China highlighted on Friday the right to national self-determination at the 60th annual session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (CHR), saying that it is an important and irreplaceable human right.

"The realization of the right to national self-determination is the basis and pre-requisite for the enjoyment of other human rights and fundamental freedoms," said Qi Xiaoxia, alternate representative of the Chinese delegation to the CHR session, which opened here Monday and will last until April 23.

"The development of post-war international relations shows that only when the people of a country are entirely free from the colonial rule and foreign occupation can they truly become the masters of their own country and enjoy various human rights and fundamental freedoms," she elaborated.

She asserted that no country should attempt or have the right to impose its own social system, development model or ideology on others.

"The bullying of the weak by the strong and interference in the internal affairs of other countries is a gross violation of the right of other peoples to national self-determination," she said.

Qi also warned that the right to national self-determination should not be used as a pretext for splitting up sovereign states and instigating national hatred.

"Such actions are no good for promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms, and should therefore be opposed by the international community," she said.

 
(Xinhua News  Agency  March 20, 2004)