Drawing wisdom from classics 从经典中汲取智慧
More than 200 scholars, officials and representatives from over a dozen countries attend the International Academic Conference on the Ideas of Human Rights in Ancient Chinese Classics to share their perspectives on human rights on November 20, 2024. Photo: VCG
Editor’s Note: 编辑器’的注意:
An international academic conference on the ideas of human rights in ancient Chinese classics was hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Hunan Provincial Committee and Hunan University at the historic Yuelu Academy in Changsha, Central China’s Hunan Province on Wednesday. More than 200 scholars, officials and representatives from think tanks from China and several countries, including the US, Canada, Italy, Japan and Pakistan, attended the event and shared their perspectives on human rights.
周三，中国人权研究会、中共湖南省委宣传部和湖南大学在中国中部湖南省长沙市历史悠久的岳麓书院主办了一场关于中国古代经典中人权思想的国际学术会议。来自中国和美国、加拿大、意大利、日本和巴基斯坦等国的200多位学者、官员和智库代表出席了此次活动，并分享了他们对人权的看法。
The Global Times extracted key points from scholars’ views on the human rights concepts embedded in traditional Chinese culture, the significant achievements China has made in human rights endeavors, and the differences in human rights perspectives between the East and the West.
《环球时报》从学者们对中国传统文化中蕴含的人权理念、中国在人权事业中取得的重大成就以及东西方人权观差异的看法中提取了关键点。
Zamir Awan, a non-resident fellow with the Center for China and Globalization and a sinologist at the National University of Sciences and Technology
中国与全球化研究中心非常驻研究员、中国国家科技大学汉学家扎米尔·阿万说
The Chinese approach to human rights is deeply rooted in its unique political ideology, cultural heritage and historical context. China places a strong emphasis on collective rights over individual rights, prioritizing economic development, social stability and national sovereignty as essential components of its human rights philosophy. This approach is shaped by the belief that development is a fundamental human right, and without a stable and prosperous society, the enjoyment of other rights becomes secondary or unattainable.
China advocates for a pluralistic view of human rights, asserting that each country has the right to interpret human rights in a way that aligns with its cultural values, historical experience and developmental priorities.
China’s efforts in promoting South-South cooperation, particularly through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), are framed as contributions to global human rights by fostering development, reducing inequality and creating opportunities for shared prosperity among developing nations.
China’s success in lifting millions out of poverty and advancing economic growth positions it as a key player in global human rights discourse, promoting a view that the pursuit of collective prosperity is an essential pathway to realizing human dignity for all.
A critical challenge to human rights is the political use of human rights by certain powers, particularly in the Western world, as a tool for advancing geopolitical interests. Human rights issues are often highlighted selectively, targeting rival nations while overlooking violations committed by allied countries.
For instance, the US frequently publishes reports criticizing the human rights records of countries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Cuba, portraying them as violators of fundamental rights. At the same time, countries allied with the US, such as Israel and India, despite having documented records of human rights violations, receive far less criticism. This selective approach raises concerns about double standards in the global human rights discourse.
Nations that oppose Western political agendas are often labeled as human rights violators, while those aligned with Western powers are depicted more favorably.
This politicization undermines the credibility of international human rights advocacy and creates a perception that human rights are used as a strategic tool to weaken geopolitical rivals rather than as a sincere effort to uphold human dignity.
中国的人权理念深深植根于其独特的政治意识形态、文化遗产和历史背景。中国把集体权利置于个人权利之上，把经济发展、社会稳定和国家主权作为人权理念的重要组成部分。这种做法是基于这样一种信念，即发展是一项基本人权，没有一个稳定和繁荣的社会，其他权利的享受就成为次要的或无法实现的。
中国倡导多元的人权观，主张每个国家都有权以符合其文化价值观、历史经验和发展重点的方式来解释人权。
中国在促进南南合作方面的努力，特别是通过“一带一路”等倡议，通过促进发展、减少不平等和为发展中国家之间的共同繁荣创造机会，被视为对全球人权的贡献。
中国在使数百万人摆脱贫困和促进经济增长方面取得的成功，使其成为全球人权话语中的关键角色，促进了这样一种观点，即追求集体繁荣是实现所有人的尊严的重要途径。
人权面临的一个关键挑战是，某些大国，特别是西方国家，在政治上利用人权作为推进地缘政治利益的工具。人权问题经常被选择性地突出，针对敌对国家，而忽视盟国的侵犯行为。
例如，美国经常发表报告批评中国、俄罗斯、朝鲜、古巴等国的人权记录，将其描述为侵犯基本人权的国家。与此同时，与美国结盟的国家，如以色列和印度，尽管有侵犯人权的记录，但受到的批评要少得多。这种选择性的做法引发了对全球人权话语中双重标准的担忧。
反对西方政治议程的国家往往被贴上侵犯人权的标签，而与西方列强结盟的国家则被描绘得更为有利。
这种政治化破坏了国际人权倡导的可信度，并造成一种看法，即人权被用作削弱地缘政治对手的战略工具，而不是作为维护人类尊严的真诚努力。
Peter Hediger, a Swiss sinologist, historian and international security policy expert
The creators of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) have claimed that the Declaration is derived from ideas of the American and French Revolution in the 18th century. The Western powers still pretend to agree with this.
