China to unswervingly promote and protect human rights: Wang Yi

China will unswervingly promote and protect human rights, actively participate in global human rights governance, implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and strive for greater development in the cause of human rights worldwide, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated on Tuesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the international symposium commemorating the 75th anniversary of the UDHR held in Beijing.

Wang said the UDHR is significant in the history of human civilization and has had a profound impact on the development of the global human rights cause. Over the past 75 years, the international community has worked together to achieve the goals of the UDHR, promoting the protection of human rights and improving the international human rights system, making the human rights protection of various countries more effective.

Wang stated that the CPC and the Chinese government have always placed great importance on promoting and protecting human rights, and adhere to the principle of universality of human rights in combination with China's reality, thus forging a path of human rights development that is in line with the trend of the times and suitable for the country's national conditions.

Wang emphasized that the human rights development path chosen by China is in line with China's national conditions and meets the aspirations of its people. China will steadfastly move forward on this path. We are willing to engage in dialogues with other countries on the basis of equality and respect, learn from each other, and work together to achieve the goals established in the UDHR, Wang said.

According to Wang, China proposes advocating common security to create a more peaceful international environment for the realization of human rights. "We should firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order underpinned by international law," he said.

We should implement the Global Security Initiative, respond to security challenges with a win-win mindset, resolve differences and disputes through dialogue and consultation, and strive to quickly extinguish conflicts and allow displaced people to return home as soon as possible, Wang noted.

Additionally, Wang said we need to prioritize development to provide a solid material foundation for the realization of human rights. We should continuously enhance the fairness, effectiveness, and synergy of global development, maintain an open world economy, and oppose technological blockades and barriers, and decoupling, according to Wang.

Besides, we should guide economic globalization towards a more open, inclusive, beneficial, balanced, and win-win direction, effectively guaranteeing the equal development rights of people in all countries.

Moreover, Wang noted to promote communication and mutual learning to provide a more diverse range of choices for the realization of human rights. People of all countries have the right and should independently explore the path of human rights development that suits their own national conditions.

We should respect the diversity of world civilizations, implement the Global Civilization Initiative, enhance exchanges and mutual learning, encourage and respect the human rights development path chosen by each country, and ensure that people in all countries enjoy human rights fairly with their own characteristics of modernization, Wang stressed.

In addition, Wang said we should uphold fairness and justice to provide a more effective platform for cooperation to achieve human rights. We oppose using human rights as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries or to hinder their development, and oppose politicizing, instrumentalizing, and ideologizing human rights issues, and imposing one's own values and models on others, Wang noted.

The Human Rights Council and other multilateral human rights institutions should uphold the principles of fairness, objectivity, non-selectivity, and non-politicization, and should promptly address the lack of representation of developing countries and continuously inject more positive energy into the development of international human rights, Wang added.

Wang emphasized that China will resolutely promote and protect human rights, actively participate in global human rights governance, implement the UDHR, promote the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom for all mankind, and promote greater development of the world human rights cause.