Geneva: China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva Chen Xu on Tuesday urged the international community to uphold multilateralism, strengthen unity and address global challenges together.
In a statement delivered on behalf of a group of like-minded countries on the second day of the 45th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Chen also called upon the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to treat all human rights on an equal footing.
"We support the OHCHR to continue dialogue and cooperation with States, attach importance to the authoritative information provided by governments, carry out work based on its mandate in an objective, impartial and non-selective manner, and stand against double standards and politicization of human rights," Chen said.
Noting that the year 2021 will mark the 35th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, Chen urged the OHCHR to take more substantive actions on mainstreaming of the right to development.
The Chinese envoy expressed support for an earlier appeal by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet for addressing inequalities, and urged the UN rights agency also to increase support in combating racism, racial discrimination and hate speech.
He noted that many developing countries and least developed countries are under negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and unilateral coercive measures (UCMs) and facing severe challenges in fulfilling international human rights obligations.
"We call upon the OHCHR to provide technical assistance upon the request of the States concerned and oppose UCMs," he said.
