By He Yin, People’s Daily
The high-level segment of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council kicked off on Feb. 28. When the world is still facing the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, deteriorating poverty, and inequality, as well as challenges against the global human rights cause, all countries must make joint efforts to better promote and protect human rights.
China will continue to steadfastly pursue a human rights development path that meets the trend of times and suits its national conditions. While achieving historic progress in the cause of human rights at home, the country has taken an active part in global human rights governance, making Chinese contributions and providing Chinese schemes.
Respecting and protecting human rights is an unremitting pursuit of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The 100-year history of the CPC is a history of the Party uniting and leading the Chinese people to strive for, respect, safeguard and develop human rights. China’s tremendous transformation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong is a process when the country has continuously ensured the Chinese people’s right to life, the right to development, and other basic human rights.
Having built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China has brought about a historic resolution to the problem of extreme poverty, providing a solid material foundation for protecting and developing human rights.
When responding to COVID-19, China has put people’s interests first, with a belief that nothing is more precious than people’s lives. It has protected the lives and health of the Chinese people to the maximum extent possible.
China is the only major country in the world that has formulated and implemented action plans on human rights for four consecutive terms. There is increasing awareness in the international community that China is acting as a true champion of human rights.
Human rights are historical, concrete, and realistic, and cannot be detached from the context of countries’ different social and political conditions, history, and cultural traditions.
China has made historic achievements in human rights because it adheres to the leadership of the CPC and the principal status of the people, proceeds from reality take the rights to subsistence and development as its primary and basic human rights, protects human rights according to law, and actively participates in global human rights governance. These are major characteristics of China’s human rights development, and also valuable experiences gained by the country.
Since June 2017, the resolution proposed by China entitled “The Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of All Human Rights” has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council three times, which fully indicates the wide international recognition received by China for its experiences in human rights development.
Without development, there would be no human rights to speak of, nor could the rights enjoyed by the people be sustainable. The right to development is an inalienable human right, which is affirmed by the UN Declaration on the Right to Development.
On promoting global human rights governance, China acts as a positive contributor to common development. It believes that long-term world development cannot be sustained if some countries get wealthier at the expense of others that are kept poor and backward. Only the common development of countries makes a more prosperous world.
China has proposed and implemented the joint building of the Belt and Road to enhance international development cooperation and share development results with other countries. It also actively pursues South-South Cooperation, offering assistance for other developing countries within its capability with no political strings attached and helping other developing countries, especially the least developed ones, eliminate poverty. Besides, the country has proposed the Global Development Initiative to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is constantly contributing its wisdom and schemes to the development of the international human rights cause.
In judging whether human rights are upheld in a country, one cannot use other countries’ standards, still less apply double standards or use human rights as a political tool to interfere in the affairs of other countries. On promoting global human rights governance, China acts as a firm defender of equity and justice. It steadfastly promotes greater democracy and rule of law in international relations, follows true multilateralism, and steers global human rights governance toward greater fairness, equity , and inclusiveness.
China is ready to engage in human rights exchanges and cooperation with all countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect, nevertheless, it does not accept self-styled “lecturers” on human rights and rejects stoking bloc confrontation in the name of human rights.
Making voices of justice at the UN Human Rights Council together with other developing countries, China firmly opposes the U.S. and the West interfering in other countries domestic affairs in the name of the so-called “human rights,” which is of significant importance for the healthy development of the international human rights cause.
The realization of human rights is a common pursuit of mankind, and the promotion and protection of human rights are a common cause of all countries. China is willing to work with all relevant parties to promote the shared human values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, promote the healthy development of the international human rights cause, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
