China, EU hope to explore cooperation in multilateral human rights areas: spokesperson

(ECNS) -- China and the European Union (EU) expressed readiness to explore cooperation in multilateral human rights areas concerning economic, social and cultural rights, women, children and people with disability, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.

 

From June 13 to 17, China and the EU held the new round of Human Rights Dialogue in Chongqing, China.

In Beijing, assistant minister of Foreign Affairs Miao Deyu met with the head of the EU delegation, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service Paola Pampaloni, while Director General of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences of the Foreign Ministry Shen Bo and Paola Pampaloni co-chaired the China-EU Human Rights Dialogue in Chongqing, according to the the spokesperson.

Representatives from China’s legislative, judicial, ethnic and women departments attended the dialogue.

The Chinese side fully elaborated on China’s human rights development path, philosophy and achievements and China’s position and propositions on global human rights governance, protesting against the China-related contents in the 2023 Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World and the annual reports on Hong Kong and Macao recently released by the EU, Lin said.

It stressed that affairs related to Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong as well as individual judicial cases are purely China’s internal affairs that brook no external interference, and asked the EU to earnestly respect facts and the human rights development path independently chosen by the Chinese people and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights.

In response to the EU’s groundless accusations against China’s judicial procedure, death penalty, labor rights and issues related to ethnic groups and regions, China laid out the facts that prove otherwise and firmly refuted these allegations.

During the dialogue, the Chinese side pointed to the human rights issues that exist in EU countries, including racial discrimination, infringement on the rights of refugees and immigrants, restriction on freedom of speech, religious hatred, judicial unfairness and violence against women, and asked the EU side to earnestly resolve these issues.

Both sides believed that the dialogue was candid, profound and conducive to better mutual understanding, Lin said.    

On the margins of the dialogue, the EU delegation visited the Xizang Autonomous Region, where they visited local programs related to socioeconomic development, ethnic community, religion, education, culture, human rights and the rule of law, according to Lin.

The delegation said they gained understanding of the reality in the region, especially how relevant policies work and what they have achieved. The delegation also had discussions and exchanged views with Chinese human rights experts in Beijing, Lin noted.

He stressed China stands ready to conduct exchange and cooperation on human rights with the EU on the basis of equality and mutual respect to enhance mutual understanding and trust, broaden consensus, resolve differences and make progress together.

That said, China firmly opposes politicizing human rights issues and double standards, opposes imposing one’s own development models on others, opposes interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights issues, and opposes megaphone diplomacy on multilateral platforms, he added.

China hopes the EU will work with it in the same direction, uphold dialogue and cooperation instead of confrontation and pressuring, and jointly contribute to the international human rights cause, Lin concluded.