Think Tank
Building socialism to ensure human rights
By Wang Chen (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-12 08:53
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Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) 60 years ago in 1949, the Chinese Government and its people, under the firm leadership of the Communist Party of China, and with the goal of constructing a modern socialistic society with economic prosperity, strength, social democracy and harmony and rich culture, have made ceaseless efforts to pursue the lofty ideal of enjoying human rights. Dramatic changes have taken place in China over the past six decades, with the fate of its people completely changed, and its human rights development making historical progress.
New era in human rights development
The founding of the People's Republic of China ended Chinese suppression by imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism, which hung like three millstones around the necks of the Chinese people, starting a new era in human rights development in China.
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In the meantime, the central government has firmly pursued an independent and peaceful diplomatic policy, and developed peaceful and friendly relations with countries around the world with the principle of equality and mutual benefits. It has successfully defeated the isolation, blockade and interference by international hostile forces, which helped it to win the dignity of a sovereign country. It is an important watershed in Chinese human rights development history.
Second, after the founding of the PRC, the Chinese government carried out a series of deep-rooted social reforms, discarded the old and set up many new policies. The old systems that oppressed and exploited the working class were abolished and a new socialistic political system with the working people as the masters of the country was set up. After the founding of the PRC, a large-scale national general election was carried out and a people's democratic state power with basic political systems were set up. The Constitution and some laws were formulated to protect people's basic rights and interests as masters of their own country. Land reforms were carried out nation-wide to abrogate feudalism land-owning systems and let the farmers have control of their own lands.
Systems were set up to improve social and economic development and lead people towards common prosperity. The feudalism marriage system was abolished, prostitution was banned, women were liberated and became equal with men, with special laws enacted to protect their legal rights and interests.
Ethnic oppression and discrimination systems were revoked, and democratic reforms were carried out in ethnic minority inhabited areas to set up ethnic minority autonomous regions, with the purpose to push forward their social, economic and cultural development, and to protect the rights and privileges of the ethnic minority people. A new socialist political system with Chinese characteristics, which protects human rights, replaced the old mechanisms. The entire country took on a new look.
Central government's historical progress
After the founding of the PRC, the Communist Party of China and the central government have made great efforts in promoting human rights in its socialism revolution and construction, and many great achievements have been made. However, in some historical periods, guided by leftist ideas, some human rights mistakes were made. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held in 1978, the Party and the government liberated their ideas, became more practical and realistic, and studied again the situation of the country and the socialism theory. Based on these, it proposed the theory to construct socialism with Chinese characteristics and then set out on the path, which greatly increased its understanding of the concept of human rights. In the process of reform and opening up and pushing forward modern socialism construction, the Communist Party of China and the central government have broken up the restrains of leftist ideas which regarded human rights issues as taboo, and instead, included the respect for and protection of human rights as an important principle of its rule, which greatly helped human rights progress in China.
On November 1, 1991, the Information Office of the State Council published the Government White Paper on Human Rights, which affirmed in government document form the important position of human rights in China's political development. The white paper stated that realizing full human rights has long been the pursuit of human kind, as it is the goal of Chinese socialism, a long-term historical mission of the Chinese government and its people. In September 1997 in the First Session of the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and in November 2002 in the First Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, respecting and protecting human rights were written into the government political reports of the Communist Party, which ensured human rights protection as an important content of its government ruling and democratic legal construction.
The 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, with General Secretary Hu Jintao as the leader, put forward an important idealistic strategy of taking a human-oriented scientific outlook on development and constructing a socialist harmonious society. The leadership further included respect for and protection of human rights as an important principle of its governance, which helped increasing the understanding of the Communist Party of China of human rights issues and pushed forward human rights development in the country. On March 14, 2004, the Second Session of the 10th National People's Congress passed amendments to the Constitution, which included the human rights concept in it and stated clearly that the state respects and protects human rights. This indicates that respecting and protecting human rights has been promoted from a government policy rule to a principle of its national law, that the proposal of the Communist Party and the motivation of the government are in line with the will of the people, and that human rights protection is a basic requirement of the socialism system. After that, respect for and protection of human rights has also been included in the Development Scheme of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan and the CPC Charter. In 2007, General Secretary Hu Jintao clearly stated in his report to respect and protect human rights, to ensure equal participation and development rights of all citizens, to ensure that all people enjoy their rights to education, employment, medical and old-age care, and housing, to guarantee the people's rights to be informed, to participate, to be heard, and to oversee. On December 10, 2008, at the 60th anniversary of the issuing of World Human Rights Declaration, General Secretary Hu Jintao wrote a letter to China Human Rights Society, which further stated the stance of the Chinese government on human rights issues, emphasizing that we will increase our coordination with world human rights organizations and will work together with people all over the world to push forward the development of human rights, to contribute our efforts for lasting world peace, and for a harmonious world with common prosperity. This is a guiding principle for human rights development in this new historical stage of development in China. In April this year, the Chinese central government formulated and issued its first National Human Rights Action Plan, setting out an all-round plan for human rights development in China in the next two years. China is the first major power in the world that has formulated a national human rights action plan, which indicated that respecting and protecting human rights is an important issue in its socialism construction, development and its relations and cooperation with other countries.
