By He Yin, People’s Daily
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently sent a congratulatory letter to the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance.
Noting that China advocates safeguarding human rights through security, Xi stressed the need to respect all countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, jointly follow the path of peaceful development, act on the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and create a secure and peaceful environment for realizing human rights.
Xi’s remarks profoundly expounded on the relations between security and human rights, and emphasized the significance of acting on the GSI for realizing human rights, offering a Chinese plan for maintaining a secure environment for safeguarding human rights.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Peace and security is the basic prerequisite for the promotion and protection of human rights. Without peace and security, all human rights cannot be realized.
At present, global human rights governance is facing severe challenges characterized by emerging threats against world peace and security. Regional security hotspots keep flaring up, local conflicts and turbulence occur frequently, and traditional and non-traditional security threats are entwined.
At a time when humanitarian crises created by wars and conflicts are still troubling Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and other countries, a few countries are arbitrarily instigating confrontation, creating contradictions and intensifying conflicts, bringing new security threats to the world.
“Security is the precondition for development. We humanity are living in an indivisible security community,” Xi said in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 in April last year.
In the speech, he solemnly proposed the GSI, stressing that the world should stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and work to create a new path to security featuring dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance and win-win over zero-sum. What he said has been broadly recognized and supported by the international community.
In February this year, China officially released the Global Security Initiative Concept Paper, which systematically explains the core ideas and principles of the GSI, and identifies the priorities, platforms and mechanisms of cooperation.
The GSI provides ideas for solving global security issues and demonstrates China’s wisdom in improving global human rights governance through maintaining world peace and stability.
Ong Tee Keat, chairman of Malaysia-based think tank the Center for New Inclusive Asia, noted that the universal and inviolable value of human rights is being endlessly and severely tested in global governance today. He believes the GSI addresses both traditional and non-traditional security issues, and lays a foundation for building a new security framework.
It is China’s distinctive aspiration to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed.
China’s efforts to implement the GSI and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture are expected to create a more peaceful and secure environment for the world and ensure a realistic basis for protecting and realizing human rights.
On the Ukraine crisis, China always stands on the side of peace. Its core stance is to facilitate talks for peace. It advocates for jointly improving the humanitarian situation in the regions and has offered batches of humanitarian assistance.
The country has worked to help Saudi Arabia and Iran resume bilateral diplomatic ties, which has promoted reconciliation in the Middle East and offered a rare opportunity for alleviating humanitarian crises in Syria, Yemen and other countries.
China supports the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan, continues to assist within its capacity for the reconstruction and development of the country, and helps to solve Afghanistan’s humanitarian and refugee issues.
These concrete actions to maintain world peace and stability demonstrate that China is a responsible major country in improving global human rights governance.
The common interest of all humankind is in a world united and peaceful rather than divided and volatile, which helps protect and promote human rights.
To maintain international peace and security, promote economic and social advancement and encourage respect for human rights are the three missions of the United Nations stipulated in the UN Charter.
China always adheres to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respects all countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity, and does not interfere in other countries’ internal affairs. It supports all countries to choose independently the path for human rights development in accordance with their national conditions, and opposes arbitrary blockades, sanctions and other hegemonic practices against other countries.
China always believes that human rights should not be used as an excuse for meddling in other countries’ internal affairs or holding back their development, and human rights issues should not be politicized, weaponized or instrumentalized. It opposes any practice to undermine world peace and stability under the disguise of human rights.
The issue of security bears on the well-being of people of all countries, the lofty cause of world peace and development, and the future of humanity. China will stay committed to the path of peaceful development. It is ready to work with the international community to follow the GSI and build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security, making constant contributions to protecting and promoting human rights.