China endeavors to improve human rights

Editor's note: Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, delivered a speech at the "Assessment Meeting of the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010)" in Beijing on Tuesday. Following is the full text of the speech:

With the approval of the central government, today we are holding the Assessment Meeting of the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) here to sum up the implementation of the Action Plan. More than 200 people are present at today's meeting, including persons in charge of 53 relevant departments and institutions of central state organs, and human rights experts and grassroots representatives from mass organizations, NGOs, institutions of higher learning and research institutions. First of all, on behalf of the International Communications Office of the CPC Central Committee, the Information Office of the State Council and the joint meeting mechanism for the National Human Rights Action Plan, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to government departments and institutions at various levels and the general public for their contributions to the implementation of the Action Plan.

In April 2009, after receiving approval from the State Council, the Information Office of the State Council published the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010). It is China's first national plan on the theme of human rights, and serves as a policy document of the current stage for advancing China's human rights in a comprehensive way. It is an important move to implement the constitutional principle of respecting and safeguarding human rights, and to promote sustainable development and social harmony. It is also a solemn commitment to the world made by the Chinese government on human rights. Since the Action Plan was promulgated, under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the relevant departments of the central government and State organs, and local governments at all levels nationwide have incorporated the Action Plan into their work and adopted effective measures to implement it based on the principle of "each performing its own functions and being responsible for its work". Enterprises and institutions, mass organizations, NGOs, media agencies, academic and research institutions and the general public have also been actively involved in the publicity and implementation of the Action Plan, and guaranteed the fulfillment of all targets and tasks set by the Action Plan.

In accordance with the stipulations in the Action Plan, a joint meeting mechanism for the National Human Rights Action Plan was created, consisting of the Information Office of the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which jointly take the leading role in this mechanism and relevant state legislative and judiciary organs, departments of the State Council, mass organizations and NGOs. The mechanism is responsible for coordinating the implementation, supervision and assessment of the Action Plan. At the end of 2009 the joint meeting mechanism launched a mid-term assessment of the implementation of the Action Plan, appraised and reviewed its implementation for the earlier period, and confirmed the implementation in the next phase. In November 2010 the joint meeting mechanism launched the final assessment of the implementation of the Action Plan to give it a comprehensive and scientific evaluation. The final assessment was conducted in three stages - investigation, evaluation and summary. From November to December 2010 the Information Office of the State Council and the China Society for Human Rights Studies took media agencies, human rights experts and NGO representatives on tours of investigation in Shanghai, and Sichuan, Shandong and Guangdong provinces, where they offered opinions and suggestions. Relevant departments and institutions made self-assessments of the completion of their respective tasks concerning the Action Plan, and submitted written reports. The joint meeting mechanism established an assessment team composed of human rights experts from relevant departments and institutions of central state organs, mass organizations and NGOs, as well as institutions of higher learning and research institutions. The assessment team examined the self-appraisal of each department and institution in accordance with the targets set by the Action Plan, solicited opinions and suggestions from all social sectors through various channels, and finally formulated the Assessment Report on the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010).

Comrades in charge and grassroots representatives of relevant departments of the central government and mass organizations, including Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Supreme People's Court, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, China Disabled Persons' Federation, Wenchuan county government, etc, have just made speeches introducing the implementation of the Action Plan from different angles, and expressed their opinions. What they mentioned reflects the implementation of the Action Plan and fully conforms to the assessment and opinions given by the Assessment Report. In accordance with the assessment organized by the joint meeting mechanism, we can say with responsibility that the Action Plan has been well implemented. Generally speaking, by the end of 2010 all measures stipulated in the Action Plan had been put into practice, with all the goals achieved and tasks fulfilled in due time. Of these, 35 percent of the binding targets and over 50 percent of the targets concerning the people's livelihood had been met ahead of time or exceeded, thus realizing the comprehensive implementation of the Action Plan. In addition to the tasks stipulated in the Action Plan, the Chinese government has made extra efforts in other fields and aspects. With the compilation and implementation of the Action Plan, the Chinese citizens' awareness of human rights has been remarkably enhanced; the people's overall living standard has been markedly improved with the progress made in the national economy and social development; their economic, social and cultural rights and interests have been comprehensively safeguarded; their civil and political rights have been effectively protected; the rights and interests of ethnic minorities, women, children, elderly people and the disabled have been robustly safeguarded; international communication and cooperation on promoting human rights have been further advanced; and with the establishment of the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, safeguarding human rights in all fields has been put on the path of institutionalization and legalization. The fulfillment of all targets and tasks in the Action Plan as scheduled shows that the cause of human rights in China has entered a new stage.

