China welcomes UNGA decision to maintain Human Rights Council status

The UN General Assembly on Monday adopted by consensus a draft resolution on the status review of the Human Rights Council, deciding to keep the Geneva-based council as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly and to conduct another review in 10 to 15 years.

China welcomed the adoption of the draft resolution, saying the outcome provides "a solid legal basis for the council to carry out its mandate and operate effectively in the future".

Speaking after the adoption, Sun Lei, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said the Human Rights Council's current status and division of responsibilities "have proved adequate for its work".

The council replaced the former Commission on Human Rights 20 years ago and became a subsidiary body of the General Assembly. Over the past two decades, it has served as one of the key UN platforms for discussing human rights issues and advancing global human rights governance, Sun said.

The status review bears on the future direction of the council and the interests of all member states, he said. "China has consistently maintained that the review process should be led by member states, focus on the council's current status, and avoid being mixed with other reform processes, including the UN80 initiative and discussions on improving the council's efficiency," Sun said.

He noted that "with the joint efforts of Global South countries", the final text made substantive improvements by clearly maintaining the council's status as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly.

"Human rights are historical, concrete and grounded in reality. They cannot be discussed in the abstract, divorced from the social and political conditions, historical experiences and cultural traditions of different countries," Sun said.

"Whether a country protects human rights should not be judged by the standards of another country, still less through double standards. Human rights should not be used as a political tool to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, nor should UN platforms be turned into venues for pressure and confrontation," he said.

He added that such practices "run counter to the original purpose of protecting human rights, undermine international dialogue and cooperation on human rights, seriously weaken the authority and coordinating capacity of multilateral human rights mechanisms, and further aggravate the deficit in global human rights governance".

Sun called for efforts to "uphold sovereign equality, abide by international law, practice multilateralism, put people first and focus on concrete actions". He also urged greater support for capacity-building and technical assistance for developing countries.

China stands ready to work with all parties to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, promote a fairer and more inclusive global human rights governance system, and support the Human Rights Council in better fulfilling its mandate, he said.