Abstract: China’s international human rights cooperation and exchanges from 2010 to 2020 have the following main characteristics: China’s cooperation with United Nations multilateral human rights institutions is the main part of China’s international human rights cooperation and exchanges. China has been deeply involved in cooperation with UN multilateral human rights agencies and is playing an increasingly important role in them. Bilateral human rights dialogues are the main focus of China’s bilateral human rights cooperation and exchanges, and in recent years the objects of the human rights dialogue have been expanding. In addition to the official level of multilateral and bilateral human rights cooperation and exchanges, the Chinese government also encourages human rights organizations to actively participate in the international human rights exchanges and makes those organizations play an increasingly important role in international human rights exchanges. The Chinese human rights organizations also develop innovative ways for international human rights exchanges and become an important channel for the international community to understand the ideas and situation of human rights protection in China.

 

Keywords: China · international human rights cooperation · international human rights exchanges

 

From 2010 to 2020, China’s international cooperation and exchanges in the field of human rights have been intensified and expanded, and such exchanges and cooperation have yielded increasingly fruitful results. The author has been involved in preparing every China Human Rights Development Report (Human Rights Blue Book) since 2010. Based on the relevant reports of the blue books, this paper reviews and summarizes the characteristics of China’s international human rights cooperation and exchanges.

 

 

Cooperation with the multilateral human rights institutions of the United Nations is the priority for China’s international human rights cooperation and exchanges. China has been deeply involved in the cooperation with the UN multilateral human rights institutions and is playing a bigger role in them. The UN multilateral human rights institutions that China works with include both the UN Charter bodies and the treaty bodies.

 

 

China has been elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council five times, in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016, and 2020. In all of them, the votes in favor of China have far exceeded the required two-thirds majority of the members of the UN General Assembly. This shows that China is highly recognized by the international community and has won the support of most of the UN member countries.

 

As a member of the Human Rights Council, China has earnestly performed its duties, actively participated in all its sessions and various work, and accepted the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN Human Rights Council. So far, China has had three UPRs — the first in February 2009, the second in October 2013, and the third in November 2018. The three UPRs have all adopted the reports on the review of China’s human rights situation and made positive comments on its progress. In the Second UPR, China’s positive achievements in human rights recognized by the international community included progress in the field of social and economic development; progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in particular in eradicating poverty and ensuring the right to education for all; technical assistance to developing countries; and a commitment to developing a national policy to combat the abuse of child labor. In the third UPR, more than 120 representatives of the 150 countries that signed up to speak expressed their affirmation or support for China. After the review, representatives from dozens of countries expressed congratulations and respect for China.

 

The UN Human Rights Council is also an important place for China to express its position on human rights and on behalf of countries with the same or similar views. The concept of human rights expressed by China has also been written into the resolutions of the United Nations Human Rights Council and has become an important part of the international discourse on human rights. The Chinese concepts of human rights that have become the international human rights discourse mainly include:

 

 

On March 1, 2017, at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council, China, on behalf of 140 countries, delivered a joint statement entitled “Promote and Protect Human Rights and Build a Community with a Shared Future for Human Beings.” This statement further explained, on the international stage of human rights, the concept of building a community with a shared future for human beings and its significance for promoting the development of international human rights cause. Among the many resolutions adopted at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council on March 23, two of them, namely, the resolutions on the “Question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights”, and on the “Right to Food”, explicitly included the concept of “building a community with a shared future for human beings.” The resolution on “the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights” points out the “commitment to spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law, as well as peace, development, and respect for all internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, and believing that broad and sustained efforts are needed to build a community with a shared future for human beings... The resolution on the “right to food” stresses the “determination to take new steps toward the fulfillment of the commitments of the international community, to seek significant progress toward the realization of the right to food through enhanced international cooperation and solidarity and persistent efforts, to build a community with a shared future for human beings.”¹ This is the first time that the concept of building a community with a shared future for human beings has been included in a resolution of the UN Human Rights Council,² making it part of the international discourse on human rights.

 

 

On 22 June 2017, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on “the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights” proposed by China. The resolution, which reflects the demands and aspirations of developing countries, won the support of most developing countries and was signed by more than 70 countries. This was the first time in the history of the Human Rights Council that a resolution on development was adopted.³ The resolution recognizes the common aspiration to build a community with a shared future for human beings, affirms that development contributes significantly to the enjoyment of all human rights by all, and calls upon all countries to realize people-centered development of the people,by the people and for the people. The resolution calls upon all States to spare no efforts in promoting sustainable development while implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as it is conducive to the overall enjoyment of human rights. The resolution welcomes further efforts to promote development initiatives to promote partnerships, win-win outcomes, and common development.⁴ On July 12,2019, a resolution on “the contribution of development to the enjoyment of all human rights” proposed by China was once adopted by the UN Human Rights Council. This was the second time that China had proposed such an important resolution, and it received wide support from the members of the Human Rights Council. This resolution reaffirms that development is a major contribution to the enjoyment of all human rights and that achieving people’s aspirations for a better life is a priority task for all countries. It calls upon all countries to realize the people-centered development of the people, by the people, and for the people. It calls on all countries to promote sustainable development and strengthen international cooperation on development and poverty eradication. China calls upon all countries to support multilateralism, demonstrate the spirit of cooperation, and translate their commitments to support the development and promote human rights into concrete actions.⁵

 

 

On March 23, 2018, the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council adopted the resolution on “promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of human rights” proposed by China.

