The year 1999 witnessed the 50th anniversary of the
founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). For the
previous half century, the Chinese people, led by the
Chinese government, had unswervingly probed into and fought
for the elimination of poverty and backwardness, the
building of a strong and prosperous, culturally advanced,
democratic country, and the achievement of the lofty ideal
of complete human rights. As a result, the situation of
human rights in China has seen tremendous changes.
I. A Historic Turning Point in the Progress of
Human Rights in China
In the old semi-colonial,
semi-feudal China, the broad masses were oppressed by
imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism, and had no
human rights at all. But after New China was founded in
1949, the Chinese government and people waged a series of
large-scale campaigns, rapidly sweeping away the dregs left
over from the old society, and established a basic political
system which could promote and protect human rights, so that
the nation and society took on an entirely new look and a
new epoch was started for the progress of human rights in
China.
--Realizing and upholding genuine and
complete national independence, and creating the requisite
premise for the progress of human rights. Invaded and
enslaved by various foreign powers, old China lost its state
sovereignty, and its people's human rights lost their
minimum guarantee. The first important achievement of the
Communist Party of China (CPC), which led the Chinese people
to victory in the people's democratic revolution, was to
drive the imperialist invaders out of China, paving the way
for China to realize real independence. New China, after its
founding, promptly abolished all unequal treaties which had
been imposed on China by various imperialist countries and
all the privileges they had grabbed from China, resolutely
confiscated the property of fascist countries in China,
completely uprooted the political and economic privileges of
the imperialists' colonial rule in China and realized
complete state independence. In the early period after the
founding of New China, the Western countries, headed by the
United States, carried out a total-containment policy of
political non-recognition, economic blockade and military
encirclement against China. They brazenly waged the Korean
War in 1950, which was extended to the Yalu River, the
border of China, in an attempt to strangle the newly founded
PRC in the cradle. In spite of great difficulties, New
China, defying brute force, was compelled to wage a just war
to defend the homeland and achieved a great victory,
effectively safeguarding state independence and the people's
security. Meanwhile, New China firmly followed an
independent and peaceful foreign policy, actively advocated
and earnestly adhered to the Five Principles of Peaceful
Coexistence, developed relations with foreign countries
based on equality, mutual benefit, peace and friendship,
successfully frustrated the isolation, blockade,
interference and provocation by international antagonistic
forces, and won wide respect from international society. The
genuine and complete independence of China has created the
fundamental premise for the Chinese people's selection of
their own social and political systems and a path for
development with the initiative in their own hands, for
China's opening to the outside world, for steady and healthy
development, and for the uninterrupted improvement of human
rights in China.
--Establishing and perfecting
the people's democratic political system, and guaranteeing
their democratic rights to be masters of their own affairs.
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
(CPPCC), which was inaugurated in 1949, adopted the Common
Program of the CPPCC, which served as the country's
provisional constitution, elected the Central People's
Government, and declared the birth of the PRC. The Common
Program clearly stipulated that state power belonged to the
people, who, according to the law, had the right to vote and
stand for election, and had the freedoms of ideology,
speech, the press, assembly, association, correspondence,
the person residence, change of residence, religious belief,
demonstration and procession. It also stipulated that all
the laws, decrees and judicial systems enacted by the
reactionary Kuomintang government to oppress the people had
been abolished, that laws and decrees were to be formulated
to protect the people, and that the people's judicial system
was to be established. In February 1953, China promulgated
the Electoral Law of the PRC. In December 1953, a general
election was held nationwide. The registered electors
accounted for 97 percent of the citizens of and above the
age of 18, of whom 85.88 percent participated in the
election. They elected 5.669 million grass-roots deputies,
and 1,226 deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC).
These deputies featured wide representativeness. This was
the first nationwide general election in Chinese history; it
helped to realize the people's democratic right to
participate in the management of state affairs. In September
1954, the First Session of the First NPC was held in
Beijing. Based on the people's democracy, the session
adopted the Constitution of the PRC. Before being submitted
to the NPC for examination, the draft Constitution was made
public for the whole country to hold a two-month discussion.
About 150 million people took part in the discussion, and
put forward more than 1.16 million questions and suggestions
for amendments and supplements. The enacting of the national
constitution on the basis of such a broad discussion by the
whole country was not only unprecedented in Chinese history,
but also rare in the history of the world. The Constitution
prescribed the character of the state, the functions of
state organs, and the rights and duties of citizens, laying
a foundation for China's democracy and legal construction.
The establishment and improvement of the basic political
system on the basis of people's democracy provided a
fundamental political guarantee for the realization of the
right of the people to be the masters of their own affairs.
--Carrying out the land reform and other
democratic reforms, abolishing the old systems and customs
which oppressed the people, sweeping away various social
evils, and clearing away obstacles to the development of New
China's human rights. In old China, landlords and rich
peasants, who accounted for less than 10 percent of the
rural population, owned some 80 percent of the land, while
poor peasants, farm laborers and middle peasants, who
accounted for more than 90 percent of the population, owned
only about 20 percent of the land. In order to liberate the
broad masses of poverty-stricken peasants and emancipate the
social productive forces, New China, just after its
founding, launched a vigorous nationwide land reform
movement. It abolished land ownership by the feudal landlord
class, and delivered the land into the hands of the farmers.
