(New York, 29 October 2009)

Mr. Chairman,

The Chinese delegation thanks the President of the Human Rights Council for his introduction to the report of the Council, and expresses appreciation to the Ambassador Alex van Meeuven, Permanent Representative of Belgium, President of the HRC and the previous President, Ambassador Uhomoibhi, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations in Geneva, for their positive efforts in ensuring the effective functioning of the Human Rights Council in the past year.

Generally speaking, the Human Rights Council functioned smoothly over the last year and has accomplished quite a number of tasks. It considered all of the 10 items on its agenda and discussed substantive human rights issues; its various mechanisms, such as the Universal Periodic Review, complaints procedure, special procedures and the Advisory Committee, are all in good running order. It is particularly worth mentioning that, in response to the current global crisis, the Human Rights Council held special sessions on the financial and food crises and carried out comprehensive discussions on these issues in the context of promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights and adopted relevant resolutions by consensus, thus reflecting its concerns about the fundamental human rights, including the rights to life and development, of the developing countries and the vulnerable groups, which have been severely impacted by the crises. The Chinese Delegation commends these efforts of the Human Rights Council.

Of course, the Human Rights Council has been in existence for only three years, so it still needs to fine-tune and gradually improve its mechanisms. It must be stressed that, in order to implement the spirit of GA resolution 60/251 and fulfill the mandate entrusted by the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council must totally renounce the flaws of its predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights, such as politicization and double standard, and adhere to the fundamental principles of impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity. It should respect different viewpoints and opinions enhance mutual understanding and cooperation through dialogue and consider human rights issues in a constructive manner. Only by so doing will the Human Rights Council lives up to the expectations of the international community.

According to GA resolution 60/251, the Human Rights Council will review its status and functioning five years after its inception. In our opinion, the purpose of the review is not to start all over again, but to identify the shortcomings in the functioning of the Council and to improve its work. Therefore, we support the resolution adopted by Human Rights Council at its 12th Session on setting up an intergovernmental working group responsible for the review and hope that all sides will participate in the work of the working group in a constructive manner and strengthen exchanges and communication so that the review can be conducted smoothly.

Mr. Chairman,

China has been a member of the Human Rights Council since its inception. While working unremittingly to promote human rights at domestic level, China has always fulfilled in good faith its responsibilities as a member of HRC by actively participating in the consideration of all the agenda items and promoting international dialogue and cooperation, thus contributing to the work of Human Rights Council in its consideration of all human rights issues in an impartial, objective and non-selective manner. China will continue to enhance dialogue and cooperation with the other members of the Human Rights Council in our joint effort to achieve the noble objective of promoting and protecting human rights.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.