick diplomacy and double standards and work with the international community to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

HUMAN TRAGEDY

Following the US government's reckless COVID-19 response, the virus spread beyond control in the United States and became a human tragedy that has claimed more than 500,000 American lives, according to the report.

Home to less than 5 percent of the world's population, the US accounts for more than a quarter of the world's confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly one-fifth of global deaths from the virus.

The then US leaders ignored warnings from experts, downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, and released misleading signals to the public, read the report.

The United States was too slow in locking down cities and limiting social contact, and too hasty to restart its economy due to political concerns, it added, citing epidemiologist and former head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) William Foege who called the pandemic "a slaughter" for the country.

The report drew attention to the disorder of US democratic institutions, which has led to political chaos, further tearing the fabric of the country's society apart.

Money-tainted politics is turning US elections into a "one-man show" for the wealthy, and people's confidence in the American democratic system has hit a 20-year low, it said.

Amid increasing political polarization, hate politics evolved into a national plague and the Capitol was stormed during post-election riots, which shocked the world.

"The scenes (the US Capitol building violence) we have seen are the result of lies and more lies, of division and contempt for democracy, of hatred and rabble-rousing -- even from the very highest levels," said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the report noted.