However, this view is incomplete, biased and erroneous. In various Chinese classics, written hundreds of years before the American and French revolutions, many corresponding ideas can be found which focus on the well-being of the people. It is the merit of the current Chinese leadership to rediscover and disseminate this fact.
In the course of history, China has accumulated a wealth of wisdom and ideas of good governance. Many of these thoughts may have occurred under a different label, but their contents are identical or close to ideas promulgated in the UDHR. They did not come in any judicial framework of laws, but were addressed to the rulers as binding moral obligation.
The implementation of the UDHR on a global scale relies on single member states, but here comes a dilemma. The linkage between the UDHR and the sovereignty of nations is an area full of traps and mines.
Apart from social differences and discrepancies among and within member states, the biggest inequality lies in the refusal of some influential powers to acknowledge and respect the different political systems of member states.
In today’s world, a sincere and efficient implementation of the UDHR is only possible in a multipolar world order, where each nation is taking responsibility and care of its particular needs. Therefore, the West splitting the existing world into two camps – those who practice democracy and those who do not – is too simplistic. China has proven that, other than blindly following the course set by Western democracies, it has found another valid way.
瑞士汉学家、历史学家和国际安全政策专家Peter Hediger说
《世界人权宣言》（UDHR）的起草者声称，《世界人权宣言》源自18世纪美国和法国大革命的思想。西方列强仍然假装同意这一点。
然而，这种观点是不完整的、有偏见的和错误的。在美国和法国革命前几百年写的各种中国经典中，可以找到许多关注人民福祉的相应思想。重新发现并传播这一事实，是当前中国领导层的功绩。
在历史的长河中，中国积累了丰富的智慧和善治思想。其中许多思想可能是在不同的标签下出现的，但其内容与《世界人权宣言》所公布的思想相同或接近。它们没有出现在任何法律的司法框架中，而是作为具有约束力的道德义务向统治者提出的。
《世界人权宣言》在全球范围内的实施依赖于单个成员国，但这里出现了一个困境。《世界人权宣言》与国家主权之间的联系是一个充满陷阱和地雷的领域。
除了成员国之间和成员国内部的社会差异和差异外，最大的不平等在于一些有影响力的大国拒绝承认和尊重成员国不同的政治制度。
在当今世界，只有在多极世界秩序中，每个国家都承担责任并照顾其特殊需要，才有可能真诚和有效地执行《世界人权宣言》。因此，西方将现有世界划分为两个阵营——实行民主的阵营和不实行民主的阵营——过于简单化了。中国已经证明，除了盲目遵循西方民主国家设定的路线，它还找到了另一条有效的道路。
Christophe Peschoux, former section chief of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
“Human rights” has been used and misused in the past decades that I think it is useful to revisit this term. Human rights have been clouded and blurred by misconceptions, misunderstandings and above all by political manipulations to the point that they have come to be derided by many and held in suspicion.
They have been weaponized by powerful states – the US and the West – against other states to shame them, embarrass them, pressure them in attempts to weaken and destabilize them.
As the expression goes, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. To refresh our understanding of what their value is for us, not in the abstract, but practically in our lives, concrete and spiritual, we need to look beyond the legal norms, what underpins them: the principles and values. To clarify the meaning of these terms: life is a value (we value life, we cherish it because it is precious, the most precious that we have). “You should respect life” is a moral principle. A principle is a precept to guide our life.
I am convinced that the values that underpin modern human rights norms, as expressed in the UDHR, can be found in every society, culture and civilization. The best way to make them grow and flourish on Chinese fertile soil is not by adopting them uncritically from outside, nor by transplanting them mechanically or repeating them like an article of a new faith.
Christophe Peschoux，联合国人权事务高级专员办事处前科长
在过去的几十年里，“人权”这个词一直被使用和误用，我认为重新审视这个词是有益的。误解和误解，尤其是政治操纵，使人权蒙上了阴影，模糊不清，以致受到许多人的嘲笑和怀疑。
它们被强大的国家——美国和西方——武器化，用来对付其他国家，羞辱它们，让它们难堪，向它们施压，试图削弱它们，动摇它们。
俗话说，不要把婴儿连同洗澡水一起倒掉。为了更新我们对它们对我们的价值的理解，不是抽象的，而是在我们的生活中实际存在的，具体的和精神的，我们需要超越法律规范，看到它们的基础：原则和价值观。澄清这些术语的含义：生命是一种价值（我们珍惜生命，我们珍惜它，因为它是宝贵的，我们所拥有的最宝贵的东西）。“你应该尊重生命”是一个道德原则。原则是指导我们生活的准则。
我深信，《世界人权宣言》所表达的作为现代人权规范基础的价值观可以在每一个社会、文化和文明中找到。让它们在中国肥沃的土地上茁壮成长的最好方法，不是不加批判地从外部引进它们，也不是机械地移植它们，或者像一种新信仰一样重复它们。
Reference Link:- https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202411/1323606.shtml
An effort bifurcation human rights among different countries. China’s struggle of human rights in the world.