Xi: World should respect voice of developing nations

Xi: As human rights are formulated, every nation should be respected

The international community should respect and reflect the will of the people from developing countries as human rights are formulated, President Xi Jinping said, adding that establishing human rights worldwide cannot be achieved without the joint efforts of developing countries.

Xi’s comments were made in a congratulatory message to the South-South Human Rights Forum, which opened in Beijing on Thursday.

The two-day forum was convened for the first time and focused on the establishment of human rights for people in developing countries.

More than 300 delegates from over 70 countries and international organizations attended the forum, themed “Building a Community of Shared Future for Human Beings: New Opportunity for South-South Human Rights Development”.

People in developing countries, more than 80 percent of the world population, have made significant contributions to the development of human rights, Xi said.

Human rights can and must be promoted only in light of specific national conditions and people’s needs, Xi said, calling on developing countries to uphold both the universality and specifics of human rights and steadily raise the level of human rights protection.

The Chinese people stand ready to work with people in other developing countries and beyond to advance development through cooperation, promote human rights through development and build a community with a shared future, the president said.

Xi’s message read that following a people-centered development philosophy, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have always placed people’s interests above all else and worked hard to meet people’s desire for a better life and improve respect for and protection of the fundamental rights of the Chinese people.

The development blueprint outlined at the 19th CPC National Congress will give a strong boost to human rights development in China and make new and even greater contributions to the progress of mankind, according to the message.

The message was read by Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, at the forum’s opening ceremony.

The important thoughts on building a community with a shared future for humanity proposed by Xi offered Chinese wisdom and solutions toward a more fair and reasonable global human rights governance, said Huang, who also heads the publicity department of the CPC Central Committee.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who also addressed the opening ceremony, said China’s practice shows there is more than one way to protect human rights, and China respects other countries in choosing on their own paths of development and ways to protect human rights.

China has helped more than 800 million people escape poverty and provided jobs for 770 million people, according to Wang.

Yldiz Deborah Pollack-Beighle, foreign minister of Suriname, said the thought of building a community with a shared future for humanity reflects the shared aspiration of most countries and serves the common interests of the international community.

Human rights should not be politicized and discussed in a confrontational manner, she said, adding that the forum “brings together a group of like-minded countries and experts at an important juncture in time to enter into a new era of the human rights landscape”.