（12 May 2022）

Mr. President,

On Ukraine, China maintains that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries including Ukraine should be respected, that the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be upheld, that the legitimate security concerns of all countries should be taken seriously, and that all efforts conducive to a peaceful resolution of the crisis should be supported. Putting an early end to the fight is the urgent expectation of the international community. It is also what China is striving for. China supports all initiatives and measures that help ease the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. We call on the parties concerned to respect international humanitarian law, and take concrete actions to ensure the safety of civilians, and protect the basic rights and humanitarian needs of women, children and other vulnerable groups. China has put forward a six-point initiative on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and provided Ukraine with several batches of emergency humanitarian aid.

All parties should jointly support the dialogue and negotiations between Russia and Ukraine with a view to bringing about peaceful outcomes, so as to fundamentally guarantee the human rights of people of both Russia and Ukraine. The international community should create enabling conditions for the Russia-Ukraine negotiations, and do more to facilitate a political settlement, rather than lay down obstacles or increase impediments, still less to add fuel to the fire and escalate tensions. As no country can base its security on the insecurity of other countries, we should stay committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and build together a balanced, effective and sustainable global and regional security architecture. 

In recent years, politicization and confrontation at the Human Rights Council has been on the rise, so has “double standards” and selectivity. While the HRC frequently holds Special Sessions regarding certain countries, it fails to take effective actions regarding those countries that have long been slandering and making rumors about the human rights situations in others, that willfully waged wars of aggression on others, killing civilians in overseas military operations, that abused unilateral coercive measures, and those where racism is rampant, gun violence goes incessant and where refugees and migrants are subject to abuse. This has severely undermined confidence in the objectivity and impartiality of the HRC, tarnished the HRC’s credibility, and entailed division within the HRC. We call upon all parties to get back to the founding mission of the HRC, uphold true multilateralism, and work together to promote the sound development of the international human rights cause.

Thank you, Mr. President.