At the recent high-level meeting of the UN Human Rights Council 49th Session, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi put forward China's four-point proposal for the promotion and protection of human rights. We must adhere to China's perspective on human rights and carry forward the common values of all mankind. We shall make Chinese contributions and provide Chinese solutions for the global human rights.

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 Importance of Global Human Rights Governance

We focus on the point of departure for global human rights governance: human destiny is a community. "Insisting on actively participating in global human rights governance" is both a major feature of China's human rights development and a valuable experience we have gained in our practice of advancing China's human rights cause. We should carry forward the common values of all humankind, practice multilateralism, and actively participate in the reform and construction of the global human rights governance system.

Challenges to the Global Human Rights Governance System

The human rights crisis is a universal challenge faced by all mankind. The challenges, including the arms race, terrorism, cyber security, climate warming, environmental issues, financial crisis, global poverty and other traditional and non-traditional security threats, are all linked to human rights safeguards.

Secondly, the lack of fairness and justice has exacerbated the human rights crisis. One of the major challenges faced by the global human rights governance mechanism is that certain Western countries have maliciously undermined the international human rights mechanism. The fundamental reason is that the new changes in international politics, trade and economy have weakened the dominance of the Western. In addition, the differences between Chinese and Western human rights concepts have not been properly understood, which induces confrontation in human rights discourse. The Western philosophy of human rights lacks elements of substantive equality and is deeply mired in formalism and individualism, which cannot respond to social contradictions. In international interactions, some Western countries ignore their own human rights issues, apply double standards to other countries, and judge them arbitrarily.

Finally, the epidemic poses new requirements for human rights governance, namely, addressing universal risk and human vulnerability. The benefits provided and laws applied by modern societies in response to risks are far away from the universally established human rights standards. Improving the legal system at the domestic and international community should be a key goal of global human rights governance.

The Position of China's Participation in Global Human Rights Governance

China has always been a promoter of the global human rights agenda and opposes the politicization of human rights or the "double standard" of human rights. China participates in and promotes bilateral or multilateral human rights dialogues, we shall actively build a fairer and more equitable global human rights governance.

China is deeply involved in cooperation with the UN multilateral human rights bodies, including the Charter bodies and treaty bodies, and is playing an increasing role in them. China's human rights concepts expressed have been written into the resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council and have become an important part of the global human rights discourse. The Chinese Communist Party has led the people to successfully develop a way of modernizing the rule of law that is suitable for China's national conditions. This model is open, inclusive and scientific, which is different from the model of Western countries such as Britain, France and Germany, as well as the model of East Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and New Zealand.

China Promotes Reform and Construction of Global Human Rights Governance System

Firstly, the reform and construction of the global human rights governance system should use the rule of law and rights as a common language. The focus of global human rights governance lies in the United Nations, and the rule of law and human rights have become an important language of international dialogue.

Secondly, the fundamental motivation for reforming the global human rights governance system lies in promoting human rights through development. Unbalanced development is the biggest imbalance in the world today. The inadequate and unbalanced development in political, economic and social fields has caused the failure of national governance, which in turn has led to a human rights crisis. The principle of promoting human rights through development should permeate the entire process of interaction between national human rights development and global human rights governance.

The basic strategy for building a global human rights governance system is to choose the path of rule of law autonomously. Finally, improving the global human rights governance system lies in promoting the diversity of democracy and the rule of law. Without diversity, there would be no human civilization. Diversity is an objective fact and will exist for a long time. Countries shall achieve peaceful coexistence on the basis of mutual respect and agreeing to disagree.

Edited by Wang Yuting & Wu Liuqing