Nation continues to fight US rights motion
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-03-31 00:39

China reiterated Tuesday it will fight to the finish as the United States insists on seeking a United Nations resolution criticizing China's human rights record at the ongoing session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

"China does not fear such a resolution," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan, adding that China issued a report Tuesday to give a full picture of the progress the nation has made towards improving its human rights conditions.

"The Chinese Government always advocates human rights dialogues based on equality and mutual respect to narrow differences and enlarge common understanding for common progress in this field," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan at a press conference.

Important achievements have been made in recent years in the field of human rights after China launched wide-range dialogues and exchanges with many countries, he noted.

China will hold human rights dialogues with Britain, Germany and Australia in May and July, he said.

Also, at the invitation of Chinese side, the Evaluation Mission of the UN High Commissioner's Office on Human rights will visit China on May 17-25, he said.

"We would like to make common efforts and push forward human rights dialogues and exchanges with all sides," Kong stressed.

He said China has signed more than 20 international conventions on human rights, including the conventions on economic, social and cultural rights and on civil and political rights.

On June 27, 2003, the Chinese Government submitted to the UN its first periodic report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

"The report is under discussion by related groups under the UN special commission," he noted.

Besides, China has set up a working panel under the State Council to speed up the approval process of the convention on civil and political rights, said Kong.

In another development, the Chinese Delegation to the 60th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on Monday called on the international community to respond positively to calls from developing countries for greater prominence to be given to economic, social and cultural rights, Xinhua reported.

"Economic, social and cultural rights, together with civil and political rights, are the two pillars of the international human rights regime," said Liu Zhenghua of the Chinese delegation.

He urged the international community to take measures to correct the prevailing imbalance between the two categories of human rights.

"The responsibility of realizing economic, social and cultural rights falls first and foremost on national governments. But international co-operation is indispensable," he said.

"Enhanced international co-operation, and in particular greater assistance and support from the developed countries to the developing ones to help the latter create necessary conditions for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, would usefully compliment national efforts in this area," he added.

He expressed the Chinese delegation's view that, compared with civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights are more dependent on conditions which can only be secured by economic growth and can therefore only be realized gradually.