Chinese Ambassador Outlines Consensus Reached at National Development Confab
-As Event Ends on a Good Note

The Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Mr. Ren Yisheng has outlined the consensus reached by participants, who included top government officials, members of the diplomatic, human right experts, business executives, UN agencies and international organizations, civil society groups, the media, academics, and other stakeholders at the 2 day first National Conference on the Right to Development which ended yesterday, Tuesday, May 31, 2022 at the Golden Gate Hotel, Paynesville City.

    Ambassador Yisheng said that all the participants shared their respective visions on the significance of the RTD and ways of achieving it, as well as the pragmatic cooperation between China and Africa, China and Liberia. He noted that the new ideas and methods brought about by the guests are enlightening and feasible, and thus will play an important role in promoting the RTD, the economic and social development of Liberia and Africa and international cooperation.

    The Ambassador who made this in his closing remarks at the end of the conference said he was was upbeat about the outcome and believed that the event has achieved the anticipated goals of understanding the concept of RTD, cementing friendship, seeking cooperation and sharing benefits, and is a complete success and shared information on what he called consensus built during the two day gathering.

    “The first is to raise awareness of the importance of realizing the rights to subsistence and development. Poverty is the biggest obstacle to the realization of human rights, and development is not only a means to eradicate poverty, but also provides conditions for the realization of other human rights, and is also a process for people to realize their potential. Subsistence is the premise and foundation of development, and development is for a higher level, more decent and more dignified subsistence. In developing countries, Africa including Liberia in particular, if the issues of the rights to subsistence and development are not basically resolved, other human rights such as democracy and freedom cannot be well realized.

     “The second is to adhere to the philosophy of placing equal emphasis on development and security. Peace and security are conditions for development, and development is the foundation of security. A tree cannot grow tall or bear fruit in a barren land torn apart by the flames of war. Although the Covid-19 epidemic continues to ravage the world and the crisis in Ukraine has intensified, peace and development are still the themes of the times, and the pursuit of peace, development and cooperation is the aspiration of the people. The international community should firmly safeguard world peace and security, create favorable conditions for the realization of the rights to subsistence and development, and promote sustainable security through sustainable development’, he said.

     He said the third has to do with respect for cultural diversity, stressing that there was the need for the international community to respect the right of each country to proceed from its own history and based on its reality and improve the protection level of people’s rights to subsistence and development, and to take a human rights development path that suits its own national conditions. He added that all countries should actively conduct dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights on the basis of equality and mutual respect, strengthen capacity building, and abandon the wrong practice of politicizing human rights issues and applying double standards on human rights issues.

    Going further, he named the adherence to a win-win cooperation and striving to promote the common development of all countries as the fourth consensus where all countries should focus on the theme of development, actively carrying out pragmatic cooperation in economy, trade, energy, science and technology, etc., raising living standards, closing the wealth gap and promoting common prosperity, and making more development achievements better benefiting the people of all countries. “We should strengthen macroeconomic policy coordination, actively promote the reform of global economic governance, maintain an open world economic system, and jointly respond to world economic risks and challenges. All countries should replace the old thinking of zero-sum game and “winners take all” with a new approach of win-win and all-win, combine the pursuit of self-interest with taking into account the interests of others, and link the promotion of national development with the promotion of common development”, he said.

    Ambassador Yiseng as a co-sponsor of the conference said the fifth consensus is that the international community should vigorously promote the realization of the RTD in Africa, saying that due to historical reasons, African countries are facing many difficulties and challenges in terms of economic and social development, and are more vulnerable to global risks and challenges. He averred that the international community should further build consensus and strengthen cooperation to help African countries to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, promote the development of infrastructure, smart city, economy, agriculture, education, tourism, eradicate poverty, and achieve the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and AU Agenda 2063, so as to secure the long-term peace, prosperity and stability of Africa.

     “The sixth is to accelerate the realization of the RTD in Liberia. Liberia has an advantageous geographical location and is rich in natural resources such as minerals, forests, arable land and water conservancy. It has sufficient labor force and huge development potential. The international community should further dock the SDG with Liberia’s “Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development”(PAPD), strengthen international and regional cooperation, and help Liberia improve its infrastructure, create a more favorable businesses climate, overcome the Covid pandemic, and promote the steady economic development”, he stated.

    Touching on the China-Africa and China-Liberia relations, he said they are good friends, good brothers and good partners and that the two sides have mutual complementary advantages in terms of industrialization, infrastructure, agricultural modernization, green development and other fields, and are natural partners.

    “Entering into the new era, China will continue to uphold the foreign policy of sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith as well as the right approach to justice and interests, adhere to the silk-road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit, and integrate the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI), the Global Development Initiative(GSI), the Global Security Initiative(GDI) closely with AU Agenda 2063 and PAPD, actively implement the “Nine Programs” of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, deeply integrate China’s development with that of Africa including Liberia, and steadily promote a great framework of China-Africa cooperation, build a China-Africa mutual connectivity cooperation mechanism, and promote the comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development of Africa”, the Ambassador stated.

    In closing, Ambassador Yisheng extended thanks and appreciation to all those who helped to make the program a grand success and looked forward to the realization of the objective of the major event.