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VIII. Advancing the International Cause of Human Rights
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Since the founding of the PRC, in addition to advancing the human rights of its people, China has earnestly supported the just cause of other developing countries to break free from colonial rule, achieve national independence, and eradicate racial segregation. It has helped them to build up their capacity for development, and provided them with development assistance and humanitarian relief. These are great contribution to safeguarding world peace and development and furthering the international cause of human rights. Supporting economic and social development in other developing countries. To help the peoples of developing countries to realize their rights to subsistence and development, China has long provided assistance to other developing countries and regions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in such fields as infrastructure, education, healthcare and agriculture. When providing international aid, China never imposes political conditions, nor does it interfere in the internal affairs of recipient countries. It always stands by the rules of mutual respect, each party treating the other as an equal, and keeping its commitments. In 1963, China dispatched its first international medical aid team. By August 2019, it had dispatched 26,000 medical workers on aid missions abroad, who have treated 280 million patients. In 1964, the Chinese government announced the eight principles for foreign economic and technical aid, setting its basic policy for international assistance: these focus on equality and mutual benefit, and no conditions are attached. It has since provided international assistance that covers all sectors of economy and all fields of society, including industry, agriculture, education, medical care, and infrastructure. China has established partnerships for economic and technological cooperation with many developing peers, and helped build a significant number of infrastructure projects in these countries. Among them are the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, the Friendship Port in Mauritania, the Friendship Hospital in Central African Republic, the Luang Prabang Hospital in Laos, the Bandaranaike Memorial International Convention Hall in Sri Lanka, the Cairo International Conference Center in Egypt, the Moi International Sports Center in Kenya, and the National Stadium of Tanzania. In recent years, President Xi and other CPC and government leaders have announced a raft of major foreign aid initiatives and measures at international events. In addition, they have offered multiple rounds of debt exemption for countries that have diplomatic relations with China – the least developed countries, heavily indebted poor countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing countries. Helping other developing countries to build up their capacity for development. In the 1950s, China began to provide funds to people of other developing countries to study in China, and to help African and other Asian countries to build regular and technical schools. In the early 1960s, it began to dispatch teachers to other developing countries. In the 1970s and 1980s, it began to cultivate senior and mid-level technicians and managers for its aid targets by admitting their students. In recent years, China has set up the Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation and the Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, and launched an economic and technical cooperation plan for BRICS countries. By providing training courses, dispatching managerial and technical professionals, and offering scholarships, it helps other developing countries to cultivate talent. In support of women's development worldwide, President Xi announced at the 2015 Global Summit of Women that China would invite 30,000 women from other developing countries to attend training in China, and would train another 100,000 female technicians in their countries. China initiated the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund. It also worked with other BRICS countries and established the New Development Bank and some other international financial institutions. While fully relying on mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS, it has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative featured with extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. Through cooperation projects with countries or regions along the routes of the Belt and Road, China shares its development opportunities and experience and thereby contributes more to improving the wellbeing of their peoples. Providing humanitarian relief. Over the past years, China's humanitarian relief has increased, and the number of recipients has grown steadily. Throughout this process, China adheres to the principle of opposition to any interference under the pretext of humanitarianism. It never meddles in the internal affairs of recipient countries, and fully respects their culture and customs. China takes an active part in international humanitarian relief initiatives launched by UN organizations. In 1979, it joined the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund and World Food Program, and resumed its activities in the Executive Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It has since made many donations to the UNHCR. In 2004, China launched an emergency mechanism for urgent international humanitarian relief, under which it has provided relief to many countries. This relief includes food and other material assistance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Bangladesh, and technical aid to Southeast Asian countries to combat avian influenza. It also covers funding, personnel, and in-kind support to fight diseases and natural disasters: ? in Guinea-Bissau against locust plague and cholera; ? in Mexico against A/H1N1 flu; ? in Africa against Ebola, yellow fever, plague and other infectious diseases; ? in Nepal, Japan, Iran, Haiti, Chile, Ecuador and Mexico against earthquakes; ? in Madagascar and the Caribbean countries against hurricanes; ? in the US against Hurricane Katrina; ? in the Philippines against Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda); ? in the Indian Ocean countries against tsunami; ? in Indonesia against 2018 Sunda Strait Tsunami; ? in Malaysia, Myanmar and Pakistan against floods; ? in Laos against a dam collapse in 2018; ? in Chile against mountain fires. China assisted 12 Asian and European countries to extract about 2,100 of their citizens in its evacuation operation from Libya in 2011, and again helped 15 Asian, African, European, and American countries to extract 279 of their citizens in the evacuation operation from Yemen in 2015. Safeguarding world peace and security. An active advocate and a faithful practitioner of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, China pursues a foreign policy of peace and peaceful coexistence with all countries, and is also a firm advocate of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. It is committed to advancing South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue, and to narrowing the South-North gap. China has put forward proposals and initiatives and made concrete efforts to address many major international and regional flashpoints, such as the Palestinian issue, the Iranian nuclear issue, the Korean Peninsula issue, and the Syrian issue. It calls for all parties concerned to stay calm, exercise restraint, and solve disputes by political and diplomatic means. China is also active in international cooperation on law enforcement and security. It has intensified cooperation under the framework of international and regional organizations, including the UN, the International Criminal Police Organization, and SCO, to combat terrorism, separatism, extremism, and drug-related crimes. China began to participate in UN peacekeeping operations in 1990. It now ranks first among the permanent members of the UN Security Council in terms of the number of peacekeepers dispatched, and is the second largest donor country to UN peacekeeping operations. By May 2018, China had sent more than 37,000 military and more than 2,700 police personnel to participate in about 30 UN peacekeeping missions in Sudan, Lebanon, Cambodia, Libya, and other countries and regions. |
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