(East-West Question) Zhang Wanhong: How is China actively participating in global human rights governance?
China News Agency, Beijing, March 30th: How is China actively participating in global human rights governance?
Author Zhang Wanhong, Professor of Law School of Wuhan University and Dean of Human Rights Research Institute
On February 28, 2022, when Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the high-level meeting of the 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Beijing by video, he put forward four proposals for China to promote and protect human rights. Move to promote the democratization and rule of law in international relations, practice genuine multilateralism, and promote the development of global human rights governance in a more fair, reasonable and inclusive direction.
We must uphold the contemporary Chinese concept of human rights, carry forward the common values of all mankind, and make Chinese contributions and Chinese solutions to the cause of human rights in the world.
So, what is the significance of global human rights governance?
What are the challenges?
Why should China actively participate in the reform and construction of the global human rights governance system?
The Question of the Times: The Significance of Global Human Rights Governance
The starting point of our attention to global human rights governance is first of all based on an understanding of the real world in line with the times: the destiny of mankind is closely related, and the people of all countries should uphold the concept of "the world is one family" and jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Global human rights governance is an important field of practice in which global governance and the cause of human rights in the world are organically combined. It is also an important research field in which China contributes wisdom to the civilizational values of the rule of law, human rights, peace, development, fairness, justice, freedom, and democracy for all mankind.
"Insist on actively participating in global human rights governance" is not only one of the main features of China's human rights development, but also the valuable experience we have gained in the practice of advancing China's human rights cause.
To this end, it is necessary to carry forward the common values of all mankind, practice genuine multilateralism, and actively participate in the reform and construction of the global human rights governance system.
In 2018, 60 outstanding Nigerian high school graduates were sent to Chang'an University and Central South University in China by the Nigerian Ministry of Communications to study in two majors: civil engineering and transportation.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yuan
World Questions: Challenges Facing the Global Human Rights Governance System
The challenges facing global human rights governance are, first and foremost, the urgent challenges faced by all mankind, namely the profound human rights crisis behind the deficits in peace, development and governance.
Global governance faces many major challenges. Traditional and non-traditional security threats such as arms race, nuclear weapons control, terrorism, cyber security, climate change, environmental issues, financial crisis, and global poverty are all related to human rights protection.
Peace and security, the rule of law, and human rights are all challenges that global governance must address.
Second, the lack of fairness and justice in the current global governance order has exacerbated the human rights crisis faced by people of all countries.
A major challenge facing the current global human rights governance mechanism is that some Western countries maliciously use international human rights mechanisms to undermine multilateralism and the global human rights governance system.
The underlying reason is that new changes in international politics and economics and trade have weakened the liberal value foundation of the Western-led international order, intensified differences in cultural and political identities and even value conflicts among countries, and significantly increased the complexity of global human rights governance issues. .
In addition, the differences in human rights concepts between China and the West have not been properly understood, which has led to obstacles to human rights dialogue and even induced confrontation in human rights discourse.
The Western concept of human rights lacks the element of substantive equality, is deeply trapped in the quagmire of formalism and individualism, and cannot respond to profound social contradictions.
In international exchanges, some Western countries are accustomed to using the Human Rights Council and other international human rights mechanisms as a tool to "take what is useful, and disregard what is not." , are not separated from the logic of oppression and ideological barriers of the powerful countries in the old international order.
In addition, in recent disputes over international economic and trade cooperation, the intersection of trade and human rights governance has also been highlighted.
In 2019, during the 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Permanent Mission of China in Geneva held a side event on "Development Achievements of Human Rights in Xinjiang", inviting representatives of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region who are attending the United Nations Human Rights Council and those who recently visited Xinjiang. The permanent representative of the relevant country introduced the situation and what he saw.
Photo by China News Agency reporter De Yongjian
Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted new challenges for global human rights governance, which lie in dealing with pervasive risks and human fragility, and improving institutional and social resilience.
The expansion of the global risk society in the post-epidemic era reflects the complexity of modern social governance and highlights the fragility of human beings, putting forward new requirements for improving the rule of law, protecting human rights, and achieving global justice.
The welfare model and legal control model of modern society to deal with risks are still far from the universally established human rights standards.
Taking human subjectivity and initiative as the core, enhancing the resilience of the rule of law at the domestic and international levels should be the key goal of global human rights governance.
China Questions: The Positioning and Compliance of China's Participation in Global Human Rights Governance
China has always been an advocate, practitioner and promoter of the healthy development of the global human rights cause. It opposes the politicization of human rights or engages in "double standards" in human rights, and promotes the international community to deal with human rights issues in a fair, objective and non-selective way.
China participates in and promotes bilateral or multilateral human rights dialogue, and actively promotes the building of a more fair, just, reasonable and inclusive global human rights governance order.
