BEIJING: Several human rights groups based in London and New York recently reported so-called human rights abuses linked to Chinese business operations abroad, smearing Belt and Road projects and China’s outbound investment.
The truth is that those accusations are simply calumnies. Over the years, China and its partners worldwide have, through their joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), stimulated common development, reduced extreme poverty, and improved the well-being of local populations, an indisputable contribution to global human rights cause.
Following the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the BRI is by no means a self-serving geopolitical strategy speculated by those zero-summers in the West.
While the BRI is proposed by China, the opportunities for development the initiative can bring about belong to all participants. And it is an open and inclusive initiative that welcomes the participation of third-party markets and more to achieve better cooperative results.
With the initiative, more residents in Pakistan and Cambodia can enjoy better access to affordable electricity, as Chinese companies have offered clean and safe energy supply solutions that cater to local needs.
Old infrastructures have been revamped in Greece and others, and have become their new drivers of growth. Railways under construction are expected to facilitate inter-country and inter-city transportation in Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa.
According to a report from the World Bank, BRI transport projects could by 2030 help lift 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million people out of moderate poverty globally.
Amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic, countries along the BRI route have included health as their new area of cooperation. That enriches the blueprint that used to focus on infrastructure, trade and economic development. In June, China and 28 countries jointly launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on COVID-19 Vaccines Cooperation, with an aim of boosting vaccine assistance, export, and joint production, a new move to safeguard people’s right to life in the face of this deadly and cunning virus.
China has reached cooperation pacts with co-sponsors of the vaccine initiative on a total of 775 million doses of vaccines, of which 350 million doses have been delivered by early August.
–The Daily Mail-CGTN
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