Only by abandoning double standards and restoring principles of
equality can the UN Commission on Human Rights maintain objectivity
and fairness, said Chinese Ambassador Sha Zukang yesterday at the
58th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (
UNCHR).
He
said the UNCHR, the leading human rights body in the UN, should be
a forum for countries to exchange views and hold dialogue, with a
level playing field, on ways to improve human rights around the
world.
"Unfortunately it has turned into a battlefield for ideological
confrontation," Sha said.
He
said in recent years, almost all country-specific resolutions that
have been adopted were targeted against developing nations.
This has left people with a false impression that human rights
problems are caused by third world countries while developed
countries are seemingly without fault, he said.
"The statements made by some developed countries in this hall are
full of high-sounding jargon, but what they have done is quite
another story," he added.
The Chinese ambassador to UN in Geneva also gave accounts of human
rights achievements by the Chinese Government.
"In the past year, the Chinese Government kept up its efforts to
develop the economy. The government is also open and active in
promoting international exchanges and cooperation in the field of
human rights," he said.
(China
Daily April 9, 2002)