Human rights forum attendees: China makes great contributions to human rights protection

Intro: Participants and other attendees gave impressions of the efforts that China has made in human rights protection at the 2021 South-South Human Rights Forum on Dec. 8.

The third South-South Human Rights Forum, which wasthemed on “putting people first and global human rights governance,” was held in Beijing on Dec. 8. The annual conferenceserves asa communication platform dedicated tohuman rights protection andSouth-South cooperation and is jointly hosted by China’s State Council Information Office and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Participants and other attendees gave impressions of the efforts that China has made in these areas during tea breaks at the event. Some excerpts are as follows:

“China is a role model inCOVID-19 control and prevention,” Naef Abdulraqeb, a postgraduate international student from Yemen, expressed. “Itidentifiedthe virus in a short period of time andhas taken effective measures to protect people’s lives, whicharethe envy of the whole world.The country began makinggreat contributions to the production and supply ofthenew crown vaccine internationally once it got the situation under control domestically, sothe whole world should thankit.”

“Guaranteeing children’s right to education andenablingevery child to go to school is the best thing China has done,” Abalhassan F.S. Djamalillail, a Comoran citizen who has been studying in China for six years, remarked.

The postgraduate student also thought that the nation’s efforts to ensure fair opportunities are laudable andwas impressed byits “communitywith a shared future of humanity” initiative.

“Formerlya poor and backward country, China has made many commendableefforts to helpnations that are still impoverished now that it is no longer poverty-stricken,” he observed.

“In the field of povertyreduction and people-centered policy, China’s experience could be very beneficial for Africa,” noted Joseph Olivier Mendo’o, head of the African youth delegation to China.

The Cameroonian Ph.D. candidate has an in-depth understanding of how major policies initiated by China’s central government are implemented at the grass-roots level as a result of work he has done with some of its villages’ first secretaries.Mendo’o mentioned that he thinks that China’s poverty alleviation methods and policies can serve as a source of inspiration for Africa and thatAfrican countries can adapt China’s experiences to fitlocalrealitiesandsynchronizethemwith established policiesand platforms.

“If you look at [China’s efforts] to elevate millions of people out of poverty, one area of human rights advancement, which is for large numbers, for the collective is marvelous,” Michael Crook, chairman of the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, stated. “I think China probably beats the world in terms of collective human rights.”

“Wise development, beneficial development, development that benefits the mass of the population rather than development that serves to enrich the few – that’s my view on development,” he concluded.