Gauck's focus on boosting ties

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) holds talks with visiting German President Joachim Gauck at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on March 21, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Considering his "civil rights" experience in East Germany before its unification with West Germany, the ongoing state visit to China by German President Joachim Gauck has been viewed by some Western human rights organizations as an opportunity to exert pressure on China on the human rights issue.

But this will turn out to be a naïve illusion. Although he may raise the issue of human rights as a "routine gesture" like other Western politicians usually do during their tour of China, Gauck has surely put how to boost ties with Beijing to a higher level at the top of his agenda during his visit.

Despite his different values to those advocated by Chinese people, Gauck is sure to know how to gain mutual respect with the host nation, which is different from the East Germany of his youth.

And China's human rights situation is not as depicted by Western media outlets and radical human rights organizations.

The West should look at the basic facts of China's human rights conditions with unbiased eyes. Any people without prejudices should be able to recognize the remarkable progress China has made in improving the rights of subsistence and development for its more than 1.3 billion people over the past decades.

Different from the multi-party systems in Western countries, the political system in China led by the ruling Party is a choice made by Chinese people after decades of painstaking practice. Western politicians should realize this is something that Chinese people will long adhere to.