As a result, more than 300 million peasants with no or
little land got about 46.67 million hectares of land along
with the means of production without compensation, and were
exempted from the heavy land rent of about 35 billion
kilograms of grain, which previously had to be paid to
landlords each year, thus greatly improving the economic
positions and living conditions of the peasants. At the same
time, democratic reforms were carried out in the production
and management systems of state-run industrial, mining and
transportation enterprises. Various old systems which had
oppressed and enslaved workers, such as the feudal
gangmasters system practiced by bureaucrat-capitalist
enterprises, were annulled. The divisive feudal trade
associations and regionalism were abolished. Factory
management committees and congresses of workers and staff
members were established, which absorbed workers into
factory management so as to realize democracy in enterprise
management and make workers the real masters of their
enterprises. Simultaneously, the old wage system was
adjusted, a labor insurance system was introduced, and
workers and administrative staff's welfare and living
standards were improved.
To liberate women and
abolish the feudal marriage system which discriminated
against and oppressed women, in 1950 New China promulgated
the Marriage Law of the PRC, which was the first law to be
enacted by new China. The law completely abolished the
feudal marriage system of arranged and coerced marriages,
men's superiority to women, and neglect of the interests of
offsprings, and cleared the way for a new marriage system of
freedom of marriage, monogamy, equality between men and
women, and protection of the lawful rights and interests of
women and offsprings. At the same time, large-scale
publicity work and a mass movement to put the Marriage Law
into effect were carried out nationwide. As a result, the
ideas of the equality between men and women and freedom of
marriage became deeply rooted in the hearts of the people,
and women's status was greatly raised.
Prostitution, drug trafficking and addiction,
and gambling are social evils left over from old China, as
well as chronic social diseases endangering the people's
physical and mental health. They were resolutely prohibited
right after the founding of New China. In November 1949, the
second people's conference of Beijing took the lead in
prohibiting prostitution. The city promptly closed all
brothels, and provided education and medical treatment for
prostitutes, enabling them to live off their own labor.
Following Beijing, all other large, middle-sized and small
cities nationwide successively prohibited prostitution. In a
short period of time, this hotbed of crimes, which had
seriously ruined women's physical and mental health and
their dignity for more than 3,000 years in China, was
stamped out. As for drug taking, gambling and other social
evils which were closely connected with the reactionary
ruling forces and the underworld in old China, the people's
government, on one hand mobilized the masses to struggle
against and punish drug producers, drug traffickers and
gambling rings, and on the other it did extensive publicity
work so as to enhance the consciousness of the masses, and
reform drug addicts and gamblers. After two to three years
of efforts, these social plagues, which had not vanished
despite repeated prohibitions in old China, were basically
wiped out, and China's social life took a new and healthy
turn for the better.
--Opposing ethnic
oppression and discrimination, developing ethnic equality,
mutual aid and unity, and carrying out the ethnic regional
autonomy system. In old China, serious ethnic discrimination
and oppression existed for quite a long time; many ethnic
minorities, which were not recognized, were in adverse
circumstances, and some minority people had to hide
themselves deep in the mountains, living in isolation. After
the founding of New China in 1949, the Chinese government
abolished all ethnic oppression and discrimination, and
liberated the minority peoples. To eliminate the
estrangement produced by ethnic oppression in old China, the
Central People's Government sent, between 1950 and 1952,
groups to minority areas to express sympathy and solicitude,
and organized groups of ethnic minorities to visit the
capital and other places in China, thus strengthening
understanding and friendship among all ethnic groups. In
1951, the Central People's Government promulgated the
Directives on the Handling of the Titles, Names of Places,
Tablets and Signboards Which Are Discriminative and
Insulting to Ethnic Minorities. To carry out the ethnic
equality policy, in 1953 the Chinese government started a
large-scale program to identify all the country's ethnic
peoples. A total of 55 ethnic minorities were identified,
thus making each ethnic minority an equal member of China's
family of peoples for the first time in history. At the same
time, the Chinese government initiated a movement to
universally promote and educate Chinese citizens in ethnic
theories and policies, strongly advocated ethnic equality
and unity, and opposed ethnic chauvinism, especially Han
chauvinism.
Meanwhile, to change the backward
economic and social situation in minority areas, the Chinese
government actively and steadily carried out democratic
reforms in the areas inhabited by minority peoples. On the
premise of fully respecting the will of ethnic minorities,
and respecting and protecting their religious beliefs,
customs and habits, the Chinese government helped minority
peoples to reform their backward production methods and
social systems, and develop economic and cultural
undertakings, thus enabling the social development of the
ethnic minorities to leap over several historical stages. To
guarantee the special rights and interests of ethnic
minorities, the Chinese government established ethnic
self-government organs and instituted ethnic regional
autonomy in the areas where ethnic minorities live in
compact communities. In August 1952, China promulgated the
Outline for the Implementation of Ethnic Regional Autonomy
in the PRC, which specifies the details of the policy of
ethnic regional autonomy. The successful implementation of
ethnic regional autonomy has effectively guaranteed the
equal rights of ethnic minorities in the big family of
China, and their right to administer their respective ethnic
and local affairs in a self-governing manner.