During the two years 2009 and 2010, China faced the most difficult economic situation after entering the new century, and an unprecedented global financial crisis spread throughout the world, which imposed a heavy toll on China's economic and social development, and posed severe threats to people's life and human rights. Also during these two years, China suffered several major natural disasters, bearing the heavy tasks of disaster relief and rescue, post-disaster reconstruction, and facing tremendous challenges to people's lives and property. Facing these difficulties, the Chinese government persistently combined addressing the financial crisis, meeting the challenges posed by various major natural disasters and maintaining sound and relatively rapid economic and social development with implementing the Action Plan and advancing the cause of human rights in China. It also combined safeguarding human rights with adhering to reform and opening-up policy, promoting scientific development and social harmony, vigorously and steadily advanced political system reform, spared no effort to ensure and improve the people's livelihood, and strengthened democracy and the rule of law, thus guaranteeing the fulfillment of all targets and tasks set by the Action Plan:

Firstly, people's rights to subsistence and development, and economic, social and cultural rights have been improved in an all-around way. During these two years, China's GDP registered an average annual growth rate of 9.77 percent. In 2010 the Chinese urban residents disposable income increased by 11.3 percent over the previous year, a growth of 7.8 percent in real terms, and the rural residents net income increased by 14.9 percent, with a growth of 10.9 percent. An additional 22.7 million urban workers were employed. At the end of 2010 the registered urban unemployment rate was 4.1 percent, down 0.2 percent over the same period of the previous year - the lowest since the global financial crisis which started in 2008. The number of impoverished rural people had decreased to 26.88 million, 13.19 million fewer than that at the end of 2008. Meanwhile, people's living and production conditions in China's rural areas have been noticeably improved, as has the social security system, which covers both urban and rural areas. By the end of 2010 the number of people covered by urban basic old-age insurance reached 257 million, 38 million more than at the end of 2008. The basic medical insurance for urban residents covered 430 million people, while the new rural cooperative medical insurance covered 836 million people, with a total coverage reaching 1.26 billion people, or over 90 percent of the country's population. An overall medical insurance scheme has taken shape.

Meanwhile the right to education has been fully guaranteed. In 2010 the State exempted 130 million rural students undergoing compulsory education from paying tuition and other fees, and subsidized about 12.24 million boarders from poor rural families. By the end of 2010 the nine-year compulsory education covered 100 percent of the national population, the retention rate for students undergoing five years of elementary school education reached 99 percent, and the gross enrollment rate in junior high schools reached 100 percent. The illiteracy rate among the population above 15 years of age dropped to 4.08 percent.

In the same two years the three-year Wenchuan earthquake reconstruction task was basically completed; the basic living conditions of disaster victims and the economic development of disaster-stricken areas either equaled or exceeded the pre-disaster levels, with guaranteed housing and employment for every family. Following the Yushu earthquake and Zhouqu landslide, reconstruction proceeded in an orderly manner, and the human rights of people in the disaster-stricken areas were effectively safeguarded.

Secondly, people's civil and political rights have been more effectively guaranteed. Over the past two years China, upholding the principles of the leading role of the Communist Party of China, the people as masters of the country and the rule of law, has incorporated the implementation of the Action Plan into every link of the efforts to strengthen democracy and the legal system; energetically and steadily pushed forward political system reform, and strengthened democracy and the rule of law; persisted in and improved the systems of people's congresses, multi-party cooperation and political consultation, regional ethnic autonomy and community level self-governance; and expanded citizens orderly political participation, making government affairs better known to the public by increasing policymaking transparency, and putting more efforts into protecting the people's rights to information, participation, expression and supervision. The revised Electoral Law of the People's Republic of China approved at the Third Session of the Eleventh National People's Congress in March 2010 explicitly stipulates that urban and rural deputies to people's congresses shall be elected in accordance with the corresponding population proportion, so as to improve the representative character of the deputies. The Electoral Law further enriches stipulations on the electoral mechanism and procedures, and guarantees the protection of citizens equal right to vote. This marks significant progress in China's construction of democratic politics. Over the past two years, the State has promulgated the Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the Social Insurance Law and the Tort Liability Law, and revised many other laws including the Labor Law, the Education Law, the Agriculture Law and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Maternal and Infant Health Care. In February 2011 the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted the Amendment VIII to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. The amendment abolished the death penalty for 13 types of economic non-violent crimes. The reduction accounted for nearly one-fifth of the total number of crimes carrying the death penalty. The amended Criminal Law laid down restrictive stipulations on the application of the death penalty to people of 75 years old and above, manifesting China's respect for life and protection of human rights. By the end of 2010 China had formulated 236 laws, including some contained in the Constitution, more than 690 administrative regulations, and more than 8,600 local rules and regulations. A socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics has been basically established, and there are laws and regulations to go by in the fields of economy, politics, culture, social life and human rights protection.

