(Xinhua) China has formed a contemporary Chinese outlook on human rights with “people” as the center, “development” as the driving force and “a life of contentment” as the goal, and has enriched the global human rights cause, a new think-tank report said on Monday.

The report, titled “For a Life of Contentment — The Rationale for China’s Human Rights Development,” was jointly released by the China Foundation for Human Rights Development and the New China Research under Xinhua News Agency.

It said China’s outlook on human rights has been continuously enriched and improved in practice, with its own cognitive perspective and ideological connotation based on the actual conditions of the country.

LIFE OF CONTENTMENT AS ULTIMATE HUMAN RIGHT
According to the report, China has followed a path of human rights development that conforms to the trend of the times and suits its national conditions in the practice of promoting human rights progress.

It said human rights have historical, specific and practical contexts, and there are no fixed standards or identical models for its development and protection. The path of human rights development in each country should be respected, and the human rights conditions of that country should be judged by its own people.

Based on the human rights philosophy that centres on the people, China has proposed that “living a life of contentment is the ultimate human right,” the report read.

A staunch defender of human rights, the Communist Party of China has, since its founding, united and led the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in making unremitting efforts to fight for, respect, protect and develop human rights.

It is under the leadership of the Party that China’s human rights cause has achieved all-round development, made historic achievements, and created a miracle of rapid economic development and long-term social stability that has rarely been seen in world history, the report said.

Over the past decades, China has lifted some 770 million rural residents out of poverty, increased its per capita disposable income by more than 180 times, and raised its average life expectancy to 78.2 years from less than 35 years before 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.

China has also built the world’s largest social security network. As a result, every life is well protected with the utmost effort in the COVID-19 outbreaks.

China has constantly developed its whole-process people’s democracy and improved the system of institutions through which the people exercise their role as masters of the country.

As a credible proof of human rights progress in China, the Human Development Index (HDI), which the United Nations Development Programme created by integrating basic indicators such as life expectancy, education level and quality of life, rose from 0.499 in 1990 to 0.761 in 2019 in China, sending the country to the ranks of those with high HDI scores.

REFRESHING ADDITION TO GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS CAUSE
While advancing its human rights cause at home, China fully participates in global human rights governance by engaging deeply in UN human rights affairs and extensively carrying out international human rights cooperation, read the report.

The country has successively ratified or acceded to more than 30 international human rights instruments, provided assistance to 166 countries and international organizations, and sent over 600,000 people on aid missions.

It ranks first among the permanent members of the UN Security Council in terms of the number of peacekeepers dispatched, having sent more than 50,000 personnel on peacekeeping missions over the last three decades.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has made great efforts to promote fair and reasonable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, and has become the country providing the largest number of vaccines to the rest of the world.

China also shares its experience in poverty alleviation with the world and assists developing countries in seeking ways to shake off poverty and achieve development.

For example, the Juncao technology project, which uses grass instead of wood to cultivate edible fungi, has taken root in more than 100 countries.

According to the report, by upholding the idea that the rights to subsistence and development should be taken as primary basic human rights, China has met the basic living needs for an extra-large population and finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

With a combined population of more than 80 per cent of the world’s total, developing countries are faced with similar tasks.

In this sense, China’s explorations and experiences, which feature determined leadership, down-to-earth and development-oriented approach, legal guidance, and open-mindedness, are of great value for their reference, noted the report.

Noting that China has successfully blazed a human rights development path that conforms to the times and befits its own national conditions, the report went on to state that China respects the diversity in the approaches to human rights development and holds that there is no such thing as a perfect “Utopia” for human rights.

It said the country opposes double standards in human rights, rejects attempts to politicize and weaponise human rights, and objects to interventions in others’ internal affairs in the name of human rights.

The report said that countries should base their efforts on equality and mutual respect, actively engage in human rights dialogues and cooperation, expand consensus while bridging differences, and learn from each other and pursue common progress.

It called for efforts to promote fairer, more equitable, reasonable and inclusive global governance of human rights, and work together to build a human community with a shared future.

Global Times editorial: China is doing its utmost to achieve this global goal
(Global Times)The second part of the UN biodiversity summit, known as COP15, will kick off on December 7 in Canada’s Montreal. This is a global event, and delegates representing more than 190 parties will negotiate in the regard of the “Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework” (framework).

If the “framework” is approved, it will become a major achievement of human solidarity in tackling global problems. This is even more extraordinary today when division and conflict are common, and consensus and joint action are scarce. As the presidency of COP15, China is doing its utmost to achieve this goal.

This time the situation is special. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, according to the overall arrangement of the UN, in the aftermath of the first part that was successfully held in Kunming, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, last year, the second part of the COP15 was relocated to Montreal, where the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity is located.

The summit is still chaired under the presidency of China, leading the substantive and political affairs of the conference. China sent an official delegation composed of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the People’s Government of Yunnan Province, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Montreal this time. Although the venue of the meeting has changed, it has not affected China performing and assuming various responsibilities of the presidency.

The approval of the “framework” requires the unanimous consent of more than 190 parties, the huge amount of work and the difficulties can be imagined. As the presidency, China needs to mediate among all delegations and organize a series of bilateral and multilateral talks to bridge differences and create consensus.

According to the Chinese side, relevant negotiations have made positive progress, and the structure and core statements of the “framework” have basically taken shape, which will be both ambitious and realistic, and take the concerns of developing countries into account.

The lessons of the “Aichi Targets” should be noted. Global Strategic Plan 2011-2020 and the Aichi Targets for biodiversity were approved at the COP10 in 2010, with only six out of 20 biodiversity targets partially achieved. China has not only achieved better performance than the global average, but has also over fulfilled some goals.

Holding the presidency of COP15, China has attached great importance to the accessibility and feasibility of targets and the differences in development among countries from the very beginning, and has shown constructiveness and flexibility in the consultations on the framework.

China and Canada have also conducted efficient and constructive cooperation on hosting the second part of the COP15 meeting, which was not hindered by the diplomatic issues between the two countries at the time. It is a kind of symbol. Some people even hope that this meeting will not only bring about a “framework” to save the natural world, but may also mend the rift between China and Canada.

This good wish may be overthinking, but the facts have indeed proved that once the interference of unilateralism, geopolitics and ideology is excluded, the practical cooperation between China and Canada or between any countries will be a natural result. The severeness of global problems require all mankind to strengthen such international cooperation.

Climate change, environmental pollution and loss of biodiversity are three major environment issues in the world. According to data released by the UN, the speed of species extinction is 100 to 1,000 times higher than the normal rate, and 1 million species are in danger of extinction because of human activity.

If the current trend cannot be stopped with firm determination, either humanity will lose their home on earth, or we ourselves will become the next “dinosaur” to face extinction. Chinese people have a profound recognition and understanding of biodiversity.

The report to the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out that “Chinese modernization is the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.

China considers the issue of biodiversity and promotes global biodiversity protection process from the perspective of community of all life on Earth.

Since the first part of the COP15 meeting, China also hosted almost 40 meetings of the presidium of the Convention on Biological Diversity, providing organizational arrangement and guidance for preparation and negotiation process of important meetings of the convention.

COP15 is the first time that China hosts the largest world environmental protection conference. It can be said that China has done a good job, further demonstrating its international influence.

Global issues are common challenges that no one in the world can avoid. The success of COP15 represents the ability of humanity to take action as a whole to deal with challenges, which is of great importance. China, as presidency of COP15, from the beginning to the end, focuses on doing things well in a down-to-earth manner, not claiming credit but always making sure to contribute its share to the success of the cause.