Human rights and sovereign equality are the two fundamental principles that should be both respected in dealing with the world affairs, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said Thursday at the interactive round-table session of the United Nations Millennium Summit.

After citing the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations adopted 55 years ago, Jiang said: "The two fundamental principles of respect for human rights and sovereign equality were established."

Expounding on the relationship between human rights and sovereignty, Jiang said: "it is necessary for the international community to review these two principles."

"On the one hand, it is the common aspiration of all mankind to ensure and enjoy fully the human rights. And it is the sacred duty of all governments to promote and protect human rights. All countries are obligated to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of their own people in accordance with the relevant international instruments on human rights and their national laws in the light of their own national conditions," the Chinese president said.

"On the other hand, the principles of sovereign equality of all countries, mutual respect for state sovereignty and non-interference in each other's internal affairs remain the basic norms governing contemporary international relations," Jiang stressed.

All countries are equal, big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak. It is the divine duty of each government and people to safeguard state sovereignty and national security. "The people of a country are entitled to independently choosing their own social system and development model in the light of their national conditions and to shaping their own way of life," Jiang said.

"The Chinese people know fully well that a country that is unable to safeguard its sovereignty can not possibly protect human rights. Therefore, we cherish dearly our national liberation and state sovereignty which the Chinese people won through protracted and sanguinary struggles. I am sure that this is true of all nations," the president added.

Sovereignty and human rights do not conflict with each other, but rather complement each other and all the countries should admit and respect the differences and diversity of the world, Jiang said.

Jiang also calls for a fair, equitable new internatioal economic order so as to promote the common development of mankind in the process of economic globalization.

"The UN should also dedicate itself to establishing a rational new international financial and trade system and mitigating the risk borne by the developing countries in the process of economic globalization," Jiang said.

"Given the fast advancement of science and technology nowadays, the U.N. should pay special attention to calling upon the international community to assist developing countries in terms of human resources development and science and technology so as to enable them to keep abreast with the new wave of technological progress," he said.

Pointing out that the economic globalization is an objective trend emerging with the development of social productive forces, Jiang said the progress of modern technology and the birth of advanced transportation vehicles and telecommunication means have created conditions for the development of economic globalization.

"However, countries found themselves in very dissimilar positions and situations in the process of economic globalization. While the developed countries are reaping all the 'dividend' of globalization, the vast number of developing countries are still suffering from poverty and backwardness," the Chinese president stressed.

"We need an 'all-win' economic globalization in which all countries, North or South, big or small, are all beneficiaries; we need an economic globalization in which all countries can participate as equal members," he said.

"We need an economic globalization in which all countries can coexist, only when there is mutual respect, mutual promotion and diversity of economic growth mode, culture and value, can world civilization thrive and prosper," Jiang said.

(People’s Daily)