 

The resolution calls on all countries to work together to build a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation and build a community with a shared future for human beings. It stresses that all countries should adhere to multilateralism, strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights and achieve win-win cooperation.⁶ On June 22, 2020, the UN Human Rights Council once again adopted the resolution on “promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of human rights” proposed by China. This is the second time that China has put forward this important initiative following the adoption of the resolution on “promoting mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of human rights” by the Human Rights Council in 2018. The resolution calls for upholding multilateralism, building a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation, and building a community with a shared future for human beings. It emphasizes that countries should conduct sincere dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights, share good practices and experience in promoting and protecting human rights, strengthen technical assistance and capacitybuilding for human rights, and achieve win-win cooperation.⁷

 

 

China has always maintained a constructive cooperative relationship with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. China has invited the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China on many occasions and signed several cooperation agreements with the OHCHR. China has also co-organized human rights seminars with the OHCHR and made donations to OHCHR. Annual donations from China have increased from $20,000 to $50,000 since 2010. In 2011, China and OHCHR successfully held the China-UN Seminar on Justice and donated $100,000 to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development in 2017. In November 2018, Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng, also head of the Chinese delegation, made a statement during the third country-specific review of the Human Rights Council. He pledged that China would strongly support the work of the UN human rights mechanism and said that China had invited, Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, to visit China at an appropriate time. In the next five years, China will contribute $800,000 to OHCHR every year.⁸

 

 

China attaches great importance to the important role of the UN Special Procedures on Human Rights in the field of international human rights and maintains sound cooperative relations with them. The Chinese government has responded to every letter from the UN Special Procedures on Human Rights in a responsible manner and has invited experts or working groups from many of the Special Procedures to visit China.

 

In November 2018, Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng, the head of the Chinese delegation, disclosed in his speech at the 3rd Human Rights Review of the Human Rights Council that the Chairman of the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Human Rights Council, the independent expert on the rights of the elderly and the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities had been invited to visit China.⁹

 

 

Concerning the international human rights conventions to which it has acceded, China attaches great importance to the fulfillment of its obligations under these treaties, including seriously writing implementation reports, timely accepting reviews by human rights treaty bodies, sincerely accepting constructive suggestions from the international community with a responsible attitude, and constantly improving its work in the field of human rights protection. According to statistics from the white paper, titled “Progress in Human Rights over the 40 Years of Reform and Opening Up in China,” by August 2018, China had submitted 26 implementation reports to treaty bodies, with a total of 39 issues, and received reviews 26 times.¹¹

 

Besides, China also actively recommends Chinese experts to participate in the work of international human rights treaty bodies.

 

 

Bilateral human rights cooperation and exchanges conducted by China mainly take the form of bilateral human rights dialogue, which has seen an increasing number of dialogue partners in recent years.

 

China has held several rounds of bilateral dialogues and consultations on human rights with many countries. In addition to human rights dialogues with Western developed countries, China has also been actively engaged in human rights consultations with developing countries in recent years. Apart from face-to-face communication, the organizers usually arrange visits before and after the dialogue so that participants can get to know each other’s real situation more directly.

 

 

Taking the period from 2017 to 2020 as an example. During this period, China held many human rights dialogues with developed Western countries. In 2017, China held four bilateral human rights dialogues with developed Western countries.

 

In 2018, China also held four bilateral human rights dialogues with developed Western countries.

 

On April 1, 2019, China and the European Union held the 37th Human Rights Dialogue in Brussels. The dialogue was co-chaired by Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and Pampaloni, Deputy Director Asia and Pacific at the European External Action Service. Representatives of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Public Security, the European External Action Service, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, and the Directorate-General for Trade in the European Commission attended the dialogue. Representatives of EU member states attended as observers. During the dialogue, China and the European Union exchanged views on their respective new progress in human rights, human rights and counter-terrorism, rights of refugees and migrants, and international human rights cooperation. The Chinese side stressed the human rights path, philosophy, and achievements with Chinese characteristics, and hoped that the European side could view China’s human rights situation fairly and objectively, and conduct human rights exchanges and cooperation with China based on equality and mutual respect.¹⁶ The Chinese side also raised the problems existing in the European Union in such areas as an infringement of the rights of refugees and migrants, racial discrimination, xenophobia, violent law enforcement, and the gap between the rich and the poor. After the dialogue, the Chinese delegation also visited local anti-terrorism and deradicalization institutions.

