On May 22, 2018, Ambassador Shen Yongxiang, the former Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came to CUPL Changping Campus to participate in the fourth phase of the 2018 Masters Conference. The theme for the teachers and students was “China and the West in the United Nations" and “The struggle of the Human Rights Council against the China proposal". The chairperson of this seminar was Prof. Ben Wenzha. Prof. Sun Meng, Prof. Xu Shuang, Yang Bochao and Master graduate students participated in the lecture。

First of all, Ambassador Shen introduced the activities that China began to send observers to participate in the UN Human Rights Commission. In 1990, Western countries such as Australia began to submit human rights reports on China at the human rights group meeting. In response, China put forward a motion for no action on this report. China has used the procedures of the United Nations to actively safeguard its legitimate interests while taking into account the situation of developing countries at that time. In the next decade or so, Western countries have reported on human rights conditions in China almost every year. Although in the struggle of the United Nations, there have been serious situations, but basically they have all been successfully resolved.

Secondly, Ambassador Shen summed up the history of the struggle for more than a decade. First, the struggle for human rights issues is ultimately a political struggle. The human rights report submitted by Western countries actually has little to do with the human rights situation in China. Second, to promote and protect human rights is to safeguard the interests of the Chinese people. It is not only about human rights as the discourse of Western countries, but also about human rights in China. Third, human rights are a matter for all humankind. China should actively communicate and cooperate with Western countries, learn from other countries’ experiences in the promotion and protection of human rights, and at the same time show the world a constantly improving image of China.

Afterwards, Prof. Sun Meng expressed some thoughts on Ambassador Shen’s lecture. First of all, Mr. Sun believed that the study of international law cannot be separated from the practice of national relations and national struggles. Through this lecture, she received a lot of goods. Secondly, in recent years, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also put forward China’s propositions regarding human rights, such as building a community of human destiny. We should not only trace back history but also look to the future. China should assume the responsibility of human rights of emerging powers and promote the development of human rights in the world. Third, the political struggle is based on the procedures of international human rights law and international law. Therefore, the study of law discipline is also necessary.

In the end, two students raised relevant questions regarding Shen’s lecture. Ambassador Shen gave a patient and detailed answer. The lecture ended successfully in the applause of everyone.

Written by Sun Yuanyuan and Han Yufeng