Participants talk at the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance in Beijing on Thursday. CHEN ZEBING/CHINA DAILY

June 19, 2023 -- There are different approaches to the protection and development of human rights, and Western countries are not in a position to act as judges on human rights elsewhere.

In a congratulatory letter to the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance, which was held last week in Beijing, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that China advocates safeguarding human rights through security and promotes human rights through development and cooperation.

China's understanding of human rights comes from what it has been doing in its endeavors to improve Chinese people's well-being in the past decades. Development has improved people's livelihoods, and should of course be a major concern when it comes to human rights as it is the foundation for people to enjoy other rights.

That explains why China has proposed the Global Development Initiative. Besides making all out efforts to improve the lives of Chinese people, China has been doing whatever it can with its Belt and Road Initiative and other cooperation programs with various countries to make development increasingly inclusive to the benefit of people of different countries.

China could not have achieved what it has without a peaceful environment. The country knows how important peace is for development and thus for the protection and development of human rights. That explains why the country has long advocated peaceful coexistence between countries, and dialogue and negotiation as the primary recourse for settling disputes between countries. That also explains why China has put forward the Global Security Initiative for global governance.

When people's lives are devastated by conflict, human rights can hardly be an issue of great concern for a government. So eliminating security risks is the prerequisite for the development of human rights.

It is shameful for the United States to act as a judge on human rights, pointing an accusing finger at the human rights in other countries when there are so many problems in US society and US people are living under the shadow of gun violence.

China believes that cooperation is essential to the development and governance of human rights. Cooperation is a prerequisite for mutual respect and treating each other as equals. Exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations pave the way for understanding between different peoples.

Only with such understanding will it be possible for a global consensus to be built on issues of common concern, which will help joint global endeavors to respond to common challenges. That is why China has put forward the Global Civilization Initiative.

Instead of mudslinging and taking confrontational approaches, understanding based on exchanges is needed when it comes to the global governance of human rights. Consensus based on understanding helps solve problems, and mudslinging only creates turmoil instead.