Human rights recognition

China's election to the UN Human Rights Council was recognition of the progress the country has made in enhancing human rights protection in recent years.

At the 68th session of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, China was elected along with 13 other new members to the 47-member UN human rights body for a three-year term from 2014 to 2016.

As a country committed to promoting human rights both at home and in the world arena, China has pledged it will participate fully in the activities of the council and play a constructive role in promoting dialogue and cooperation and opposing pressure and confrontation, so as to contribute to the sound development of international human rights.

China's election to a seat on the Geneva-based council, along with Cuba, Mexico and Russia, will increase the voice of developing economies in global awareness of human rights, and help forge greater international cooperation in this regard.

There can be no denying the fact that China and the West hold different views on human rights. But for human rights development, there is no best, only better.

No country has the right to impose its own perceptions of human rights upon others or use human rights as an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

Each country has the right to pursue the protection of human rights in the way most suitable to their development conditions. As an elected member, China will be able to seek more international consensuses on its perceptions and stances in human rights protection .

China considers the respect and protection of human rights an important principle in governing the country. For years, it has adhered to economic construction as the central task and combined the cause of human rights with its development goals. As the largest developing country, China has given priority to people's rights to subsistence and development.

Wu Haitao (C), deputy head of the Chinese delegation, speaks during the 17th session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group in Geneva on Oct 25, 2013. The report of the second round of the UPR on China was adopted on Friday by the Working Group on the UPR of the HRC. [Photo / Xinhua]

What the country has achieved in developing its economy, improving people's livelihoods and promoting social progress in recent years is ready proof that the human rights development path chosen by the Chinese people suits China's national conditions and is the right path for it to follow.

The country is now trying to realize its dream of national rejuvenation and common prosperity. With the realization of the Chinese dream, the human rights cause in China will witness even greater achievements.

(China Daily 11/14/2013 page8)