Remarks by H.E. Wang Yi
Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee
And Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China
At the High-Level Segment of the 58th Session of
The United Nations Human Rights Council

24 February 2025

Mr. President,
Colleagues,

Eighty years ago, the United Nations was born amidst the hope of people around the world to beat swords into ploughshares, carrying the lofty dream for all people to enjoy full human rights and marking an important milestone in the cause of human progress.

Eighty years on, global transformation unseen in a century is accelerating, and maintaining peace, promoting development, and protecting human rights are more deeply ingrained convictions. In the meantime, deficits in global peace, development, security and governance are exacerbating, and we are confronted with the critical question of where humanity is headed in this new era.

To answer this question, President Xi Jinping has made a call for the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and put forward the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, proposing China’s solution for the world. President Xi also points out that promoting and protecting human rights is a common cause for all humanity, and necessitates wide consultation and joint efforts. China stands ready to work with all countries to keep to the right approach to human rights and push for the reform and improvement of global human rights governance.

Firstly, we should stay committed to our original aspiration and founding mission, and clarify the true essence of the human rights cause. Democracy and freedom are not a decoration for display. The most important yardstick for a country’s human rights situation is whether the interests of its people are effectively protected and their sense of fulfillment, happiness and security improved.

Therefore, we need to uphold a people-centered approach, make people’s interests the fundamental starting point and ultimate goal, and keep addressing the pressing and practical issues that people care the most. We need to ensure that development is for the people and by the people, its fruits are shared among the people, and its purpose is to deliver happiness to the people. We must say no to any words and deeds that use human rights as an excuse to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries in disregard of national sovereignty and security and the safety of people’s lives.

Secondly, we should uphold fairness and justice and clarify the goal of the human rights cause. As the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The two International Covenants on Human Rights clearly stipulate that in no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence. Human rights should be an entitlement of all, not a prerogative of a few. The situation of the strong staying strong and the weak staying weak must not be allowed to continue, and the practice of pitting individual human rights against collective human rights must be redressed.

To this end, the rights to subsistence and development should be taken as the fundamental human rights of primary importance. On the premise of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and dignity, we need to take a balanced approach to individual and collective rights, to advance political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, educational and other rights in tandem, and to further ensure equality and special protection for specific groups including women, children, the elderly, and people with disability. This is the way to ensure that all types of rights complement and reinforce each other. We must say no to any words and deeds that apply double or even multiple standards on human rights issues.

Thirdly, we should stay committed to engagement and mutual learning and clarify the path to promoting human rights. There is no one-size-fits-all model for human rights. Countries choose their own path to human rights progress according to their national conditions. No path is superior to others, and each has its own distinctive features. Human rights governance should be built by all, the benefits of human rights development should be shared by all, and its path and philosophy should be explored through engagement and mutual learning among all countries.

In this regard, it is important for us to uphold true multilateralism, to adhere to the principles of impartiality, objectivity, non-selectivity and non-politicization, to conduct constructive dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect, to effectively increase the representation and voice of Global South countries, and to build a just, equitable and inclusive global human rights governance system. We must say no to any words and deeds that impose one’s own model or will upon others, that politicize, instrumentalize or weaponize human rights.

Mr. President,

Colleagues,

China is further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. The modernization we are pursuing is not exclusive, but one of peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation and common prosperity for all countries. China, caring deeply for the future of humanity and the wellbeing of all countries, will be a practitioner of international cooperation, a promoter of mutual learning among civilizations, and a builder of a community with a shared future for mankind. We will be more proactive in international human rights cooperation, and together with all sides, work to usher in a better future for the global cause of human rights. 

Thank you.