U.S. should fix its own human rights violations first -- senior Chinese diplomat

BEIJING, June 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. side should fix the serious human rights violations on its own territory, instead of wilfully interfering in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of so-called human rights, said senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi on Friday.

Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks in a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the latter's request.

Respect for sovereignty is a prerequisite for the realization of human rights, which is a principle affirmed by the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Yang said.

Yang stressed that there is only one system and one order in the world: the international system with the United Nations (UN) at the core and the international order based on international law, not the so-called system and order advocated by a handful of countries.

He said that there is only one set of rules: the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, not the so-called rules formulated by a small number of countries.

Yang also said that there is only one kind of multilateralism, which is genuine multilateralism based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, and featuring equal treatment, cooperation and mutual benefits, not pseudo-multilateralism based on interests of small cliques and group politics, letting alone practicing unilateralism in the name of multilateralism.

Peace and development, fairness and justice, democracy and freedom are the common values of all humankind, said Yang.