Chinese civil society NGOs cast strong voice at Human Rights Council

Chinese nongovernmental organizations are making their voices heard at the ongoing 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, stressing the need to protect human rights and minority cultures amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Chinese nongovernmental bodies participating in the session online over the past few days have actively presented China's successful practices in promoting prosperity and development of its ethnic regions, safeguarding the rights of women and children, and promoting human rights and democracy worldwide, adding Chinese wisdom and solutions to the discourse on global human rights governance.

In a written statement, the China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture said that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Tibet has won the battle against poverty and eliminated penury through targeted policies and assistance. At present, the annual per capita disposable income of Tibetans lifted out of poverty exceeds 10,000 yuan (about 1,570 U.S. dollars).

The China Ethnic Minorities' Association for External Exchanges emphasized that in recent years, China has continued to promote sports in ethnic areas by improving facilities, vigorously training ethnic minority athletes and regularly holding sporting events such as the National Traditional Games of Ethnic Minorities.

These measures have promoted exchanges among ethnic groups, national fitness and a sense of fulfillment and happiness in people of all ethnic groups, the association said.

Among the 176 Chinese athletes participating in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, there were 20 from nine ethnic minorities, accounting for 11.36 percent of all Chinese athletes -- a vivid example of China's efforts to involve ethnic minorities in major sporting and cultural events, according to the association.

Lin Songtian, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said creating a sense of fulfillment, happiness and security in China and worldwide should be a common pursuit of global human rights.

China has always adhered to a people-centered concept of human rights, effectively safeguarding the people's right to survival, life and health and helping every one of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese emerge from poverty, Lin said.

In contrast, the world's largest developed country preaches human rights daily but has allowed nearly 1 million people to die from COVID-19, he added.

The Chinese Association For International Understanding said that some countries, such as the United States, have weaponized human rights.

They judge their own human rights situations and those of other countries with double standards, abuse unilateral sanctions under the pretext of human rights, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, seriously infringe on the right to survival and development of people in other countries, and hinder the cause of international human rights.

Facts have proven that democracy is a common value of all humankind and that human rights are the common pursuit of all peoples. The two concepts are inextricably linked, the association said.

China's whole-process people's democracy upholds the people's status as masters of the country and significantly contributes to the development of human rights worldwide, it added.