The UN’s Human Rights Bodies
This chapter examines the evolution of the UN’s two human rights bodies: namely, the UN Commission on Human Rights and its replacement, the UN Human Rights Council. Three key moments in China’s history in relation to these organizations—notably the Commission’s (and Sub-Commission’s) role during and after the Tiananmen crisis of June 1989, the movement from Commission to Council in 2005–6, as well as the impact of the UN’s 2011 Libyan intervention and the advent of the broader ‘Arab Spring’—are used to uncover how and why Beijing has worked to influence the procedures of bodies designed to advance the UN’s human protection agenda. In all these instances, China’s active involvement in the work of these bodies demonstrates a potent relationship between its ideological beliefs and concerns about image. The chapter concludes that China has become less reticent and more confident in putting forward its world view about what best promotes human rights. The balance has shifted in its approach from an essentially defensive strategy towards one that aims to promote its own ideas in this issue area. Beijing is arguing for a development-first model based on the assumption that the benefits of its politico-economic model, and the relationship of that model to improved levels of human protection, have become plainer to many other states.