--Establishing the socialist system, and
promoting social and economic development and the
improvement of the people's enjoyment of human rights. After
the founding of New China, the People's Government carried
out the land reform and other democratic reforms, and
adopted powerful measures to stabilize prices and promote
economic development. It took only three years for China to
heal the wounds of war, and build the national economy and
the people's livelihood to the highest level in history. On
this basis, the Chinese government lost no time in starting
the socialist transformation of agriculture, handicraft
industry and capitalist industry and commerce, thus
fundamentally eliminating the system of exploitation of man
by man and establishing a basic socialist economic system.
Since then, the Chinese people have become the masters of
their means of production and the owners of the wealth of
society, thus calling forth their enthusiasm for building a
new country and creating a new life, and promoting the rapid
development of society and the economy, and the improvement
of the people's livelihood.
According to
statistics, the nation's total industrial output value in
1957 increased by 128.3 percent over that of 1952, with an
average annual growth of 18 percent; the total agricultural
output value rose by 25 percent; and the average consumption
level of all the people in the country grew by more than one
third. The establishment of the socialist system has
provided the basic guarantee for the people throughout the
country to constantly improve their human rights situation
on the basis of equal participation in economic development
and sharing the fruits of labor.
Through these
profound social reforms, involving getting rid of the old
and creating the new, New China has not only realized a
historic turning point in the development of human rights,
but also initiated a brand-new starting point for further
exploration and the progress and development of the cause of
human rights.
II. Great Improvement in the
Rights to Subsistence and Development, and Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights
In the past 50 years since
the founding of New China, especially since the initiation
of reform and opening to the outside world some 20 years
ago, the Chinese government has always put the people's
rights to subsistence and development first, focused on
economic construction, and made efforts to develop social
productivity. Consequently, China's economy and society have
advanced by leaps and bounds, its comprehensive national
strength has been raised, and the people's livelihood has
improved by a large margin thereby realizing two historic
leaps -- bringing the people from poverty to having enough
to eat and wear, and then to living a better-off life.
In 1952, China's GDP was only 67.9 billion RMB
yuan, a figure which rose to 7,939.6 billion RMB yuan in
1998, with an average annual growth rate of 7.7 percent
allowing for price rises, or over 2.5 times the average
world growth rate in the same period. From 1952 to 1998, the
industrial added value increased by 159 times calculated
according to the constant prices, with an average annual
growth rate of 11.6 percent; the agricultural added value
increased by 4.5 times, with an average annual growth rate
of 3.3 percent; and the total foreign trade volume increased
from US$ 1.13 billion in 1950 to US$ 323.9 billion in 1998,
or an increase of 287 times, with an average annual growth
rate of 12.5 percent. According to a United Nations
estimate, China ranks seventh in the world in terms of the
size of its economy; 11th in total foreign trade volume;
second in foreign exchange reserves; and ninth in
comprehensive national strength. At present, the GNP created
by China within 12 days is equivalent to the GNP of the
whole year of 1952. Now China leads the world in the output
of steel, coal, cement, chemical fertilizer, TV, crops,
meat, cotton, peanuts, rapeseed, fruit and other important
industrial and agricultural products. China's total grain
output increased from 110 million tons in 1949 to 510
million tons in 1998, or an increase of over 4.5 times, with
an average annual growth rate of 3.1 percent, higher than
the world growth rate during the same period. Meanwhile, the
proportion of China's grain output in the world's total
increased from 17 percent to 25 percent. At present, China
ranks first in the world in terms of total grain output, and
the average per-capita amount of grain, meat, eggs and
aquatic products exceeds the world level. Hence China has
thoroughly changed the situation which prevailed in old
China in which the majority of the Chinese population lived
in a state of starvation or semi-starvation, and has created
the miracle of supporting 22 percent of the total population
of the world on only 7 percent of the world's total
cultivated land.
The livelihoods of both urban
and rural people have leaped several stages in succession,
and the consumption level has improved remarkably. In 1949,
the average annual income per urban resident was less than
100 RMB yuan, and that per rural resident, less than 50 RMB
yuan. In 1978, the average annual income per urban resident
came to 343 RMB yuan, and that per rural resident, 134 RMB
yuan. Between 1978 and 1998, the average annual income per
urban resident increased to 5,425 RMB yuan, or an increase
of 3.3 times allowing for price rises, with an average
annual growth rate of 6.1 percent, and that per rural
resident, to 2,162 RMB yuan, or an increase of 4.6 times
allowing for price rises, with an average annual growth rate
of 7.9 percent. The annual net consumption level of the
people increased from 80 RMB yuan per capita in 1952 to
2,972 RMB yuan in 1998, and the savings deposits of both
urban and rural residents grew from 860 million RMB yuan to
5,340.8 billion RMB yuan. In the early days of New China, 80
percent of urban residents' income was used to buy food and
clothes, and 90 percent in rural areas, which dropped to
55.6 percent and 59.6 percent, respectively, in 1998.
