This photo taken on June 14, 2023 shows the opening ceremony of the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin)
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BEIJING, June 15 (Xinhua) -- China has secured many outstanding achievements in promoting and protecting human rights, and has contributed wisdom to promoting global human rights governance, experts said at a Beijing forum on the topic this week.
The Forum on Global Human Rights Governance took place in the Chinese capital on Wednesday and Thursday, attracting more than 300 participants from home and abroad. At the event, participants held in-depth discussions on the practice of domestic human rights governance by China and its contribution to the international community.
Veronika Saraswati, China Study Unit Convenor of Centre for Strategic and International Studies of Indonesia, said she thinks highly of China"s practices in promoting and protecting human rights. She said that China has accomplished remarkable feats in economic and social development while maintaining peace, laying a solid foundation for the protection of human rights.
"Among all the achievements that China has made, one that cannot be ignored is the historic resolution of absolute poverty," Saraswati said, adding that it not only makes a major contribution to the cause of global poverty reduction, but also provides inspiration for the eradication of poverty in other developing countries like Indonesia.
Peter Hediger, Swedish sinologist, historian and international security policy expert, said that China has pursued a successful foreign policy that benefits not only China but also many other countries, and this has helped improve the level of human rights in the world.
Hediger said that 30 years have elapsed since the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, and despite all countries pledging to enhance cooperation and common development, there are still hegemonies that recklessly pursue their goals at the expense of others, and they have become a major source of instability in today"s world.
Countering such trends, China"s foreign policy has played a model role when it comes to the implementations of the goals set by United Nations, he said, adding that the fruits of such endeavors were in evidence recently when China successfully mediated the resumption of diplomatic relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
"We cannot talk about human rights without any action," said Saraswati, pointing out that some countries use "human rights" as a tool to attack and smear other countries, while China has been safeguarding and promoting the development of human rights with concrete actions.
Saraswati pointed out that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has played an important role in promoting global human rights progress. Taking the joint construction of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway as an example, she said the railway will effectively connect urban and rural areas and stimulate the vitality of local economic and social development.
"It is one of China"s many concrete actions to safeguard and promote human rights," Saraswati said.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of China"s proposal of the BRI. Stephen Brawer, Chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden, said he is convinced that the BRI is the pathway to peace, as well as true human rights in the proper sense of development and the elimination of global poverty.
"One crucial idea is the idea of the common good for all people," Brawer said, adding that this is where human rights and the BRI can come together to construct "a community for a shared future for mankind."