 

On September 8, 2020, China and Germany held their 16th Human Rights Dialogue online. Yang Tao, Director-General of the Department of International Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and B?rbel Kofler, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Federal Government of Germany, co-chaired the dialogue. Representatives from the Supreme People’s Court of China, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, as well as Germany’s ministries of Foreign Affairs, Economy, Interior, and Justice attended the dialogue. Both sides agreed that under the current international situation, it was necessary to adhere to multilateralism and continue to advance the work of the United Nations in the three pillar areas of security, development, and human rights. The Chinese side expressed concern over the farright ideological trend in Germany, the violation of the rights of detainees, the weak supervision of police law enforcement, and the violation of human rights in counterterrorism. The Chinese side hoped that the German side would pay attention to and resolve these issues.¹⁷

 

 

Mainly started after 2010, bilateral consultations on human rights between China and other developing countries are new progress in China’s bilateral human rights exchanges in recent years. Developing countries and regional organizations that have conducted bilateral human rights consultations with China mainly include Brazil,Pakistan, South Africa, Cuba, and the African Union.

 

On January 19, 2015, Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, held the first China-Brazil consultation on human rights with Alexandre Ghisleni, Director-General of the Department of Human Rights and Social Affairs of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. The two sides exchanged views on the international human rights situation, multilateral human rights cooperation, OHCHR, and other issues.¹⁸ On December 6, 2016, China and Brazil held the second round of consultation on human rights in Beijing. Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs and Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, co-chaired the consultation with Alexandre Ghisleni, Director General of the Department of Human Rights and Social Affairs of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. The National Ethnic Affairs Commission of China sent representatives to participate in the consultation. The two sides exchanged views on the new progress in the field of human rights, the international human rights situation, multilateral and bilateral human rights cooperation, and other issues during the consultation, believing that the consultation is conducive to strengthening bilateral coordination and cooperation in the field of human rights.¹⁹

 

On April 12, 2016, China and the African Union held the first consultation on human rights at the AU headquarters. Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, co-chaired the consultation with Dr. Khabele Matlosa, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission. Chinese departments participating in the consultation included the Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council, All-China Women’s Federation, and China Disabled Persons’ Federation. Officials in charge of human rights, elections, and refugees from the African Union’s Department of Political Affairs participated in the consultations. The two sides exchanged views on their views and specific practices on human rights, multilateral human rights cooperation, and technical cooperation on human rights, and agreed to establish a regular human rights consultation mechanism. The Chinese delegation visited the Human Rights Center of Addis Ababa University on April 11 before the consultation.

 

During the meeting, Aisha Laraba Abdullahi, AU Political Affairs Commissioner, met with the Chinese delegation.²⁰ On October 31, 2017, China and the African Union held the second round of consultations on human rights in Beijing. Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, co-chaired the consultation with Minata Samate Cessouma, AU Political Affairs Commissioner. Representatives of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of China, Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council, All-China Women’s Federation, and China Disabled Persons’ Federation attended the consultation. During the consultation, the two sides exchanged views on the new progress in human rights in China and Africa, the international human rights situation, multilateral cooperation in human rights, and technical cooperation on human rights. On the same day, the AU delegation also visited Beijing Dongsi Olympic Community Sports and Cultural Center and other places.²¹

 

On April 14, 2016, China and South Africa held the first consultation on human rights in Pretoria. The consultation was co-chaired by Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and

Ambassador Nozipho Joyce Mxakato-Diseko, Deputy Director-General for Global Governance and African Affairs of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa. The consultation was attended by officials including the Director of the Human Rights Division of the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation. Chinese participants included representatives of the Poverty Alleviation Office of the State Council, All-China Women’s Federation, and China Disabled Persons’ Federation. The two sides exchanged views on the concept of human rights and cooperation on human rights and agreed to establish a regular human rights consultation mechanism.²²

 

On July 20, 2017, China and Pakistan held their third round of consultations on human rights in Beijing. The consultations were co-chaired by Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Khalil Hashemi, Director General of the UN Department of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. The two sides exchanged views on their new progress in human rights, the international human rights situation, multilateral cooperation in human rights, and bilateral technical cooperation on human rights.²³ On May 10, 2018, China and Pakistan held their fourth round of consultations on human rights in Islamabad. Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, co-chaired the consultation with Khalil Hashemi, Director General of the UN Department of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry. The two sides exchanged views on the international human rights situation, international human rights cooperation, and bilateral technical cooperation on human rights. During the consultation, the Chinese delegation also visited the Pakistani Ministry of Human Rights and exchanged views with its Executive Secretary on the practice of human rights protection.²⁴

