China: West uses human rights to interfere in countries' affairs

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Aug 2022 18:12
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According to China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the idea that human rights are higher than sovereignty constitutes an excuse for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

China FM: West uses human rights NGOs to discredit China

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a visiting delegation of Geneva-based envoys from developing Asian and African countries that their assertion that “human rights are higher than sovereignty” are “actually an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries," Anadolu news agency reported.

“The implementation of the so-called ‘value diplomacy’ is actually forcing countries to choose sides under the guise of human rights, the so-called ‘democratic reform’ but the result is turmoil, conflict and humanitarian disaster," Wang told the envoys during a virtual meeting on Monday night.

“The lessons of history should be carefully learned, and these actions should be resisted together,” China’s Foreign Ministry quoted Wang as telling the visiting envoys.

Without naming anyone, Wang accused “some Western countries” of "judging" others on human rights.

“They only use flashlights to show others but not themselves. They point fingers at the human rights situation of developing countries and turn a blind eye to the human rights abuses of their own countries and their allies. Engage in the practice of selective blindness,” he suggested.

The Chinese top diplomat also called for “mutual respect” and opposition to “imposition on others."

“Different countries have different national conditions and different histories and cultures. We must proceed from the actual situation of the country and explore a human rights development path that meets the needs of the people,” he said.

Wang also urged, what he called, “opposing the choice of favoritism."

“The connotation of human rights is comprehensive. It is necessary to protect civil and political rights, as well as economic, social, and cultural rights, including both individual rights and collective rights," he said.

“For developing countries, especially the least developed countries, the right to subsistence and development are the most urgent needs of the people,” he explained.

“Multilateral human rights institutions should pay attention to the reasonable demands of all countries, especially developing countries, and further increase their attention and investment in economic, social, and cultural rights and the right to development,” he added.

While a lot of attention is being dedicated to the war in Ukraine, an equally important conflict is developing in the Pacific, and it is about who is to dominate this key region: the United States or China? In fact, the main pivot of US foreign policy is against the growing influence of China.

Whereas China struggled tremendously to maintain its territorial integrity, the West has always found pretexts for the assault on China based on its alleged abuse of human rights.

The most recent visit of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, during which she pledged that the US will not abandon Taiwan, seems to have demonstrated the culminating point to which the West desires to weaken China's territorial integrity and sovereignty.