Chinese experts welcomed Greece’s block of the European Union statement on China’s human rights record saying it was done in fairness and leads to greater understanding.
According to Reuters, the EU was due to make its statement last week at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, but failed to win the necessary agreement from all 28 EU states.
A Greek foreign ministry official said Athens blocked the statement, calling it “unconstructive criticism of China” and stressed that separate EU talks with China outside the UN were a better avenue for discussions.
China and some European countries have different criteria for the evaluation of human rights, Chang Jian, director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights in Nankai University, told the Global Times on Sunday.
“China paid more attention to people’s survival and development rights, while European or Western countries focus more on citizens’ political rights and freedom,” Chang explained.
For China, the most important and urgent human rights issue is to improve people’s living standards, which require a stable social order that comes with some restrictions, Chang said.
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