 

On August 31, 2018, China and Russia held their 11th multilateral consultations on human rights in Beijing. Liu Hua, Special Representative for Human Rights Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and Rinat Alyautdinov, Director of the Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights of the Russian Foreign Ministry, cochaired the consultations. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the international human rights situation and multilateral human rights cooperation.²⁵

 

Bilateral human rights dialogues and consultations conducted by China have achieved positive results and played their due role. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects: first, mutual understanding has been increased, communication channels have been opened, and many consensuses have been reached with dialogue partners, which to a certain extent reduces the impact of hearsay and false speculation. Second, they have promoted the progress of human rights on both sides. The two sides can have face-to-face exchanges on each other’s successful practices in human rights protection, jointly explore existing problems, learn from each other, and complement each other. Third, these dialogues reflect China’s open posture. But human rights dialogues are not always free from problems. Those with the developed Western countries are often accompanied by conflicts. Some people in the West still embrace a Cold War mentality and make unrealistic demands in the course of the dialogue, hoping to take the opportunity to force China to follow their ideas and model, and even to pressure China to change its course. Otherwise, they will regard the human rights dialogue with China as having limited achievements. During the dialogue, China has always emphasized the principle of treating each other as equals and respecting each other and has been actively working to enhance trust and dispel the misunderstandings of the West. At the same time, China firmly opposes the practice of pressure through dialogue. It urges officials of relevant countries to correct their attitude toward the dialogues, and view the outcomes of the dialogues and China’s human rights situation in an objective way.²⁶

 

 

In addition to multilateral and bilateral human rights cooperation and exchanges at the official level, the Chinese government also encourages social human rights organizations to actively participate in international exchanges on human rights, thus enabling human rights organizations to play an increasingly important role in international human rights exchanges. China’s human rights organizations have also been innovating their ways of communicating with other countries, serving as an important channel for the international community to learn about China’s human rights concepts and situation. Among them, human rights organizations represented by the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development have been very active in international exchanges on human rights.

 

Chinese human rights organizations participate in international human rights exchanges mainly in the following ways.

 

 

The China Society for Human Rights Studies is the largest national academic organization in the field of human rights in China. From 2008 to 2018, the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development have hosted nine “Beijing Forum on Human Rights” in Beijing,²⁸ and the Forum has gained great international influence.

 

Besides, the China Foundation for Human Rights Development has also taken advantage of its strengths and held many international seminars and forums on human rights issues in bilateral and professional fields in cooperation with foreign foundations and relevant institutions as well as local and provincial authorities. For example, the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, China Association for International Exchanges, and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung jointly hosted the 11th China-Germany Human Rights Symposium and the three China-Germany Human Rights Development Forums (2017-2019). The China Foundation for Human Rights Development and the National Committee on US-China Relations have co-hosted nine China-US Seminars on Justice and Human Rights. The China Foundation for Human Rights Development has also hosted three International Seminars on Human Rights Culture and Museums.³⁰

 

 

China’s human rights organizations have been innovating their ways of participating in international exchanges on human rights. They have not only actively participated in the meetings of the UN Human Rights Council, but also hosted or participated in several diversified side events on human rights since 2017, which have played an important role in promoting international exchanges on human rights.

 

In 2020, affected by COVID-19, Chinese human rights organizations encountered difficulties in participating in the meetings of the UN Human Rights Council and hosting the thematic side events. Under such circumstances, the Chinese human rights social organizations have continuously innovated the way of international exchanges and hosted many video side events and international video seminars on human rights. The China Society for Human Rights Studies alone has hosted eight consecutive video conferences on international human rights,³² which received an important international response.

 

 

Group visits are also an important way for Chinese human rights organizations to conduct international human rights exchanges from 2010 to 2020. During this period, the China Society for Human Rights Studies has organized delegations to visit Australia, Austria, Belgium, Egypt, the European Union, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and actively engaged in human rights exchanges with people from all walks of life in these countries. The China Foundation for Human Rights Development has also sent delegations to several countries. Due to the COVID-19, foreign exchanges were suspended in 2020.

 

In addition to human rights organizations such as the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, many academic institutions on human rights in China, such as the National Human Rights Education and Training Base and human rights research centers in universities and research institutes across the country, are also engaged in various forms of international exchanges on human rights. Their activities include participating in international academic conferences on human rights, inviting foreign human rights scholars to give lectures in China, giving courses and lectures on human rights abroad, conducting research on human rights issues abroad, carrying out cooperative research in human rights with foreign human rights scholars, and carrying out various research and training in cooperation with United Nations human rights agencies. They have also made important contributions to China’s international exchanges on human rights.

 

(Translated by CHEN Feng)