Over the past six decades, the Communist Party of China has been continuing to liberate its minds to keep in pace with time, and as a result its understanding of human rights issues have made historical progress, which helped deepen its understanding of the law of general social development, of socialism construction and of the administration of the Communist Party.
Rapid human rights development
China has experienced historical changes in all aspects of its society since the founding of the PRC, and most noticeable is the change of its people's lifestyle. Since the implementation of the reform and opening policy, the Communist Party of China and the central government have adhered to a people-oriented policy, which integrated human rights principles with China's reality, and as a result, its human rights cause developed along with its politics, economy and culture and realized some historical leaps. China is now at the zenith of human rights development in its history.
First, China has found a most suitable human rights development path in accordance with its social reality. China has the largest population in the world with weak economic base and severe human resources shortages. It has no precedent to go by as to how to develop and promote human rights. We have experienced twists and turns in our exploration of the right path after the founding of the PRC, and have made some serious mistakes, such as the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). After reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China summarized past lessons and experiences, considered China's reality and found out the correct development path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, and as a result, the right human rights development path was also sought in line with China's reality. We stick to a human-oriented principle and put people's rights to existence and development as the priority. In our reform and development process, we have promoted human rights progress in an all-round way, safeguarding the equal participation and development rights of all citizens according to law, coordinating their political rights with their economic, social and cultural rights, and the individual rights with collective rights. History proves that the path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics is the most effective and inevitable course for developing and promoting human rights in China.
Second, Chinese people's rights to existence and development have been safeguarded and enshrined in the Constitution. The living standard of the Chinese people has made two historical leaps from poverty to having enough food and clothing, and then from enough food and clothing to moderate prosperity. The Chinese people's rights to existence and development have improved dramatically. In 2008, China's average GDP per capita reached 22,698 yuan, compared with 119 yuan in 1952, it is a 32.4 fold increase, and deducting price-changing factors, the annual increase rate was 6.5 percent. The average gross national income per capita was US $3,292, and according to the World Bank standard, we are ranked as a medium-level income country in the world. With only 9 percent of the farmland in the world, China feeds 1.3 billion people, which accounts for 22 percent of the world population, and its people's average nutrition absorbing amount is higher than the world average standard. In 2008, the average disposable income per capita in Chinese cities and towns reached 15,781 yuan, compared with that of RMB 100 in 1949, an increase of 18.5 fold, deducting price-changing factors. The average net income of rural residents increased from 44 yuan in 1949 to 4,761yuan in 2008. The banking deposit volume of Chinese urban and rural residents was increased 25,000 fold. The number of people living in poverty dropped dramatically, the rural poverty population dropped from 250 million in 1978 to 14.79 million in 2007, and poverty rate dropped from 30.7 percent to 1.6 percent. The average life expectancy of Chinese residents increased from 35 years old before the founding of the People's Republic of China to 73 years old in 2005, which reached the standard of medium-level of developed countries.
Third, the individual rights and political rights of citizens have been expanded and effectively guaranteed on a democratic and legislative path. Since the founding of PRC, especially after reform and opening up, China has stuck to the political development path of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, with the Communist Party as the leader, and its people as masters of the country. Its legislative system, the National People's Congress system, the multi-party cooperation and political consultative mechanism under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the ethnic minority autonomous region system and the grass-root administration system, have all been gradually improved. The social and political life of its people has become more and more democratized, with democratic elections, decision making, administration and supervision systems becoming more complete. Chinese democratic politics is becoming more systemized, standardized and normalized. Chinese citizens' political participation has expanded, and people's rights to be informed, to participate, to express and to oversee have been effectively guaranteed.
