SCIO briefing on the CPC's philosophy and practice of respecting and safeguarding human rights
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 30, 2021
Red Star News:
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. My question is, in terms of protecting the people's rights to know, participate, express, and supervise in society, what concepts does the CPC want to share? What can the world learn from China's experience in human rights protection? Thank you.
He Zhipeng:
The rights you mentioned just now are generally considered particularly important aspects of civil rights, such as knowing, participating, expressing, and supervising. In terms of concepts, what I personally understand are:
First, the concept of rule of law. As everyone knows, we have progressively promoted law-based governance in a bid to build a country of socialist rule of law. Now, we have rolled out the outline for developing the rule of law in China. Ensuring people's rights to know, to be involved, to express views, and to supervise the exercising of power in a legal manner is probably the most stable method. History tells us that these rights can only be well protected by establishing a sound legal system. China's Constitution has relevant provisions in those regards. As such, the State Council in 2007 launched the regulation of government information disclosure to ensure people's right to know. The rights to be involved, to express views and to supervise the exercising of power have been realized through the working processes of the National People's Congress (NPC) and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). All these actions are based on the rule of law. That's my interpretation of the first concept.
Second, the concept of gradualism, that is to say, things are not accomplished in a single stroke. As we discussed before, human rights are developing. If the development of human rights is not compatible with the economic, social and cultural development level of a particular time, it will hinder the development of human rights and society, or even subvert the whole society, just like with the one-sided human rights campaigns in some Middle Eastern countries. Therefore, over the last few decades, we have progressively developed the legal framework and law-based governance, continuously enriching relevant contents. This is an important principle which deserves to be promoted and shared with the rest of the world.
Third, as the saying goes, "actions speak louder than words." We often talk about grassroots democracy, which is decided by concrete actions rather than what is said or preached. In other words, every organization at the grassroots level, including the law school of Jinlin University where I work, is actively promoting democracy by various means, such as establishing various committees, through which people can express their opinions and participate in the decision-making process. As we all know, the rights to know, to be involved, to express views, and to supervise the exercising of power at different levels from grassroots institutions to the NPC and CPPCC have been constantly improved. This is a result of practices. When people get information online, many of them ask the government to disclose relevant information. This progress in the awareness of rights has been brought about by actual practice. We have raised the public awareness of human rights and improved the social atmosphere through actual practices. That is my preliminary understanding.
Lu Guangjin:
In fact, you have raised two questions. Mr. He has answered the question regarding concrete actions. Now, I will answer the question regarding the abstract issues. Under the leadership of the CPC, we have created a miracle in the global human rights cause over the past century. What made China's success possible? What can we learn from history? Since we might hold different perspectives, I will talk about my understanding.
First, China applies the universal principles of human rights in light of the national context. This is the most valuable experience we can learn from history. We should apply the universal principles of human rights, which means we cannot deny human rights, nor deny that it is a product of human civilization and social development. Therefore, we should explore a path of human rights development that suits China's national reality. Under this principle, we have joined many international treaties on human rights and combined the spirits of these treaties with our national conditions, exploring the correct path for China's development of human rights. For example, we have successfully applied such international concepts as the rights to subsistence, development, life, health, peace, the environment and many others into China's practices.
Second, we have persisted in promoting human rights through development. This is the "secret" behind China's successes in human rights. The white paper has also adopted the word "secret." As Mr. He said, it is a progressive process. How can this process be realized? Development has to be utilized as the driving force. I mentioned several "mosts" at the beginning. As the world's most populous country, what should we do? We have to solve the subsistence issues for 1.4 billion people, allowing them access to adequate food and clothing. Development is the only solution. Driven by development, other social programs will make progress as well. Advancements in other social programs will strengthen the protection of human rights. We believe this is China's most successful experience, however, some Western countries don't understand and often make improper comments.
Third, from my personal point of view, we should take a people-centered approach to human rights and promote the all-round development of people. This is also a precious experience accumulated from our Party's practices on human rights protection. In 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He specifies that China adheres to a people-centered vision of human rights and, on that basis, puts forward that living a happy life is the primary human right. Over the years, General Secretary Xi Jinping has also stressed to "promote the all-round development of people" and "build a community with a shared future for humanity." Therefore, I believe that the development of China's human rights cause has followed four pieces of logic. First, the rights to subsistence and development are both primary and fundamental human rights. Second, living a life of contentment is the ultimate human right. Third, we strive to promote the well-rounded development of human rights in China. Fourth, we aim to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
The last point I want to make is about China's experience on its human rights development. I believe that China's most fundamental experience and its systematic advantage lie in upholding CPC leadership and the socialist system in promoting human rights. China is the world's largest socialist country. Under the leadership of the CPC, China has leveraged the strength of its socialist system to promote and protect human rights. After years of exploration, we have found the internal logic on this issue and certain laws, as well as things that will benefit our future development. This includes upholding CPC leadership, adhering to the socialist system, resolutely respecting and protecting human rights, and promoting coordinated development. In the meantime, I also believe that developing, respecting, and protecting human rights, or pursuing human rights protection on a higher-level, is conducive to the Party's leadership and the development of our socialist system. To fully leverage these strengths is the reason behind the progress of China's human rights cause. Thank you.
Shou Xiaoli:
The CPC's respect for and protection of human rights has attracted wide attention. Thank you very much for the participation of all the experts and friends from the media. Today's briefing is hereby concluded. Goodbye.
Translated and edited by Wang Yiming, Wang Wei, Yang Xi, Li Huiru, Duan Yaying, Yuan Fang, Xiang Bin, Liu Qiang, Zheng Chengqiong, Chen Xia, Dong Qingpei, Fan Junmei, Zhang Rui, He Shan, Qin Qi, Huang Shan, Zhu Bochen, Wang Qian, David Ball, Jay Birbeck, and Tom Arnstein. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.
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