Xi’s human rights book published in French

The launch ceremony for a French-Chinese version of a book of extracts from President Xi Jinping’s discourses on respecting and protecting human rights was held in Paris on Thursday, together with a seminar entitled “Chinese Wisdom for Global Human Rights Governance”.

Compiled by the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the book uses nine themes to systematically record the remarks of Xi on respecting and protecting human rights.

In addition to the French-Chinese version, English-Chinese, Spanish-Chinese, Russian-Chinese and Japanese-Chinese versions of the book have also been published.

Speaking at the launch, Jean Pegouret, president and founder of the Saphir Eurasia Promotion agency and an expert on geopolitics, described the book as a collection of important ideas by Xi since he became general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in 2012.

Pegouret said the publishing of the book is particularly necessary in today’s world.

“I support cultural diversity and frank dialogue between different cultures and values in order to seek common ground while reserving differences,” said JeanChristophe Bas, founder and CEO of The Global Compass and director of the Institute for a Community with Shared Future.

He said he previously worked for the United Nations and in March 2014, he had the honor at UNESCO to listen to Xi’s speech on the diversity of civilizations, adding that Xi said that exchanges should be carried out based on the principles of mutual equality and tolerance in order to establish a new world order for mankind.

Joseph Makutu, head of the French-Chinese university preparatory school, said China has made amazing achievements over the past decades, putting its people on the path to prosperity.

Makutu said China has made great progress in protecting human rights at home, and has also made great contributions to the development of human rights around the world.

Herve Azoulay, a professor at the Paris-based Silk Road Business School and a former senior executive at Schneider Electric, said human rights in China are people-centered.

Azoulay said China believes that every country must properly handle its own affairs first. In this respect, China rejects human rights preaching, especially when there are double standards at play.

He added that China must rely on its own development experience and its 5,000 years of civilization to comprehensively present the concept of civilized development and respect for human rights.

Chen Dong, charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in France, said it is very meaningful to carry out exchanges and discussions on human rights between China and France.

Wang Xigen, dean of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology Law School, said China has developed human rights in an all-round way, has continuously improved the level of human rights protections and set a benchmark for human rights development, through its constitution, laws, strategies, policies, national human rights action plan and specific projects and measures.

Zhao Shukun, a professor at the Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said China adheres to a human rights path with Chinese characteristics. And based on China’s practice, it has widely absorbed the essence of human rights civilizations around the world and formed the basic concept of “promoting human rights through development”.