China's envoy denounced human rights' politicization

A Chinese envoy on Thursday firmly refuted groundless accusations on China's human rights, saying the world does not need condescending remarks or human rights' politicization.

"What the US and a handful of Western countries really care about is not China's human rights but interfering in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights with the aim of suppressing and containing China, safeguarding their own hegemony," Dai Bing, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, said at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.

They "reject the truth", "repeat lies", and "engage in coercive diplomacy", said Dai. "But today the people of the world have awakened, and the vast number of developing countries have awakened. Anyone who engages in hegemony will be opposed, and whoever engages in coercion will be doomed to failure."

Dai urged relevant countries to take concrete steps to address their serious human rights problems.

"The US is obsessed with naming and attacking other countries, turning a blind eye to its own human rights situation; focusing only on developing countries, and selectively blind to the human rights abuses of its allies," said Dai, calling it "hypocrisy and double standard".

Dai added that instances of human rights abuse by the US include race massacre against indigenous peoples; prevalent, systemic, and persistent racial discrimination; and provoking wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.

The Third Committee is a platform for dialogue and cooperation, not for confrontation, Dai on Wednesday said at the Third Committee of UNGA, adding that the world needs fairness and justice, there is "no need for a 'teacher' to boss around other countries".

Dai on Wednesday also made a joint statement at the Third Committee meeting on behalf of 25 countries, calling for the immediate and complete lifting of unilateral coercive measures.

Dai said developing countries and their populations continue to fall victim to unilateral coercive measures, which run counter to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, multilateralism, and the basic norms of international relations.

Zimbabwe agreed with the statements delivered by China on Wednesday, and it supports the universality and the non-politicization of human rights, said Garikai Manyanga, a Third Committee Expert of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe believes in universality, impartiality, and non-selectivity and non-politicization in the promotion and protection of human rights, he said on Wednesday.

Some states' "holier than thou" attitudes are self-serving and counterproductive, he said, stressing that dialogue is the best way forward for those that are lagging.

Country-specific reports and resolutions that only serve political agendas will not save people. No country has yet reached human rights protection's "final destination" and the global community should commit to helping each other. He warned the human rights bodies' credibility is at stake.

Venezuela speaking on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the UN, an organization launched last year in the UN that consists of 19 countries including China, noted increased unilateralism and divisionism, and rejected double standards in human rights.

The country expressed concern over the growing proliferation of mechanisms and procedures that conduct assessments of human rights in specific states and which, in most cases, lack their due consent and participation, relying on sources that may be either biased or non-credible, said Joaquín Pérez Ayestarán, the representative of Venezuela.

Singapore's Ambassador Burhan Gafoor said Singapore does not claim its model is perfect, and it is open to learning from others. However, it alone must decide what works best, given its unique circumstances.

"We do not try and impose our views on other societies, and most importantly, we do not try and export our model to other countries because we know that at the end of the day, each country must decide for itself what will work best for it in light of their own unique circumstances, taking into account their international law obligation," Gafoor said, calling on all member states to avoid the temptation to use the Third Committee as a platform to sermonize.

He said countries should avoid making value judgments based on the false belief that some cultures and some societies are superior to other cultures and other societies. "There is no place for cultural arrogance or a sense of cultural superiority in this committee or at the United Nations."