Meanwhile, human rights have been better protected in the areas of administrative regulation enforcement and judicial process. Protective and relief measures have been strengthened, extorting confession by torture and illegal detention by law enforcement personnel have been strictly forbidden, and the law-enforcing and judicial supervision mechanism has been improved. The right to impartial trials of litigants, especially of those on criminal charges, is protected by law.

Thirdly, the rights and interests of ethnic minorities, women, children, elderly people and the disabled have been fully guaranteed. Over the past two years China has perfected laws and regulations to protect the rights and interests of ethnic minorities, and fully guaranteed their rights to manage the affairs of ethnic autonomous regions as well as State affairs in accordance with the law. The living standards of ethnic minorities have also been greatly improved as ethnic regional economies realize rapid development. Over the past two years the state has appropriated 2.779 billion yuan as a development fund for ethnic minorities, and over-fulfilled the targets in this regard set in the Action Plan. Protection for religious beliefs and heritages has also been improved. A bilingual teaching mode has taken shape, adapted to the language environment and educational conditions of each ethnic group. A bilingual teaching system is taking shape to train ethnic-minority people proficient in both Chinese and their own spoken and written languages.

The equality and legitimate rights and interests of women have been fully protected. The past two years have seen increased participation of women in the management of State and social affairs. The State formulated and enriched the Social Insurance Law and the Regulations on Labor Protection for Female Workers and Employees. The National People's Congress closely inspected the enforcement of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests. Trade unions at various levels also provide legal assistance to female employees.

The legitimate rights and interests of minors are now well protected. By 2010, among all the country's provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government, 18 had revised the relevant local regulations in support of the Law on the Protection of Minors, and five had made local regulations on the prevention of juvenile delinquency. Children's rights to health and education are guaranteed. Welfare institutions for children have been established in cities at and above the prefectural level all over the country, forming a basic service network for child welfare. The government has also intensified its efforts to prevent and crack down on the crimes of abusing child labor and abducting and trafficking in children. The protection of the legitimate rights of minors has been further enhanced.

Moreover, the government has improved services for elderly people. The state has amended the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Aged. The Safety Management Standards for Social Welfare Institutions is now being drawn up. The government carries out nationwide inspections on institutions providing services for elderly people. In 2010 enterprise retirees saw their per capita basic pension increase by 140 yuan per month. This pension had already grown for four consecutive years, from 2005 to 2009. The government has also built institutions to provide various urgently needed services for elderly people.

In addition, laws and regulations protecting the rights and interests of people with disabilities are being improved. The NPC Standing Committee has included the Mental Health Law into its lawmaking plan, and the related departments have jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Building of the Social Security and Service Systems for People with Disabilities, and an overall plan to implement this policy has also started. In 2010 a total of 3,592 legal aid agencies throughout the country provided legal services to over 54,000 people with disabilities.

Fourthly, human rights education among the public is being carried out extensively, and the Chinese public's awareness of human rights has been remarkably enhanced. During the past two years China has integrated the publicity of human rights knowledge with the popularization of legal knowledge, and carried out various human rights education programs in a planned way, mainly by relying on the current education system, training organizations of the State organs and radio and TV broadcasting. The result has been a significant improvement in the public's awareness of human rights and its ability to safeguard such rights. The China Society for Human Rights Studies has published a serious of books, including China's Human Rights Cause Is in Action and China's Human Rights Achievements over the Past Sixty Years. The periodical Human Rights and the website www.humanrights.cn also publicize knowledge about human rights among the people. At present, there are nearly 30 human rights research centers in China set up by colleges and research institutes. Dozens of colleges offer courses in human rights law and human rights education. In April 2011 the Ministry of Education established national-level human rights education and training centers at the Nankai University, the China University of Political Science and Law, and the Guangzhou University.

Fifthly, cooperation in the field of international human rights has been further enhanced. China conscientiously fulfils its obligations under the international human rights conventions, and submits timely reports to the relevant bodies on how it implements the conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). Over the past two years China has sent many delegations to attend UN conferences on human rights. In 2009 China for the first time participated in the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review on China. China has high regard for the role played by the HRC Special Procedures and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in promoting and protecting human rights, and maintains good cooperations with them.

China advocates and energetically participates in international exchanges and cooperation concerning human rights. During the two years China held dialogues and consultations on human rights with the EU, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and other countries. It continues to participate in human rights activities within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Region and Sub-region. China's NGOs also promote cooperation and exchanges in the field of human rights. The China Society for Human Rights Studies has twice held the "Beijing Human Rights Forum", holding dialogues with officials and scholars from over 40 countries and regions and international organizations concerned. China has fulfilled its commitments in the Action Plan, making new efforts to promote the healthy development of international human rights endeavors.