The Engel coefficient (the proportion of food
expenditure in consumer expenditure) of urban residents was
always over 57 percent before the policy of reform and
opening to the outside world was introduced, a figure which
dropped to 44.5 percent in 1998, and consumption has reached
the well-off level as a whole. In 1954, the Engel
coefficient of rural residents was as high as 69 percent. By
1998, the consumption structure of rural residents had been
greatly improved, with the Engel coefficient decreasing to
53.4 percent; their cultural, recreational and service
expenditures had risen to 25.4 percent; and the proportions
of accommodation and clothing expenditures were 15.1 percent
and 6.2 percent, respectively. This indicates that in
consumption the proportion dedicated to mere means of
subsistence has remarkably decreased, and that dedicated to
development and enjoyment has greatly risen. At present,
over 95 percent of rural people in China have enough to eat
and wear, and about 25 percent of them live well-off lives.
While making great efforts to develop the
economy and improve the living standards of the people
throughout the country, China has spared no effort to help
poverty-stricken people have enough to eat and wear.
Especially since the adoption of the policy of reform and
opening to the outside world, the Chinese government has
regarded it as a most urgent task to help poverty-stricken
people have sufficient food and clothing. According to the
government's unified plan and arrangements, a large-scale
help-the-poor drive has been started throughout the country
in a planned way. Over the past 20 years, the Chinese
government has helped more than 200 million rural people get
enough food and clothes, and has reduced the number of
poverty-stricken rural population from 250 million in 1978
to 4.2 million. The proportion of poverty-stricken people in
the total rural population has decreased from 30.7 percent
to 4.6 percent. The average annual net income of
poverty-stricken people increased from 206 RMB yuan in 1985
to 1,318 RMB yuan in 1998, and the production conditions and
living standards of
poverty-stricken areas have
greatly improved. In the past 20 years, the poverty-stricken
population worldwide has risen year by year, and the poor
have become poorer. In China, however, the number of
poverty-stricken people has been decreasing by 10 million
every year on average, making China lead the world in the
speed of reducing the number of poverty-stricken people. In
1999, the World Bank and the UN Development Program issued a
report after a comprehensive survey of China's help-the-poor
work, which points out: ``The number of poverty-stricken
people is increasing in many places in the world, but China
is an exception.'' And ``China has achieved world-renowned
progress in solving the poverty problem.''
In
old China, whenever serious natural disasters befell, the
exposed bodies of those who had died from starvation could
be found everywhere. In 1931, when eastern China was
affected by floods, 400,000 people died as a result. But New
China pays great attention to relief work, and makes every
effort to protect and save people's lives and property, and
ensure the basic needs of life of people in
disaster-stricken areas. According to preliminary
statistics, in the past 50 years since the founding of the
PRC, the Central Government has allocated more than 30
billion RMB yuan as relief funds for serious natural
disasters, solving the problem of provisions in 2.2 billion
cases, helping over 800 million people rebuild their homes,
rebuilding more than 100 million collapsed houses, providing
billions of items of clothing for 200-odd million people and
curing a billion cases of disease or injury resulting from
disasters.
The rights of workers have been
realized to the full. In 1949, the number of unemployed
workers was 4.742 million, with an unemployment rate of
23.65 percent. In addition, millions upon millions of
peasants were bankrupt. In 1998, the number of employed
people nationwide totaled 699.57 million, and the number of
registered unemployed persons was 5.71 million, with a
registered unemployment rate of 3.1 percent. Three security
systems--the basic living security system for people laid
off by state-owned enterprises, unemployment insurance and
the basic living security system for residents of cities and
towns; have been established, and thus the basic needs of
life of laid-off and unemployed people have been effectively
guaranteed. Meanwhile, wages have been rising rapidly; the
average annual income of employees in cities and towns
increased from 445 RMB yuan in 1952 to 7,479 RMB yuan in
1998, or an increase of 3.8 times based on comparable
prices. According to the law, the working time has been
shortened from eight hours a day and 48 hours a week in the
past to the present eight hours a day and 40 hours a week.
Before the founding of the PRC, there were only a few small
training schools for technicians in the whole country. But
now, a multi-form and multi-layer vocational education and
training system has been established, basically meeting the
needs of economic construction. The proportion of new
employees in cities and towns receiving various types of
training has reached 70 percent.
There was no
social security system for employees in old China, but in
New China a comprehensive and well-funded social security
system has gradually emerged. At present, except for some
ex-employees whose pensions are still paid by their old
enterprises, the number of people participating in the basic
retirement insurance policy is 94.33 million, a coverage
rate of 84 percent. Among them, there are more than 28
million retired people. At the end of 1999, a total of 99.12
million employees were covered by unemployment insurance,
more than 15 million unemployed were receiving relief funds
and 7.5 million unemployed people had been re-employed.
Since the founding of New China, the state has set up free
medical services and a labor-protection medical care system
at public expense, and at the end of 1998, 177.81 million
persons were benefiting from these services. Insurance
against injury at work is now practiced in more than 1,700
cities and counties throughout the country, covering over
37.8 million employees, and childbirth insurance is
available in 1,412 cities and counties, covering 27.77
million women employees. By the end of October 1999, 668
cities and 1,638 counties in the country had established
systems for ensuring basic living needs, benefiting two
million residents living in poverty.
