China versus the West? Wang Yi tells UN no country is ‘human rights teacher’

Human rights cannot be used to “whitewash hegemony”, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told the UN, warning against any single country acting as a “human rights teacher”.Wang delivered his remarks via video link to a high-level meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council held in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday.“No country is qualified to act as the self-appointed ‘teacher of human rights’. No model of human rights should be proclaimed as ‘the sole prescription’,” a Chinese foreign ministry read-out quoted him as saying.Human rights should not be “exploited to adorn democracy” or to “whitewash hegemony”, Wang added, asserting that the principles of the UN Charter and international laws were the fundamental safeguard for promoting human rights.China’s top diplomat further called for “jointly upholding the golden rule of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs and [saying] no to any act of double standards under the pretext of human rights”.Wang also advocated for sovereign equality and an inclusive governance system that worked for all, while stressing the importance of heeding the calls of the Global South to ensure all nations had equal participation, decision-making power and benefits.