In conclusion, China has comprehensively implemented the Action Plan and achieved significant progress in the cause of human rights. It is a significant achievement made by the Chinese government by means of thoroughly applying the Scientific Outlook on Development which puts people first, appropriately tackling the impact of the global financial crisis and the challenges posed by various major natural disasters, and pushing forward economic and social development while improving the people's living standards. The Action Plan also marks significant progress achieved by China through implementing the constitutional principle that "the State respects and safeguards human rights, incorporating the principle of universal human rights into China" actual national situation, and unswervingly pushing forward the country's cause of human rights. It was not easy to completely fulfill the commitments in the Action Plan, but the experience drawn from practice is precious.

Firstly, we must take into consideration our basic national conditions, uphold the path of socialism, and adhere to the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. China is a developing country with a large population, insufficient per capita resources and unbalanced economic and social development at a low level. This is the basic national situation that China must face in order to tackle all its problems. To improve human rights in China we must take into consideration the basic national conditions and seek truth from facts, correctly address the relationship between reform, development and stability and the safeguarding of human rights, incorporate universal human rights into China's basic national conditions, prioritize the people's right to subsistence and development in the course of human rights development, and persevere in safeguarding economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights in a balanced way.

Secondly, we must adhere to the Scientific Outlook on Development, and effectively ensure all members of the society have the right to participation and development on an equal footing. We should incorporate the promotion of human rights into the whole process of building a harmonious society, strive to solve the practical problems of the utmost and immediate concern to the people regarding their rights and interests, ensure that development is for the people, by the people and with the people sharing in its fruits, give more importance to safeguarding and improving the people's livelihood, and increasingly improve the people's living standards and level of happiness.

Thirdly, we must adhere to the rule of law, and promote human rights development on this basis. The rule of law is the guarantee for realizing human rights. We should comprehensively implement the rule of law as a fundamental principle, enhancing democratic legal system, improve laws and regulations to promote and protect human rights, ensure strict judicial justice and law enforcement, promote and safeguard human rights by rule of law, and constantly enhance the legal protection of human rights.

Fourthly, we must improve institutionalization, adhere to the guidance by the government, and mobilize the joint participation of all social circles to promote the development of the cause of human rights. The joint meeting mechanism for the National Human Rights Action Plan was initiated by the Information Office of the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and comprises the State's legislative and judicial organs and related functional departments of the State Council. By organizing conferences, research and inspections, it coordinates and evaluates the implementation of the Action Plan, thereby playing a significant role in this respect. We should continue to stick to and improve the joint meeting mechanism, bring its advantage into full play, constantly strive for the establishment, perfection and innovation of the mechanism, and mobilize concerted efforts to promote the overall development of human rights.

We are also conscious of the fact that China is a developing country, and the course of human rights in China is also at the stage of development. Our national development remains significantly unbalanced and uncoordinated because of resource and environmental restrictions on economic growth, wide gaps in income distribution, increasing pressures on prices, soaring housing prices in some cities, food safety problems, insufficient and unevenly distributed educational and medical resources, unbalanced urban and rural development, and increasing social conflicts caused by illegal land requisitioning. At the same time, we should also be aware of our weakness in safeguarding the people's democratic rights and interests. Affected and restricted by natural, historical and cultural factors, and economic and social development levels, the cause of human rights in China is still facing many difficulties and challenges, and there is still a long way to go before achieving the lofty goal of the Chinese citizens fully enjoying human rights.

To consolidate and expand the achievements of the National Human Rights Action Plan for promoting the cause of human rights in China, and to continue to unwaveringly push forward the comprehensive development of this great cause, with the approval of the central government and on behalf of the joint meeting mechanism for the National Human Rights Action Plan, I hereby announce that China is to initiate a new phase of the National Human Rights Action Plan. It will be guided by the Scientific Outlook on Development and the aim of expanding democracy, enhancing the rule of law, improving the people's livelihood and safeguarding human rights, as put forward in the Report of the 17th CPC National Congress, while incorporating the 12th Five-year Plan and the medium and long-term work plans of all departments of the State organs, and comprehensively and systematically setting out the goal and measures for China in all respects of human rights during the period 2012-2015.

China will continue to adhere to the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, while upholding the principle of putting people first, further improve the legal system to safeguard human rights and enhance social awareness of the importance of respecting and protecting human rights, comprehensively promote the cause of human rights in China, and safeguard the economic, political, cultural and social rights and interests of the people in accordance with the law, and ensure that the lives of all Chinese citizens become ever more secure, dignified and happy.

(China Daily 07/13/2011 page9)