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China hails UN defeat

on rights censure

BEIJING: China hailed on Wednesday the defeat of a U.N. draft resolution critical of its human rights record, saying justice had prevailed and the vote proved the hegemonism practised by the West was unpopular.

In Geneva on Tuesday, China quashed a draft resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) expressing concern over continuing reports of its violations of fundamental freedoms.

China appeared relieved. A Foreign Ministry spokesman thanked 26 other countries for "upholding justice" by backing its motion for "no action" on the UNHRC resolution.

A total of 20 countries voted against China's motion on the resolution, which was drafted by the European Union and United States. Six countries abstained.

It was the sixth year in a row that China managed to avert censure at the U.N.'s main rights forum.

"This shows that the practice of using human rights to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and to carry out hegemonism and power politics is increasingly unpopular," Xinhua news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

"The United States and some Western countries ignored...improvements in China's human rights record...politicised the human rights issue and adopted double standards...to force the Chinese people to change the road they have chosen for themselves," he said.

A Xinhua commentary said a plot by the West to force its human rights standards and values on other countries was doomed to failure.

"Evil Cannot Suppress Good" blared the headline of a commentary in the Workers Daily.

The newspaper said no country could claim its human rights record to be perfect and that differences among countries were normal due to different political and economic systems, historical and cultural traditions and levels of development.

China would, as always, support the United Nations and endeavour to improve and safeguard human rights, it said.-Reuter