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STATEMENT BY H.E. AMBASSADOR QIAO ZONGHUAI,

HEAD OF THE CHINESE DELEGATION ON ITEM 9 AT

THE 56^TH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIHGTS

(30 March 2000)

                            

                                         

Mr. Chairman,

 

Recently the United States and other western countries have been accusing  China of its “obviously deteriorating human rights situation last year”. When it comes to telling the truth about China's human rights situation in the past year, nothing will be more eloquent than facts.

 

China is a developing country with a population of nearly 1.3 billion.  It has a long historical and cultural tradition.  The Chinese government recognises the universality of human rights, respects the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, and observes international conventions on human rights.  It maintains that the promotion and protection of human rights in China must be seen in the context of  China's actual situation. 

 

In 1999, the Chinese government continued to concentrate its effort on economic development in the light of its national conditions.  China's GDP grew by 7.1% last year.  More than 8 million people were lifted from poverty, reducing the number of poor people to 30 million from 250 million in 1978.  Meanwhile, in order to improve on its democratic institution and legal system, the Chinese government has adopted policies to ensure the rule of law so as to provide legal and institutional guarantee for the civil and political rights of its citizens.

 

First, human rights legislation has been strengthened.  The Law on Administrative Review offers new remedies to citizens whose rights are violated by administrative bodies.  The recently adopted Law on Legislation clearly provides that any derogation from civil and political rights and any mandatory measure or punishment which restricts personal freedom must be the subject of explicit laws to that effect.

 

Second,  a series of transparency policies have been adopted by the judiciary to bring more openness in the police department, the procurators' offices, the court and prison systems.  Measures to intensify supervision, to refine procedures of supervision, and to improve on its effectiveness have been carried out vigorously and have brought good results.

 

Third, in the exercise of the rule of law, corruption has been severely dealt with by the authorities. China strives at having an efficient government with integrity and good work ethics.

 

Fourth, pursuant to the new Law on the Organisation of Village Committees promulgated last year, the democratic process at the village level has continued to develop.  By holding direct elections for  the village committees and open discussions by way of making decisions on important village matters, the rural population has fully exercised its democratic right to participate in elections, decision-making, management and supervision.  In most cases,  over 90% of the electorate went to the polls.

 

Fifth, the freedom of expression and of assembly have been protected in compliance with relevant laws.  Freedom of  the press and check and balance by public opinions have been encouraged by the government.  Citizens have been encouraged to freely express different views.  The media and publishing enterprises on the mainland have been under intensive development, issuing 2053 newspapers with a total circulation of 30 billion and establishing 560 large television stations.  By the end of 1999, the rapid growth in the use of the internet has brought about 8.9 million on-line users and 15,000 web-sites, which was respectively 14 times and 10 times higher than those of two years ago.  China has the 8^th largest number of on-line users after the US, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and others.  The state-run project of bringing radio and television broadcast to every village has been a great success.  There are now 1849 registered national associations in China, which is a 91% increase from 1990.   Civil societies at the county level and above have reached the number of over 200,000.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

A year is not that long, yet China’s achievements in the field of human rights have been remarkable. China's human rights situation did not deteriorate, but instead has been progressing with the change of time.  Judging from the above facts, any unbiased person would have come to the same conclusion.  How many countries can provide the same results in the brief span of a year?  But why does the United States always turn a blind eye to what is really going on in China and in other developing countries and keep on presenting, time and again, a distorted picture of their human rights situation? The reasons, as we see it, are as follows :

 

First and foremost, the haunting cold-war mentality and hegemonist mindset. This is manifested in the strong sense of superiority with which it has sought to impose its value system and ideology on others. The US thought the international standards as espoused by the US were in reality simply American standards and the so-called democratic model was the synonym of American model. Human rights issues only exist in developing countries. Every move on the part of the developing countries may become the object of moral judgement  and accusation by the United States which has granted itself the title of “world policeman” and “world judge”. The US State Department publishes annual reports on human rights and on the religious freedom in the world, which is replete with unfounded accusations against many developing countries. What is more, it then goes on to invoke US domestic laws to impose sanctions on those countries. This is a most blatant move to show that might is right.

 

The  second reason is that of double standards. The United States not only seeks to export its own belief, it also attemps to impose on others what it does not like for itself. For example, as an evil cult, Falun Gong shares almost exactly the same characteristics as the People’s Temple or the Davidians in the United States, including their doomsday theory, the worship of the cult's leader and the dire consequences on people’s life and health. The US did not hesitate from using tanks and helicopters to back up the police in its assault on the Davidians headquarters, but it has seen it fit to call on the Chinese government to accomodate and appease the evil cult Falun Gong. When the US moved against religious believers by invoking the principle that everyone is equal before the law, it was presented as an act to uphold the rule of law. But when China acted likewise, it was portrayed as an attempt of persecution of religious freedom.

 

The third reason is the politicization of human rights. When domestic  politics or partizan interests are involved, the US has no qualms in sacrificing the dignity and interests of developing countries. Since this is an election year in the US, the decision of the US government to table an anti-China draft resolution at the Commission was entirely motivated by its desire to cater to those domestic forces that are hostile to China so as to score a political point for itself.  Though it professes to be commited to the purpose of the Commission, which is that of promotion and protection of human rights, it is precisely the US itself that has through its actions politicized its work, poisoned its atmosphere and hampered its normal functions. By acting on this draft resolution, the Commission will only tarnish the lofty image of the cause of human rights and bring harm to its own credibility.

 

Mr. Chairman,

 

Like all other countries, China cannot boast of an impeccable human rights record. We are open to well-intentioned criticisms and suggestions, and are willing to adopt a positive and forthcoming attitude in our effort to enhance dialogues and exchanges with other countries and international organizations on an equal footing and with mutual respect so as to learn from each other and advance our common cause. But we categorically reject the practice of exerting political pressures and seeking political confrontations out of domestic political considerations. China has never yielded to outside pressures. If the US is bent on pursuing a confrontational course, China is fully prepared to keep it company and fight to the finish. Bullying tactics will finally do it  more harm,  even though its aim is to harm others.

 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.