In old
China there was not even the most basic medical and health
service for ordinary people. But nowadays, medical
institutions can be found everywhere, and a comprehensive
medical and health service system has begun to emerge. In
1949, China had only 3,670 medical institutions, 84,600
hospital beds and 505,000 medical and health personnel, and
there was only 0.15 hospital bed, 0.93 medical and health
personnel, 0.67 doctor and 0.06 nurse (paramedic) per
thousand people. In 1998, China had 314,100 health
institutions, 3.143 million hospital beds and 4.4237 million
medical and health personnel, and there were 2.4 hospital
beds, 3.64 medical and health personnel, 1.65 doctors and
one nurse (paramedic) per thousand people. The people's
health has greatly improved. The incidence of acute epidemic
diseases has decreased from 20,000 per 100,000 people before
the founding of the PRC to 203.4 per 100,000 people; the
death rate, from 33 per 1,000 people to 6.49 per 1,000
people in 1994, and the infant death rate from 200 per 1,000
to the present 33.1 per 1,000. The average life expectancy
of Chinese people has increased from 35 years in 1949 to
70.8 years at present, 10 years longer than that of the
developing countries and the same as that of the
medium-developed countries.
Culture and
education in old China were extremely backward. Most working
people had almost no opportunity to receive education.
However, the right to receive education in New China is
guaranteed and realized. In 1998, nine-year compulsory
education was practiced in areas where 73 percent of the
population live. The enrollment rate for primary school-age
children has increased from 20 percent before 1949 to 99.3
percent, and for junior middle school-age children, 87.3
percent. These figures exceed the average figures for
developing countries in the corresponding period. Over the
past 50 years, 230 million illiterates have been taught to
read and write, the illiteracy rate has decreased from 80
percent of the total population to 14.5 percent; adult
illiteracy rate has decreased to below 5.5 percent. In 1998,
the numbers of students enrolled in institutions of higher
learning and middle schools had increased by 22.99 and 41.11
times, respectively, compared to the highest figures before
1949; the educated population was close to 300 million
persons, and the number of students enrolled reached 230
million persons. Between 1949 and 1990, the total number of
postgraduates and graduates from universities and colleges
was 7.6082 million, nearly 40 times the total for the years
1912 to 1948.
China has made universally
acknowledged achievements in realizing its people's rights
to subsistence and development, and economic, social and
cultural rights over the past 50 years. Articles published
in October 1999 in the New York Times and in September 1999
in the International Herald Tribune, published in the United
States, point out: "The great achievement made by China
of solving the problems of food, clothing and housing for
one quarter of the world's population will be written in the
annals of history." "Today, ordinary Chinese
citizens enjoy better health, nutriment, education and
living standards than in any period in the Middle Kingdom's
long history."
III. Civil Rights and
Political Rights of Citizens Effectively
Safeguarded
Since the founding of the People's
Republic, China has made great progress in its efforts to
build its democratic and legal systems, and people's civil
rights and political rights are maintained and guaranteed
according to law.
China's Constitution clearly
states that "All power in the People's Republic of
China belongs to the people." The organs through which
the people exercise state power are the NPC and local
people's congresses. Deputies to the people's congresses at
all levels are elected, and are responsible to and accept
supervision from the people. In China, except for those who
have been deprived of their political rights, all citizens
aged 18 or above, irrespective of ethnic status, race, sex,
occupation, family background, religious belief, education,
property status or length of residence, have the right to
vote and stand for election. At present, 99.97 percent of
China's citizens aged 18 or above enjoy the right to vote
and stand for election. According to statistics, the voting
rate all over the country has maintained a level of over 90
percent. Every region, ethnic group, social stratum,
organization and group has its proportion of representatives
in the people's congresses at all levels. Of the 2,979
deputies elected to the Ninth NPC in 1998, 18.9 percent were
workers and peasants, 21.08 percent were intellectuals,
33.17 percent were cadres, 15.44 percent were
representatives of various democratic parties and non-party
patriots, 9 percent were representatives of the People's
Liberation Army (PLA), 1.17 percent were representatives
from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and 1.24
percent were returned overseas Chinese.
As the
highest organ of state power, the NPC is responsible for
drawing up state laws, deciding on important state affairs
and electing the members of state administrative, judicial
and procuratorial organs, and supervising them. China runs
state affairs according to law. Since the introduction of
the policy of reform and opening to the outside world in the
late 1970s, the NPC and its Standing Committee have enacted
more than 360 laws and legal decisions, and the local
people's congresses at different levels have drawn up more
than 7,000 local regulations. The NPC and its Standing
Committee hear and examine and discuss the work reports of
the State Council and its departments as well as the Supreme
People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and
examine the implementation of laws and legal decisions. The
special committees of the NPC also conduct various types of
examinations of law enforcement work. In addition, the
Standing Committee of the NPC receives petitions from
citizens, supervises the work of judicial organs and
safeguards citizens' legal rights according to law.
The system of multi-party cooperation and
political consultation led by the CPC is an important part
of China's democratic political system. As parties friendly
to the CPC, the eight non-Communist parties participate in
government and political affairs, engaging in consultations
concerning state policies and leadership candidates,
management of national affairs, and the drawing up and
implementation of state policies, laws and regulations. On
key state issues, the CPC--the party in power always
consults the other parties, solicits their suggestions and
negotiates with them. At the Ninth NPC, representatives from
the non-Communist parties and non-party personages accounted
for 30 percent and 21.9 percent of the Standing Committee
and permanent special committees of the NPC, respectively.
