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Stop debating different interpretations of human rights
Nations in both the Global North and the Global South carry the responsibility to protect and promote human rights among their citizens.
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Director of the information office of China’s Xinjiang region Xu Guixiang (third right) speaks during a press conference against a long-delayed UN report which warns of possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, on the sideline of the 51th Human Rights Council, in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 22, 2022. (AFP)
T
he Law Faculty of the Sapienza University in Rome recently hosted a human rights workshop in partnership with the China Society for Human Rights.
I do welcome such opportunities for dialogue, especially involving countries like China, which certainly have a lot of explaining to do regarding their human rights standards and practices. But these meetings must be open and inclusive of voices that are critical of China’s stance on human rights.
With power and ambition to lead the world comes the responsibility to set an example for others.
China has excelled at fighting extreme poverty, building world-class infrastructure systems and hosting massive sports events. But how well does the country protect the freedoms of its citizens?
A powerful country like China must learn how to talk about human rights in a fair and open way.
Many countries are developing divergent views of what human rights are, as well as of how to understand and interpret these rights. This is disingenuous.
For some nations like China, primacy goes to economic and social rights. Fighting off poverty is the overarching goal and the most important objective in terms of implementing and protecting human rights.
