On June 3, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a message to the Chinese government, asking them to remember and recant on the 20th anniversary of the events at Tiananmen Square, saying: “A China that has made enormous progress economically, and that is emerging to take its rightful place in global leadership, should examine openly the darker events of its past and provide a public accounting of those killed, detained or missing, both to learn and to heal.”  Toward the end of the memorandum she dangerously advised: “This anniversary provides an opportunity for Chinese authorities to release from prison all those still serving sentences in connection with the events surrounding June 4, 1989. We urge China to cease the harassment of participants in the demonstrations and begin dialogue with the family members of victims, including the Tiananmen Mothers.”

Beijing has dismissed her message, saying: “The statement from the United States ignores the facts and makes groundless accusations against the Chinese government… We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition. We urge the United States to forsake its prejudices, correct its erroneous ways and avoid obstructing and damaging China-U.S. relations.”  Though the first part is a blatant lie, the Chinese government is right to ask America to reconsider its own position before dispensing unwanted advice to another country.  How would Americans react if France or Russia issued memos on the anniversaries of Iran-Contra or the My Lai Massacre?  What’s more, Clinton’s admonition was issued while President Barack Obama was in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two countries with extensive human rights abuses.  Why are there no messages on the anniversaries of public beheadings or the Six Day War?

The point is, finger-pointing gets us nowhere.  Every country in the history of civilization has done abhorrent things that it justifies or covers up or lies about.  You can argue about the level of depravity or mendacity but it’s semantics.  Perhaps the questions we should be finding the answers to are why do these things keep happening and when, if ever, will we learn from our mistakes?

I understand why Secretary of State Clinton issued that memo.  Identifying injustice, even if you do not do anything about it, is (marginally) better than keeping silent. As a Chinese individual, I hope that China takes her suggestion, but, as an American citizen, I have to ask: why would they listen to us?

Maybe we are right and China should heed our advice, but why would they want to?  What kind of an example have we set for the world?  The global financial slowdown was caused by deception and subterfuge on every tier of the American economic system—from executives lying in public press releases to lenders falsifying information and giving mortgages to people who they know will not be able to pay them.  America has invaded two countries to fight two neverending wars, one based on false intelligence, all the while denouncing imperialism and acts of aggression.  Let’s not forget Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, secret memorandums on torture that prove high-ranking officials knowingly lied to the American public.  Finally, America’s version of democracy has devolved into partisan bickering and political gridlock that resists change until it’s too late, then tries to patch the problems up after the fact (usually by throwing money at it).

Meanwhile, the China is investing heavily in infrastructure and insulating itself from the financial crisis (though China, to be sure, has been affected).  They can do this quickly because the decision-making process of the Chinese government is much… shall we say, simpler.  So why would they want to follow in America’s footsteps?  America once represented the conviction that liberty, equality, and democracy could create a better life for human beings.  That was the message we used to spread throughout the world, whether by influence or force.  And, for the most part, countries took to it.  But today America represents the grim but logical conclusion of unrestrained capitalist greed, decadence, and human selfishness and narcissism.

Last week, in a speech in El Salvador, Clinton said, “We have to recognize that our country is not perfect either, that some of the difficulties that we had historically in forging strong and lasting relationships in our hemisphere are a result of us perhaps not listening, perhaps not paying enough attention.”  A similar statement would go a long way with the Chinese.

Ironically, if what America wants from China is openness and reform, the best course of action might be to placate the Chinese government and help increase stability.  After all, not everyone in China supports the government.  Many people in big cities with access to the Internet and Western media sources ignore or even distrust the government, but they are a vast minority.  Less than half of China’s population lives in urban areas, and a portion of those who do are migrants.  Even those that wish the government would change recognize that currently, the government’s goals and their own hopes largely align.  Life for most Chinese is better today than it was yesterday, and that’s enough, given the turbulence of the last hundred years.  But in some parts of China, people still struggle to survive.  As I’ve written before: only when people fulfill their physical needs will they worry about spiritual ones.  So as the Chinese government lifts its people out of poverty, empowering them (and itself), it is sowing the seeds of inevitable change because the best catalyst for democratization and political reform is precisely what the government is offering: prosperity.