At present, in the departments of the State Council, the
Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's
Procuratorate, members of the non-Communist parties and
non-party personages occupy some senior positions. At the
same time, in the country's 31 provinces, autonomous
regions, municipalities directly under the Central
Government and 15 cities at sub-provincial level, members of
the non-Communist parties and non-party personages hold the
posts of deputy governor of a province or deputy mayor or
assistant to the governor of a province or to a mayor.
The people's political consultative
conferences at different levels consist of members of all
political parties and people's organizations, and non-party
personages, with a widespread representation. The members of
the National Committee of the Ninth CPPC come from 34
circles, among them, the non-Communist parties, the
All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and non-party
personages, accounting for 59.5 percent of the CPPCC
National Committee members and 63.4 percent of the CPPCC
National Committee's Standing Committee members. The
political consultative organizations play an important role
in the state's political life by means of political
consultation, democratic supervision and participation in
the administration and discussion of state affairs. Since
1990, more than 100 consultation meetings and forums have
been held between the Central Committee of the CPC, the
State Council and the central committees of the
non-Communist parties and non-party personages. Between 1992
and 1998, the central committees of the eight democratic
parties and the All-China Federation of Industry and
Commerce put forward more than 100 important suggestions
concerning reform and opening up, economic construction,
democratic and legal system building, anti-corruption
efforts and the promotion of clean government to the Central
Committee of the CPC, the State Council and relevant
departments. Many of these suggestions have been adopted by
the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council.
Democracy at the grass-roots level is an
important means for ensuring that citizens directly exercise
their democratic rights. By directly electing members of
villagers' committees and deciding upon major affairs of
their villages through democratic discussions, the rural
masses fully exercise their rights of democratic election,
democratic policy-making, democratic management and
democratic supervision. Since 1988, rural areas throughout
China have already carried out three or four elections of
new villagers' committees. Most of the villagers' committees
have established villagers' congresses and representative
conferences and the system of making public village affairs.
Since the promulgation of the new Organic Law on Villagers'
Committees in 1999, nearly half of the provinces,
municipalities directly under the Central Government and
autonomous regions have published their own laws and
regulations on the election of villagers' committees. The
election of villagers' committees has been increasingly
standardized, and villagers' right to nominate candidates is
respected. The election procedure, which guarantees the
rights of voters, has been gradually regularized. The
procedure involves the methods by which villagers select
formal candidates through preliminary elections, formal
candidates run for the election on an equal footing, voters
choose from among a large number of candidates, candidates
make speeches, voters mark their ballots in
specially-designated rooms, ballots are counted openly, and
the election results are announced on the spot. Statistics
show that in provinces where elections of members for a new
term of office on the villagers' committees were completed
in 1999, the proportion of peasants taking part in the
elections reached more than 90 percent in most cases and
more than 85 percent in other cases.
China
guarantees, according to law, that citizens enjoy extensive
basic freedoms and rights. The Constitution clearly states
that citizens enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of
assembly, of association, of procession, of demonstration
and of religious belief. Freedom of the person and personal
dignity, and the residences of citizens are inviolable.
Freedom and privacy of correspondence of citizens are
protected by law. The state has made vigorous efforts to
develop press and publications undertakings, creating
favorable conditions for citizens to enjoy freedom of speech
and the press. Statistics show that 1998 witnessed the
publishing of 30.04 billion copies of newspapers of 1,053
titles, 2.54 billion copies of magazines of 7,999 titles and
7.24 billion copies of books of more than 130,000 titles.
There were 294 radio stations, 560 cable and wireless TV
stations at the central and provincial levels, 1,287
broadcasting and TV stations at the county level and 75
educational TV stations. The national TV network covered
over 89 percent of the population, with an audience of more
than one billion. By June 1999, some 1.46 million computers
in China had been connected with the Internet, with the
Internet users totaling four million. In China, all social
organizations that meet the regulations of the Constitution
and other laws and are formed through necessary registration
procedures are protected by the state. By the end of 1998,
China had a total of 165,600 social organizations. These
organizations and their activities are subject to the
protection of the Constitution and other laws.
The state protects the freedom of religious
belief and the normal religious activities of citizens. No
state organ, social organization or individual may compel
citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, a religion,
nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in,
or do not believe in, any religion. Incomplete statistics
show that China now has more than 100 million religious
believers and 85,000 venues for religious activities that
have been registered, with some 300,000 professional
religious personnel. There are more than 3,000 national and
local religious organizations and 74 religious colleges.
Various religions publish their scriptures, and religious
books and journals. Of them, 20 million copies of the Bible
have been printed. Chinese religious organizations have
established contacts with religious organizations and
personnel in more than 70 countries and regions. Both the
NPC and CPPCC include people who have religious beliefs and
who come from various social groups and organizations. More
than 17,000 religious personnel have been elected deputies
to the people's congresses and members of the people's
political consultative conferences at various levels.
