Experts expound China contributions to global human rights governance

Children make paper cutting works at a kindergarten in Yuping Dong Autonomous County of Tongren City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 16, 2024. (Photo by Hu Panxue/Xinhua)

To respect the diversity of civilizations is an inevitable requirement for advancing the cause of human rights, Chinese expert said.

GENEVA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- China has made positive contributions to global human rights governance in the past five years after its last Universal Periodic Review (UPR), experts from the China Society for Human Rights Studies told Xinhua here on Monday.

China's human rights record will be examined by the United Nations Human Rights Council's UPR Working Group for the fourth time on Tuesday.

China is one of 14 States to be reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its session from Jan. 22 to Feb. 2. The first, second and third UPR reviews of China took place in February 2009, October 2013 and November 2018 respectively.

Herdsmen dance at a service station in Emin County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jan. 11, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Zheng Liang, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Jinan University, told Xinhua that in the past five years, China's modernization drive has not only promoted the development of China's human rights protection but also made significant contributions to the world's human rights cause in terms of concept promotion and in-depth practice.

China itself is committed to promoting human rights through development, putting the people first and advancing a path of human rights development suited to its national conditions, and meanwhile it provides support and assistance to developing countries and regions in infrastructure, education, health and agriculture, according to Zheng.

Chang Jian, director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Nankai University, said that since the last review, China's ranking in the United Nations Human Development Index has continued to rise, demonstrating the advantages of China's modernization and human rights development paths.

Pasang Butri's daughter Tsering Butri (1st L) prepares chema box for her family members at home in Xigaze, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, Jan. 12, 2024. (Photo by Tenzin Nyida/Xinhua)

He said that the goal of China's modernization process is also the ultimate pursuit of the development of China's human rights cause.

Mao Junxiang, executive director of the Human Rights Center of Central South University, said that while countries have different opinions on how to promote the human rights cause, no one should force other countries to follow a certain human rights model.

To respect the diversity of civilizations is an inevitable requirement for advancing the cause of human rights, he said, adding that this will further need to respect different civilizations' understanding of the connotation of human rights and avoid imposing one's own human rights values and models onto others.