A harmonious and orderly society is a prerequisite to promoting
human rights, said a senior Chinese legislator in Beijing?on
Wednesday.
"Likewise, the progress of international human rights is
inseparable from the harmonious coexistence of all countries," said
Jiang Zhenghua, Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the
National People's Congress, at the opening of an international
symposium on human rights.
The three-day event sponsored by the China Society for Human
Rights Studies has drawn more than 70 human rights experts,
scholars and officials from 19 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe
and America.
Jiang called for respect for the right of every country to
independently choose its own social system and development road.
Dialogue and exchanges between different societies should be
enhanced to remove mutual misgivings and barriers.
"We should seek common ground while reserving differences and in
so doing, pursue common development and work together to build a
harmonious world that incorporates various societies and in which
everyone enjoys human rights," said Jiang.
Cai Wu, head of the Information Office of China's State Council,
said different social systems, development levels, and historical
and cultural backgrounds had resulted in different approaches to
human rights.
"We should respect the diversity of civilization and the
diversity of patterns of human rights development," said Cai.
"We should promote international exchanges and cooperation on
human rights on the basis of full equality, mutual respect, seeking
common ground while reserving differences and learning from others'
strong points to offset one's weaknesses," he said.
Nina Karpachova, Ukraine's National Ombudsman, said some
countries applied double standards to human rights issues, causing
heavy losses to many countries. A lesson should be drawn from
this.
Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi, Minister of the Special Secretariat for
Human Rights of the Presidency of Brazil, said people around the
world shared the common goal of promoting human rights progress and
preventing violations of human rights regardless of their
color.
He said China had made notable achievements in human rights.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2006)
