Jointly Promote the Development of Human Rights and Resolutely Oppose Hegemonic Acts 

 - In Memory of the 30th Anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action

China firmly advocates and fulfills the spirit of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, and actively participates in, constructs and contributes to global human rights governance. During the 52nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in March, China, on behalf of nearly 80 countries, made a joint statement on the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA), calling for enhanced international cooperation, revitalizing the spirit of VDPA, and promoting high-quality development of the human rights cause, which received warm and active response and strong support from developing countries. Over the past 30 years, China has continuously promoted the implementation and outcomes of VDPA in China and around the globe, which has enabled China to make historic achievements in its human rights cause, to open a path of human rights development that conforms to the trend of the times and meets local conditions, and to make great contributions to the development and progress of the international human rights cause.

On behalf of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, the co-organizer of this Forum, I would like to share with you some of China's approaches and views on the implementation of VDPA.

Firstly, we always adhere to the philosophy that the people's access to happiness is the top human right, and try all efforts to properly carry out the cause of human rights in China. President Xi Jinping emphasized that, the people's access to well-being is the top human right, and development is the key to realization of people's happiness. China has always taken the people's pursuit of a well-off life as its goal, and reflected in all aspects of and throughout the development of human rights its people's aspirations, interests, rights and well-being. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has adhered to a people-centered development philosophy, implemented the new development concepts in a complete, accurate and comprehensive way, and promoted economic development, democracy and the rule of law, ideological and cultural development, fairness and justice, social governance, and environmental protection in a coordinated manner, striving to achieve higherquality, more efficient, more equitable, more sustainable and more secure development, so that our people will have a more adequate, more guaranteed and more sustainable sense of gain, happiness and security.

Secondly, we have always honored our solemn commitment to making new and greater contributions to mankind, and actively encouraged the joint development of the global human rights cause. The Communist Party of China has always taken it as its mission to make new and greater contributions to mankind, in the belief that only when people of all countries live a good life, can mankind have prosperity sustained, security guaranteed and human rights well-founded. China has taken the lead in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals and in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, contributing more than 70% of the world's poverty reduction. China offers development assistance to developing countries by construction of assisted projects, provision of materials, technical cooperation, humanitarian aid and debt relief, which includes both a series of major infrastructure projects and many "tiny but beautiful" projects for public well-being, playing a key role in helping the developing countries enhance their development ability, improve people's life and accelerate human rights development. China has always been committed to building a community with a shared future for mankind, providing more public goods to the international human rights field, promoting human rights development in a diversified, independent and open pattern, and constantly enriching human rights civilization.

Thirdly, we always respect other countries' path of human rights development and resolutely oppose hegemonic and bullying acts. Since countries differ in historic culture, inherited civilization, social development and economic level, they must and have to explore their own path of human rights development adaptable to their actual situations and their people's needs. Unfortunately, some certain countries "only look at the speck in other's eye, but pay no attention to the log in their own eyes", playing with double standards, arbitrarily interfering in the internal affairs of other countries on the pretext of human rights, willfully imposing unilateral sanctions or even starting wars to deliberately create division, confrontation, turmoil and riot, essentially imposing their hegemony, supremacy and power politics under the guise of humanity, democracy and human rights, and seriously impairing the healthy development of the world human rights cause. China firmly opposes using human rights issue as a political tool to peddle local ideology, object to any empty talk about human rights in separation from social and political conditions and historical and cultural traditions, and rejects any practice of imposing hegemony, supremacy and power politics on the pretense of human rights. We advocate that different civilizations and countries should respect, tolerate, communicate with and learn from each other, so as to accelerate development of global human rights governance in a more equitable, impartial, reasonable and inclusive manner and to create a better future for the world.

My friends, the 20th CPC National Congress identified the central task of building a great modern socialist country in all respects, achieving the second Centenary Goal, and comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by Chinese path to modernization. In the process of the great rejuvenation, all human rights will surely be developed in a comprehensive and coordinated pattern. We also believe that the Chinese path to modernization will inject strong impetus into the cooperation among all countries around the globe to meet human rights challenges and achieve common development, and China will make new and greater contributions to the further development of the world human rights cause!

Excerpt from Jiang Jianguo's Speech at the "Forum on Global Human Rights Governance".