SCIO briefing on the CPC's philosophy and practice of respecting and safeguarding human rights
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 30, 2021
CGTN:
We noticed that the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, and representatives of the Chinese government and social organizations have actively participated in the event. Can you tell us about China's long-term efforts to promote global human rights governance? Thank you.
Lu Guangjin:
The conference is being held currently and all parties are concerned about China's efforts in advancing global human rights progress over the years. Professor He Zhipeng is an expert in this field. He will take your question.
He Zhipeng:
I feel honored to have the opportunity to exchange views with you on this issue. If you have read our white paper, you may have seen that this topic is discussed in part six. I will elaborate more on that basis. China's contribution to the governance of human rights in the world can be understood from two aspects: the human rights systems and mechanisms in a narrow sense and in a broad sense. The systems and mechanisms for respecting and protecting human rights in a narrow sense refers to the UNHRC you mentioned just now, which was previously called the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). We all know that China was once excluded from the UN system for a long time, so during that time we did not have the opportunity to have direct contact with the UN's human rights mechanism. Since China recovered its legitimate seat at the UN in 1971, it has played an active role in relevant events. In 1979, we joined the UNCHR as an observer and attended its annual meetings for three consecutive years. In 1982, China became an official member state of the UNCHR and has maintained this position ever since. China's participation in UNCHR activities not only demonstrated China's own human rights views and propositions, but also made known to the world China's efforts to respect and protect human rights. From 1981 to 2006, we were fully involved in the activities of the UNCHR. In 2006, the UNCHR was replaced with the UNHRC due to a series of problems that many of you may know. For example, the UNCHR had long been used as a tool for political struggles, that is to say, some Western countries including the United States often used the Commission as a platform to criticize China. Every time, we gave effective responses to such issues during the annual session of the Commission. In fact, at the UN level, everyone realized that such a human rights governance system was unsustainable. In other words, the human rights protection goals couldn't be achieved. Therefore, starting in 2006, amidst the call for reform, the UNHRC was established. China has always participated in the activities of the UNHRC since then. In addition to the formal meetings when official representatives exchange views and concerns and respond to questions raised by countries around the world, we also introduce our views and actions on human rights in China by holding a series of sideline meetings including those held by the China Society for Human Rights Studies. This is a brief introduction to human rights governance in a narrow sense.
In a broader sense, human rights governance includes several aspects in addition to the human rights system within the United Nations. First, some ideas China put forward to the international community, such as a community with a shared future for mankind, they are relevant to human rights. The proposal emphasizes lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, tolerance, cleanliness, and beauty, which are all directly related to human rights. Within international mechanisms, including the human rights system, these ideas are translated into international languages so that they can be understood and accepted by all. At the same time, on the economic level, everyone may know we are carrying out cooperation with many countries along the Belt and Road and have made great efforts so far. Whether in terms of cooperation in infrastructure or other economic cooperation, our efforts in this domain will actually be conducive to human rights development in China and countries along the Belt and Road.
Also, we have actively advanced international cooperation systems regarding the environment, climate change, labor and all fields of the economy, such as the Paris Agreement. Of course, we have joined many international organizations. Especially since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, the advancements we have made in human rights in the field of public health is actually part of the broadly defined human rights governance. My own understanding may not necessarily be comprehensive. Mr. Lu and other speakers can correct me if there is something wrong with what I have said. I'm going to stop here, thank you.
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