| Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 15, 2001 |
China Puts Forth Proposal on Promotion, Protection of Human Rights |
China Wednesday put forth a four-point proposal on attaining the common goal of promotion and protection of human rights at a meeting on the issue of human rights of the Third Committee of the 56th Session of the UN General Assembly.
The proposal includes building up a peaceful and secure international environment, striving to narrow the gap of development among countries, attaching equal importance to the two categories of human rights and solving disputes over human rights issues among countries through dialogue and cooperation.
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China put forth a four-point proposal on attaining the common goal of promotion and protection of human rightsChina Wednesday put forth a four-point proposal on attaining the common goal of promotion and protection of human rights.
Shen Guofang, deputy permanent representative of China to the United Nations, put forth the proposal at a meeting on the issue of human rights of the Third Committee of the 56th Session of the UN General Assembly.
The proposal includes building up a peaceful and secure international environment, striving to narrow the gap of development among countries, attaching equal importance to the two categories of human rights and solving disputes over human rights issues among countries through dialogue and cooperation.
-- Build up a peaceful and secure international environmentShen Guofang said, international peace and security stand as a precondition for the promotion and protection of human rights, adding that without a peaceful and secure environment, no protection can be possibly guaranteed for either civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights.
Shen said that in today's world, factors threatening international peace and security are becoming more and more complicated. The September 11 attack has been not only an enormous disaster to the American people but also a new challenge to international peace and security, he said.
The Chinese government, he said, has all along condemned and opposed terrorism in all its forms and steadfastly supported international cooperation against terrorism. "We believe that since the fight against terrorism is for the protection of human rights, the means taken should meet this end," he added.
--Strive to narrow the gap of development among countriesShen said narrowing the gap of development among countries is of great significance to the realization of universal human rights. He noted that underdevelopment has seriously restrained developing countries' capacity and means to promote and protect human rights.
He said China hopes that at the upcoming third meeting of the UN Working Group on the right of development, all countries can fully demonstrate their political will to promote the right to development, focus on identifying obstacles to the realization of the right and make concrete proposals on how to remove the obstacles instead of dwelling on disputes over academic concepts.
--Attach equal importance to the two categories of human rightsShen Guofang said the international community should attach equal importance to the civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights. "We hope that the international community can take effective measures to help developing countries achieve economic and social development so that their people can better enjoy economic, social and cultural rights," he said.
--Solve disputes over human rights issues among countries through dialogue and cooperationShen said that dialogue and cooperation constitute the right approach to resolving the disputes over human rights among countries. "We respect and endorse the principle of universality of human rights, but we believe at the same time that each country has the right to choose its specific ways to promote and protect human rights on the basis of its national situation," he said, adding that differences of views on human rights among countries should be resolved through dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
Chinese government and its people have made great achievements in promoting and protecting human rights in recent years.Shen Guofang said the Chinese government and its people have made great achievements in promoting and protecting human rights in recent years. He said that currently relevant departments of the Chinese government are working on concrete plans to implement all the obligations stipulated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ratified by China in February.
He said, "We have conducted human rights dialogues on a wide range of topics with countries that have different social systems and values from China," including the United States and the European Union. "The Chinese government is fully confident that it will be able to further improve the level of human rights enjoyed by its people and willing to make its contribution to the international human rights cause," Shen said.
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