Human Rights Council urged to uphold multilateralism on 20th anniversary

China's ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva called for strengthening multilateralism, respecting sovereign equality, and advancing the right to development as the international community marked the 20th anniversary of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday.

Speaking at an informal high-level discussion held during the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, Jia Guide, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, said the Global Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi Jinping provided a Chinese solution to the global governance deficit and could also shed new light on how to strengthen and improve the work of the council.

Jia pointed out that strengthening and improving the work of the council requires upholding the principles of sovereign equality and international rule of law. The council should be guided by principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity, non-selectivity, and constructive dialogue and cooperation, and oppose politicization, he said.

The council should promote the balanced development of civil and political rights with economic, social, and cultural rights, and put the right to development higher on the multilateral human rights agenda, said Jia, stressing that it requires an action-oriented approach, promoting universal and equitable benefits, while the council should, based on the consent of the countries concerned, invest more in capacity building and technical assistance.

Pointing out that civilizations exist in rich diversity, Jia said that every country's independently selected human rights development path deserves full respect, and we must correctly grasp the dialectical link between the universality of human rights and civilization diversity. He noted that China highly values human rights promotion and protection, and unswervingly follows the Chinese path to human rights development. China is ready to cooperate with all nations to advance the sound progress of global human rights undertakings and build a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.

The discussion was held as part of the 62nd session of the Human Rights Council, which is commemorating the council's 20th anniversary. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered opening remarks via video message, Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sidharto Suryodipuro, president of the Human Rights Council, and representatives of member states and international organizations also participated in the discussion.

zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn