Chapter 62 Standing in the tide of the sea

At the beginning of 1996, Wu Jianmin had only been serving as ambassador in the Netherlands for one year and three months when he received an order from President Jiang Zemin to end his ambassadorial work in The Hague and immediately go to Geneva to serve as the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva. Sending Wu Jianmin to Geneva was a deliberate decision by the Chinese leadership.Wu Jianmin was already a veteran diplomat with rich experience in international public relations before he became the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.As early as 1971, Wu Jianmin served as the third secretary and second secretary of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations, and worked at the United Nations Headquarters for 7 years; in 1978, he returned to China and served as the first secretary of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 5 years; in 1985, he came to New York again, Served as the Counselor of the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and 4 years later as the Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Belgium.Judging from his experience, Wu Jianmin is not only familiar with the international environment and has a thorough understanding of foreign policy, but also has a flexible working method and is flexible and flexible. He is a good hand in dealing with international relations in emergencies.Of course, in 1994, as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wu Jianmin visited Russia, Ukraine, and France with President Jiang Zemin, and had close contact with him, which also left a deep impression on President Jiang.

When Ambassador Wu Jianmin was urgently dispatched to Geneva, there were still more than three months before the opening of the 52nd session of the UN Commission on Human Rights.At that time, Chinese leaders knew very well that the 52nd session of the Human Rights Conference would be a "violent battle" for China.Earlier, the United States and some EU countries proposed the so-called "China's Human Rights Situation" bill (Draft Resolution No. 90) to the Human Rights Commission, ignoring the facts and accusing China of its "human rights" situation.There are various indications that Western countries headed by the United States are not reconciled to past failures, and will continue to "launch trouble" against China at this UN Human Rights Conference.

Starting from the Carter administration, "human rights diplomacy" has been brandished around the world as a weapon for the United States to safeguard its national interests. After Reagan came to power in 1981, he emphasized the confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union diplomatically. While implementing the "Star Wars" plan to contain the Soviet Union, he launched a "human rights" offensive against the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. In a speech by Reagan, published in The New York Times on February 7, 1985, he said: "We have resumed our historic role as the leader of the free world . . . Our task is to promote and defend freedom and democracy, and to Spread these ideas everywhere.” After the end of the Cold War, George Bush continued to integrate the “human rights” strategy into American diplomacy, declaring that the “new role” of the United States in the world was to continue to put forward the standards of democracy and human rights to the world.After Clinton came to power, he intensified. With the help of the powerful economic power of the United States, he linked trade, investment, and technology transfer to other countries with democracy and human rights, and threatened most-favored-nation treatment and economic sanctions at every turn, trying to force other countries to accept the proposals proposed by the United States. Some strings attached.Especially for China, which is in its booming period, it has even more accusations, forcing China to accept the "human rights" standards of the United States.

From 1990 to 1995, the Chinese government defeated the "China Situation" bill, the "China/Tibet Situation" bill and three "China Human Rights Situation" bills concocted by a small number of Western countries headed by the United States in succession at the United Nations Human Rights Conference. At 10 a.m. on April 23, 1996, the conference hall of the Palais des Nations in Geneva was packed, and the 52nd session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights opened. Afterwards, China will soon "take no action" on the international community's accusations against China's "human rights" by the United States and other countries. motion to vote.

Before the resolution was voted on, Ambassador Wu Jianmin walked to the podium on behalf of the Chinese delegation. The venue, which was chattering just now, was suddenly silent. Most of the representatives attending the meeting were no strangers to this Chinese ambassador. Wu Jianmin had been "exposed" in the media several times before as the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and his personal style was well known. The vivid scenes of people attacking British Foreign Secretary Hurd in Monte Carlo and verbalizing Western journalists are always fresh in people's memory.

Wearing simultaneous translation earphones, all the delegates at the meeting held their breath, and all their eyes fell on the Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianmin on the stage. Wu Jianmin looked down the stage, greeted the representatives politely, and then explained the status quo of human rights in China calmly and confidently, and fought back mercilessly against Western countries' attacks on China's "human rights". He first cited the following facts: Before 1949, China had a population of about 500 million, and 400 million people were hungry; today China's population is 1.2 billion, and the problem of food and clothing has basically been solved. Before 1949, the average life expectancy of Chinese people was 35 years old, but today it is 70 years old. In 1949, China's illiteracy rate was as high as 80%, which has dropped to 12.1% today, and the enrollment rate of primary school-age children is 98.7%.In the more than 100 years before 1949, the Chinese were bullied by the imperialist powers, but they were second-class citizens in their own land; today's Chinese citizens have become the masters of the country, enjoying various guarantees guaranteed by the Constitution and laws. right.Wu Jianmin pointed out that anyone who is not prejudiced will admit in the face of the above facts that China's human rights record is not bad, but has made great progress.This is not only good news for the Chinese people, but also China's major contribution to the cause of human rights in the world.

