Gov’t affirms commitment to human rights at UN meeting

The government has pledged to strengthen cooperation with the international community and actively implement international human rights treaties, said Leong Weng In, head of Macau’s Legal Affairs Bureau and deputy head of China’s delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) plenary meeting in Geneva.

The UNHRC plenary meeting last week approved the fourth report of the working group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of China, which includes the Macau and Hong Kong SARs.

In her speech, Leong said the government has firmly implemented the “people-based” governance principle and invested substantial resources in areas such as education, healthcare, housing and social security to improve the quality of life for its people.

She reaffirmed Macau’s commitment to scrupulously implementing the “one country, two systems” principle and strengthening communication and cooperation with the international community.

Of the 428 recommendations made to China during the UPR process, only three pertained to Macau.

Responding to these recommendations, Leong said the Macau government has guaranteed and improved people’s livelihoods and will continue to work with the international community to actively enforce applicable human rights treaties, with the support of the central government.

The UPR mechanism encourages the 193 member states of the UNHRC to assess each other’s human rights records.

China has participated in this process four times since 2009, including the latest review in 2024.

The approval of China’s Universal Periodic Review report, which includes the Macau SAR, affirms the government’s dedication to upholding human rights and working closely with the international community to address any concerns or recommendations. Victoria Chan