Since the implementation of the reform and opening up policy, state affairs in China have been running under the rule of law with the aim of constructing a socialist country governed by law. Since then, 229 valid national laws have been formulated, more than 600 valid administrative rules and regulations of the State Council have been issued, and over 7,000 valid local regulations have been enforced. All these formed a complete Chinese legislation system with the Constitution as the core. All aspects of Chinese society, including its politics, economy, culture and social life are now governed by laws and regulations, and people's rights and freedom have been fully respected and protected in the law making, law enforcement and judiciary processes.
Fourth, Chinese people's economic, social and cultural rights continue to improve. Since the founding of the PRC, the Chinese government has adopted various measures to solve the employment issue, to set up a social welfare system, and to increase its support on developing education, science, culture and public health, with the aim of providing practical economic, social and cultural rights to its citizens. Its people's economic, social and cultural living standards have been dramatically improved. In 2006, China's legislature abolished its 2,600-year-old agricultural tax to reduce burdens on the farmers. In 1949, over 80 percent of the Chinese population was illiterate, the primary school enrollment rate was less than 20 percent and the junior secondary school enrollment rate was only 6 percent. By 2008, the nine-year compulsory education was implemented throughout China, with the net primary school enrolling rate reaching 99.5 percent, a gross rate of junior secondary school attendance of 98.5 percent, and the illiterate rate of youth dropping to 3.58 percent. During this time, the numbers of public cultural service organizations and facilities have also increased to form a public cultural service system covering both the urban and rural areas. The Chinese people not only enjoy rights to participate in economic, social and cultural activities, but also have more choices in job selection and life planning. The material and cultural aspects of lives in China have become more and more colorful.
Promoting world human rights
Since the resumption of China's legitimate seat at the UN in 1971, China has always supported the UN's efforts in promoting and protecting human rights. It has actively participated in its various human rights activities, including the drafting of the UN human rights documents and has on many occasions stated its views on human rights issues. China has made great efforts and contributions to enrich the connotation of the human rights concept, to improve the human rights mechanisms and rules of human rights, and to the development of international human rights practices. China has also been taking positive steps by joining UN human rights pacts. It is a member of 25 major international human rights pacts, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and has signed the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. It has adopted effective measures to fulfill its obligations regulated by these pacts, and has timely submitted obligation performance reports for deliberation of related UN organizations. China has always spoken out from a sense of justice, and is firmly against political opposition and interference of other countries internal affairs as an excuse of human rights by some Western powers. It has made its due efforts to defend the national self-determination rights of developing countries and prevented large-scale human rights infringement.
Since the 1990s, with the support of many developing countries, China has successfully thwarted some Western powers' conspiracy to raise an Anti-China Resolution in the Human Rights Commission of the UN on 11 consecutive occasions, which helped to defend its national sovereignty and dignity. China has published eight white papers to introduce its human rights conditions to the world, including Human Rights in China, and also more than 30 white papers on special human right topics and large amounts of articles covering the issue. These helped introduce China's basic human rights conditions, policies and views to the rest of the world, have timely revealed facts and expressed the authoritative view of the Chinese government on major human rights events which were catching domestic and world attention, and at the same time, refuted some twisted reports and criticisms of some international hostile powers.
These efforts have won broad understanding, recognition and support in the world. China has always advocated promoting world human rights development with dialogues, exchanges and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect. Currently, China has carried out more than 70 human rights dialogues and exchanges to broaden its communication channels with other countries in the world, and to increase mutual understanding. In recent years, China has taken on a more active attitude in its participation of international human rights development by engaging in more world human right exchanges and coordination, to learn from each other to seek common prosperity and development. China now maintains a good world image of being prosperous, democratic and open-minded.
Though China has made outstanding and noticeable achievements in human rights development in the past six decades, we shall see clearly that China is still a developing country with a huge population of 1.3 billion with unbalanced economy and immature social development. As a result, there are still many difficulties and challenges in human rights development in China.
The Communist Party of China and the Chinese government attach great importance to human rights development in China.
To push forward scientific development and build social harmony in the society, a new guiding policy to promote human rights development in the new historical age has been clearly made and the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) was formulated and issued. We firmly believe that as long as we stick to the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics and earnestly implement the government plan, greater progress will be made in human rights development in the future.
The author is Minister of the State Council Information Office.
(China Daily 11/12/2009 page9)
