One should always set a good example before lecturing others, especially when portraying themselves as a defender of a just cause.

With its own poor human rights record, the United States, however, is far from qualified to judge the human rights condition in China's Xinjiang.

The passing of a bill on Xinjiang-related issues by the US House of Representatives earlier this month proves nothing but the hypocrisy and odiousness of the United States on human rights issues.

Apparently, the lawmakers and politicians behind the so-called bill turned a blind eye to the serious domestic human rights abuses in the United States and tried to divert public attention by smearing China.

From the PRISM program to frequent shootings, from extensive racial discrimination to systematic gender inequality, from arbitrary sanctions and use of force on other countries to wanton withdrawals from international organizations and treaties, the United States has destroyed its credibility on human rights protection.

Take the race problem as an example, most US adults say the legacy of slavery continues to have an impact on the position of African American people in American society today, more than 150 years after the abolishment of slavery.

Half of the African American adults in the United States said that it is unlikely that the country will eventually achieve racial equality, according to the Race in America 2019 report from the Pew Research Center.

The immigration policy separating thousands of children from their parents who were prosecuted for entering the United States illegally has drawn waves of strong criticism and protest from home and abroad.

A report of the UN Independent Expert on human rights and international solidarity criticized the populism and the use of racist and xenophobic language to describe immigrants by the US administration, as well as practices to separate children from their parents.

In 2018, there were 25 campus shootings in the United States, affecting 25,332 students, 33 of whom were killed and 61 injured. The shootings also left many suffering from physical and psychological trauma.

The human rights abuses revealed by these facts stand in stark contrast to the sanctimonious and shameless lies of some US lawmakers and politicians who tried to accuse, press and lecture China.

May the striking irony help them take a good look in the mirror, face the human rights problems in the United States and mind their own business.

Pinning the blame on China with lies will never help them correct their own problems.