He said that since 1990, the United States, together with a small number of Western countries, has made six consecutive anti-China proposals in the Human Rights Commission under the banner of "concerning the human rights situation in China".These six years are the six years in which China has made the fastest progress in all aspects, including the field of human rights.While the Chinese people have made significant progress in enjoying economic, social and cultural rights, they have also made outstanding progress in civil and political rights.China's participation rate is as high as 93.58%.In addition, China began to implement the Administrative Litigation Law in October 1990. In May 1994, the State Compensation Law was enacted.These are two important laws to protect and safeguard the rights of citizens.Chinese people call it "the law of the people suing the government", which is unprecedented in Chinese history. At the end of 1993, Mr. Rui Xiaojian, the then US ambassador to China, said in an interview with a reporter from The New York Times that the human rights situation in China was the best in more than 100 years.

The entire venue was silent, and the delegates listened intently, and many Western delegates picked up their pens to take notes seriously. The more Wu Jianmin said, the more passionate he became: "The country that has attacked China's human rights situation the most in the past six years is also the country that owes a lot to the Chinese people in the field of human rights in history and has trampled on China's human rights. The superpower is not concerned about China's human rights, but its own power or hegemony. They attack China in every possible way because they don't like the development model chosen by the Chinese people. We did not accept the "shock therapy" they advocated, but insisted on our own. Road. There is nothing surprising about the Chinese people walking their own way, because we have been walking for more than 5,000 years. It is wishful thinking and daydreaming to force 1.2 billion Chinese people to obey the orders of the superpower through high pressure! I am here We must tell those who insist on making anti-China proposals, don’t say that you made 6 anti-China proposals, even if you made 60 times, the Chinese will still go their own way!”

Hearing this, representatives of many third world countries gave Wu Jianmin a knowing smile, and some representatives even gave Wu Jianmin a thumbs up from their seats. Wu Jianmin said sincerely that there have always been two opposing views in the field of human rights, one is cooperation and the other is confrontation.Engaging in confrontation is a manifestation of the Cold War mentality.Regardless of whether it is Western civilization or Eastern civilization, whether it is the concept of human rights and values ​​of developed countries or that of developing countries, all have their profound historical and social roots, and there should be no question of which is better.Human rights are universal, but the principle of universality of human rights does not mean that some countries must accept or obey the views of other countries.In this world, the people of every country have their own rights. The Chinese people, the people of Asia, and the people of developing countries have the right and ability to live and manage their own land in the way they choose. nation.The essence of confrontation is the promotion of power politics. Behind the confrontation is the desire to rule. It is not promoting human rights at all, but a blasphemy of human rights!He pointed out that the anti-China bill concocted by the United States and a few other Western countries for political purposes is aimed not only at China, but also at all developing countries.

In the end, Wu Jianmin raised his voice and said meaningfully: "This draft resolution concocted for political purposes, no matter how it is packaged, cannot change its anti-China essence. Its spearhead is not only directed at China, but also at all developing countries. National. What happened to China today could happen to any developing country tomorrow. I call on all justice-minded countries on this committee to vote for this motion." As soon as Wu Jianmin finished speaking, there was warm applause in the venue. Then the General Assembly voted, and finally passed the "no action" motion proposed by China with 27 votes in favor, 20 votes against, and 6 abstentions, and decided not to approve the so-called "China's human rights situation" motion proposed by the United States and the European Union. deliberation and voting.

After the announcement of the voting results, there was another long round of warm applause at the venue. Representatives from many countries rushed forward to shake hands with Wu Jianmin and congratulate China.Wu Jianmin also expressed his gratitude to the representatives who supported China. Western media wrote in the report of the day: Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianmin walked out of the venue amid applause from the third world countries. In 1997, at the 53rd session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Wu Jianmin led the Chinese delegation to defeat the "Draft Resolution No. 91" proposed by the United States, Denmark and a few other countries on "China's human rights situation", allowing more people to understand This diplomatic "Ma La Tang" who went to China.