China is deeply involved in the cooperation with multilateral human rights bodies of the United Nations, including Charter bodies and treaty bodies, and plays an increasingly larger role in them.
The human rights concepts expressed by China have been written into the resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council and have become an important part of the global human rights discourse.
China has played and will continue to play an active role as a responsible country in the development of global human rights discourse and human rights governance mechanisms.
China continues to improve its domestic governance system, promote high-quality economic and social development, and improve the realization of domestic human rights, making contributions to global human rights governance.
China insists on "empowering" people through development, and continues to expand "investment in people" to provide more possibilities for people's free development.
China's independent rule of law and human rights cause has enriched the ideological resources and value heritage of global human rights governance.
The Communist Party of China has led the people to successfully walk out a correct path of modernization of the rule of law that conforms to China's national conditions, follows the laws of the rule of law, and leads to good law and good governance.
This model is open, inclusive and scientific. It is not only different from the endogenous evolution model of Western countries such as Britain, France and Germany, but also from the outward promotion model of East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand. On the other hand, the two-way interaction promotes a new path for the modernization of the rule of law.
In 2021, "Fields of Hope - Poverty Alleviation and Shared Well-off National Photography Exhibition" will be held at the National Museum of China in Beijing.
The exhibition was jointly sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the National Museum of China and the China Photographers Association. The nearly 180 photographic works on display vividly demonstrated the great achievements in the fight against poverty.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tian Yuhao
Questions on the Road: China Promotes Reform and Construction of Global Human Rights Governance System
First, to discuss the reform and construction of the global human rights governance system, the rule of law and rights should be used as a common language to promote positive feedback on the international and domestic rule of law.
The focus of global human rights governance lies in the United Nations, that is, in the international community, the rule of law, human rights, and democracy belong to the "universal and indivisible core values and principles of the United Nations", which are contained in the United Nations Charter.
The rule of law and human rights have become important languages of international dialogue and international public goods produced by global governance, which can promote the realization of basic human rights and common human values.
Secondly, the fundamental driving force for reforming the global human rights governance system lies in promoting human rights through development, respecting, protecting and realizing human rights in development, and realizing the free and comprehensive development of human beings.
Unbalanced development is the biggest imbalance in the world today.
The insufficient and unbalanced development of many countries in the fields of politics, economy and society has resulted in the failure of national governance, the weakness of national capacity and the fragility of dealing with risks, which in turn has led to human rights crises, humanitarian disasters, and damage to neighboring countries, regions and countries. negative impact on the international order.
The principle of promoting human rights through development should run through the whole process of benign interaction between human rights development in the country and global human rights governance.
In 2020, during the 43rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the photo exhibition "Homeland—Glimpses of the Life of Multi-ethnic People in Xinjiang" was held at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
The exhibition tries to show the development and people's life in Xinjiang through hundreds of carefully selected pictures and videos, so that the outside world can understand the real situation of Xinjiang.
Photo by China News Agency reporter De Yongjian
The basic strategy for building a global human rights governance system is to independently choose the path of modernization of the rule of law.
To practice true multilateralism and jointly cope with the challenges of modernization and globalization, we must respect the independent choices of all countries and promote the formation of value standards for institutional and cultural exchanges and mutual learning: whether it can gain the support of the people, whether it can bring political stability, social progress, Whether the improvement of people's livelihood can contribute to the cause of human progress.
Finally, the future prospect of improving the global human rights governance system lies in promoting the diversity of democracy and the rule of law, and realizing the harmony of human beings of "harmony but difference" and "beauty and beauty in common".
The diversity of global governance models of the rule of law, democracy and human rights is the inevitable result of countries' independent choice of the path of modernization, and it is also the result of uneven civilizations presented by people of all countries' profound reflection and criticism of the dilemma of modernity.
Without diversity, there is no human civilization.
Diversity is an objective fact and will exist for a long time.
Countries should achieve peaceful coexistence on the basis of mutual respect and seeking common ground while reserving differences, promote exchanges and mutual learning among human rights civilizations, and inject new impetus into the cause of global human rights governance and the cause of human progress.
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About the Author:
Zhang Wanhong, Doctor of Laws, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of Wuhan University Law School, Dean of Wuhan University Human Rights Research Institute (National Human Rights Education and Training Base), Chief Expert of the Core Team of Wuhan University International Law Institute (National High-end Think Tank), Wuhan University Public Welfare Director of the Center for Research and Development Law.
The main research areas are human rights law, protection of the rights of specific groups, etc.
He was a visiting scholar at Columbia University in the United States and the University of Tokyo in Japan.
As a member of the expert group, he participated in the drafting and evaluation of various policies, laws and important documents in the field of human rights in China.