English.news.cn
BEIJING, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Experts attending the fourth Beijing Forum on Human Rights argued on Thursday that the international community should respect the traditional and cultural diversity that leads to diverging views on human rights issues.
"Food is as important as freedom, and bread as important as the ballot box," said Shad Saleem Faruqi, senior professor of law at Malaysia's Universiti Teknologi MARA.
"We cannot deny the different cultures and religions between the East and the West, the North and the South, although we cherish the core values of human rights principles," he added.
Faruqi said that Western theory on human rights puts a high premium on civil and political rights, but does not recognize the need for socioeconomic rights.
Faruqi added that different world views between the East and the West have led to differing concepts of human rights. Asian countries, he believes, do not necessarily agree with these Western concepts of human rights.
Around 100 experts and officials from 26 countries and regions as well as international organizations attended the two-day forum which opened on Wednesday.
Sponsored by the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS), the forum focused on the relations of cultural traditions, values and human rights, a hot topic throughout the international community as developed countries emphasize universal human rights criteria while some developing countries underline specificity.
Professor Tom Zwart, Director of School of Human Rights Research of the Netherlands, said on the sidelines of the forum that he believes the standards are the same throughout the world, but the modes of implementation are different.
Asian and African countries with deeply-rooted cultural traditions can implement human rights through familial, community, or religious regulations, Zwart said.
"We are not forced to use Western concepts like legalism and individualism. You can focus on your own values and your social institutions," Zwart added.
In regards to China's human rights conditions, Zwart said China has already done a lot of good, but it should make this progress more visible so that others can discuss shortcomings and possible steps to correct these shortcomings with their Chinese colleagues.
"But it should be done with home-grown remedies. They should be Chinese solutions," said Zwart.
Chui Saipeng, Macao's deputy to the National People's Congress and a deputy of the legislative assembly of the Macao Special Administrative Region, said that although human rights values originated in the Western world, these are not the sole criteria because they are not entirely suited to every country in the world.
Chui used China as an example, saying that although the country has signed a series of international conventions on human rights, China differs from Western countries in the implementation of the details of human rights. The differences between China's longstanding traditions and culture and Western civilization have shaped different human rights values.
At the forum's opening ceremony, Wang Chen, minister of the Information Office of China's State Council, or China's Cabinet, said that China has joined 25 international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
"China cannot completely copy the Western concept of human rights. It should make its own in line with its cultural traditions and national conditions, as well as universally-accepted core principles," said Chui.
"The question of whether human rights are universal or not causes controversial arguments time and again between China and Western countries," said Elisabeth Steiner, a judge with the European Court of Human Rights.
"The fact that a dialogue and an exchange of ideas goes on is in itself valuable," she added.
Steiner said that China's recognition of the fundamental principles of human rights and Europe's acknowledgment of the diversity of human rights in different areas can serve as the basis for an EU-China human rights dialogue.
"I am positive that China shall set up its own human rights protection system, which adapts to its own tradition, culture and social development," Steiner said.