The international community should deal with human rights issues through dialogues and cooperation, a senior Chinese official said on Tuesday.

"In promoting human rights, only by carrying out constructive dialogues, exchange and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect, ... can all countries in the world achieve common progress and development," said Wang Chen, minister in charge of the State Council Information Office.

In an interview with the Human Rights Journal, affiliated to the China society for Human Rights Studies, Wang said countries in the world should enhance mutual understanding, and learn from each other’s experiences, instead of confronting each other.

Wang said some countries and regional groups had "politicized and ideologized human rights by practicing double standards, flying the 'human rights' flag to negate the sovereignty of other countries and carry out power politics."

This would seriously spoil the atmosphere of international cooperation in and obstruct the healthy development of human rights in the world, Wang said.

The minister said people in different countries have different understandings and demands with regard to human rights and their human rights problems that need priority solution also vary.

"Under the precondition of recognizing the universality of human rights, all governments and people have the right to adopt different policy measures according to their respective national conditions to seek human rights development best suited to their country," he said.

He called on the nations to focus on the "prominent problems in the present-day" world, such as armed conflicts, terrorism, environmental pollution, hunger, poverty, uneven economic development and the growing South-North gap, all seriously threatening human rights in the world, the minister said.

"Dialogue and cooperation are conducive not only to human rights progress in all countries, but also to the harmonious and healthy development of human rights in the world," Wang said.

Power politics, on the other hand, contributes nothing to human rights development, and would poison the international relations and harm the healthy growth of the cause of human rights in the world," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2008)