Public security and judicial organs crack down
on crimes according to law, and protect citizens' legitimate
rights and interests from being infringed. According to
statistics, in 1998, however, they handled 5.4 million first
instance cases, including 480,000 criminal cases, 3.37
million civil cases, 1.45 million cases of economic disputes
and nearly 100,000 administrative cases. The public security
and judicial organs cracked down on serious crimes related
to murder, explosion, poisoning, robbery, large-scale theft,
rape, kidnapping, gangs, and guns, effectively protecting
the safety of people's lives and property. Meanwhile, the
legitimate rights of criminal suspects and the accused were
protected according to law. Since 1983, people's courts have
pronounced more than 40,000 people not guilty according to
law because of lack of evidence of crimes.
Over the past few years, in a bid to strictly
enforce laws and strengthen the protection of human rights
during the judicial process, people's courts have carried
out an in-depth reform of adjudication methods. Efforts have
been made according to law to promote public adjudication in
an all-round way, and strengthen the supervision of
adjudication by society and public opinion so as to ensure
judicial fairness. Except for those unsuitable for public
hearing as prescribed by the law, all first instance cases
are now subject to public trial. The rate of open court
sessions for second instance cases has also been raised
gradually. Judgments in all cases, whether subject to public
hearing or not, are announced openly. While court sessions
are opened for case hearing, evidence, cross-examination,
attestation and debate have been conducted on the spot, thus
increasing the rate of judgment announcements in court.
Procuratorial organs have intensified the supervision of law
enforcement by redressing according to law the problems of
failure to observe the law, weak law enforcement and
miscarriages of justice. In 1998, the procuratorial organs
demanded that public security organs give reasons as to why
9,335 cases had not been filed, of which 5,207 cases were
finally designated to be placed on file. They put forward
suggestions for correcting the extended detention of 70,992
people, and raised for correction 9,964 cases which involved
violation of the law during investigation. They approved the
arrest of 582,120 of the 689,025 suspects transferred by
public security and state security organs for examination
and approval of arrest, and issued additional warrants for
the arrest of 6,957 people and the prosecution of 3,904
people. They filed public charges against 557,929 of the
668,425 suspects transferred for approval of prosecution,
and decided not to arrest 93,218 people and not to prosecute
11,225 people. They challenged 3,791 criminal judgments they
deemed wrong, and raised 1,211 cases for correction, which
involved violations of the law in the trial procedure. They
also raised 9,672 cases for correction, which involved
violations of the law by related departments for approving
the reduction of a sentence term, release on parole, and
temporary serving of sentences outside the prison. Prison
authorities insist on administering prisons according to
law. They have devoted great efforts to carrying out the
practice of making public prison affairs to inmates, raising
the transparency of law enforcement and conscientiously
guaranteeing the legitimate rights of convicts. Statistics
show that in 1998, some 361,000 convicts were given
reductions of sentence or released on parole, accounting for
25 percent of the total imprisoned population.
The establishment and development of the
lawyer and legal aid systems are playing an increasingly
important role in protecting the legitimate rights and
interests of citizens, and maintaining the correct
enforcement of the law. Currently, China has nearly 9,000
law offices, and the number of licensed lawyers exceeds
100,000. Between 1979 and 1999, lawyers in China pleaded for
the accused in three million criminal cases. In 1998 alone,
they pleaded for the accused or acted as attorneys in
296,668 criminal cases. As a result, the legitimate rights
and interests of the suspects and accused were effectively
safeguarded. Since the Legal Aid Center of the Ministry of
Justice and the China Legal Aid Foundation were established
in 1996 and 1997, respectively, more than 800 legal aid
institutions have been set up. This enables an increasing
number of poor citizens to benefit from legal services free
or at a reduced charge, according to law. Incomplete
statistics indicate that in 1997, legal aid institutions at
various levels and personnel engaged in legal services
handled some 50,000 cases requiring legal aid, and provided
legal advice to more than 400,000 people. According to 1998
statistics, such institutions and personnel in 20 provinces
and municipalities handled more than 60,000 cases requesting
legal aid, and offered legal advice to 800,000 people. And
another survey shows that in the first half of 1999, more
than 40,000 such cases were handled in 24 provinces.
Citizens have the right to criticize and make
suggestions to government institutions and their staff
members. They also have the right to complain, bring
lawsuits against or report law-breaking activities and
dereliction of duty on the part of government officials. To
guarantee these rights of citizens, government institutions
at all levels have set up offices receiving petitions and
personal visits. And the people's procuratorial organs and
administrative supervisory systems at central to local
levels have established offence-reporting organs. The news
media have also strengthened supervision of cases involving
dereliction of duty, abuse of power and infringement of
citizens' legitimate rights and interests by government
functionaries. Those who have suffered losses due to the
infringement of citizens' rights by state organs or
government functionaries, have the right to compensation
according to law. China specially formulated the
Administrative Procedure Law in 1991 and the State
Compensation Law in 1995. To date, nearly 440,000
administrative cases and 2,566 state compensation cases have
been handled by people's courts, effectively safeguarding
the legitimate rights and interests of citizens.
IV. Protection of the Rights of Women and
Children
In old China, women did not have any
rights at all to participate in public affairs. But since
the establishment of the PRC in 1949, women's right to
participate in the administration of state and social
affairs has been protected according to law, with the level
of their involvement in public affairs rising constantly.
