Twenty Years of the United Nations Human Rights Council: Historical Process and Achievements of China’s Participation

ZHANG Wei*

Abstract: Promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms is the basic purpose and principle of the Charter of the United Nations. The Chinese government has consistently supported the efforts made by the United Nations in this regard and actively participated in the United Nations human rights activities, especially the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council. This paper adopts a combination of literature review and empirical analysis, systematically examines relevant documents of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and objectively shows the basic situation of China’s participation in various mechanisms of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The study finds that China comprehensively participates in the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has continuously put forward human rights resolutions at the Human Rights Council, showing an increasingly institutionalized pattern. These United Nations historical documents indicate that under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy and important expositions on human rights, China is promoting global human rights governance towards a fairer and more reasonable direction with a more confident and active attitude.

Keywords: Universal Periodic Review · Special Procedures · Advisory Committee · global human rights governance