When the First NPC was held in 1954, women deputies only
accounted for 11.9 percent of the total, while in 1998, when
the Ninth NPC was convened, women deputies numbered 650,
constituting 21.81 percent of the total. Women made up 6.6
percent of the total members of the First National Committee
of the CPPCC. At the Ninth National Committee of the CPPCC,
women accounted for 341 of the total members, making up
15.54 percent of the aggregate number. The 15th National
Congress of the CPC had 344 women delegates, constituting
16.8 percent of the total. Currently, four of the state
leaders are women, and 18 women serve as ministers and
vice-ministers in charge of various ministries and
commissions under the State Council. The Party and
government leading bodies of the country's 31 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities all have women
officials, with their number rising by 46.47 percent over
that five years ago. By the end of 1997, women made up
13.838 million of the government staff members and
managerial, professional and technical personnel of
state-owned enterprises and institutions, accounting for
34.4 percent of the total.
In old China, women
had few employment opportunities. Today, women enjoy equal
rights with men to work, as well as the right to acquire
equal pay for equal work and special labor protection. In
1949, there were only 600,000 women workers and staff
members in China, accounting for 7.5 percent of the total
workforce. In 1998, women employees numbered 340.67 million,
568 times the 1949 figure and 48.7 percent of the total
employees, higher than the world's 34.5 percent rate. Of the
450 million rural laborers in China, 320 million, or 71
percent, are engaged in agricultural production, of whom,
210 million are women, making up 65.6 percent of the total.
There are only five countries in the world, where women's
salaries equal 80 percent or more of men's, while the income
of Chinese women is equivalent to 80.4 percent of that of
their male counterparts. Women employees enjoy special care
during menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and lactation
periods, and child-bearing women employees enjoy a
three-month paid maternity leave.
In old
China, 90 percent of women were illiterate, whereas in 1997,
the female illiteracy rate dropped to 23.2 percent, with the
illiteracy rate for young and middle-aged women down to 8.5
percent. In 1998, the primary school attendance rate for
girls across the country rose from 15 percent in 1949 to
98.86 percent, basically guaranteeing the right of girls to
receive compulsory education. Since 1990, the gap between
the school attendance rates for boys and girls has narrowed
from 1.28 percentage points to 0.1 percentage point. By
1998, Chinese women had received 6.5 years of education on
average. The proportion of women students in regular
institutions of higher learning rose from 19.8 percent in
1949 to 38.3 percent in 1998.
The proportion
of girl students in junior middle schools increased from
26.5 percent in 1950 to 46.5 percent in 1998, and that of
girls in primary schools grew from 28 percent in 1951 to
47.6 percent in 1998. By the end of 1998, the Chinese
Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering
had a total of 62 women academicians, accounting for 6
percent of the total, higher than the rate in any other
country.
The physical conditions of women have
greatly improved. In 1949, China had only nine maternity and
child care centers, with limited numbers of beds and medical
workers. But in 1998, there were 514 maternity and child
care hospitals and hospitals for gynecology and obstetrics,
with 87,000 beds and 82,000 medical personnel, and 2,724
health care centers for women and children, with 88,000
medical personnel. A national health care network for women
and children has been initially formed.
During
the early years of the People's Republic, due to poor health
care conditions, old methods prevailed in deliveries, and
the mortality for pregnant and lying-in women was as high as
1,500 per 100,000. By 1998, China had 47 hospitals for
gynecology and obstetrics, with 108,634 gynecologists and
obstetricians trained in Western medicine. The number of
midwives rose from 13,900 in 1949 to 48,696 in 1998, and
that of rural midwives exceeded 310,000. Some 66.8 percent
of women gave birth in hospital, modern methods were adopted
for 94.5 percent of deliveries in rural areas, and the
mortality of pregnant and lying-in women dropped to 56.2 per
100,000. The average life expectancy of Chinese women rose
from 36 years in 1949 to 73.2 years in 1997. This is 4.5
years higher than the figure for men and eight years higher
than the average life expectancy of 65 years set as a goal
by the United Nations for women all over the world by the
year 2000.
China has adopted practical
measures to develop hygienic and health care undertakings
for children, protecting the life and health of children. In
1949, there were only five children's hospitals in China,
with 139 beds. By 1998, children's hospitals numbered 37
throughout the country, with 9,808 beds and 60,446
pediatricians trained in Western medicine. In addition, more
than 15,000 hospitals at or above the county level had set
up departments of gynecology, obstetrics and pediatrics. The
incidence of tetanus among the newborn dropped to 0.27 per
thousand. Infant mortality declined from 200 per thousand in
the early years of New China to 33.2 per thousand in 1998,
and the mortality of children under the age of five was down
to 42 per thousand. Meanwhile, the physical conditions of
children have improved noticeably. In 1997, the mortality
rate of children under five caused by diarrhea had fallen by
67.8 percent compared with that in 1991, and that caused by
pneumonia was down 44.6 percent. The incidence and mortality
of measles for Chinese children had dropped by 98.1 percent
and 99 percent, respectively, from the figures for 1978.
When implementing the universal immunity program for
one-year-old children in 1997, 96 percent of children were
inoculated with BCG vaccine, 96 percent were inoculated
against whooping cough, diphtheritis and tetanus, 97 percent
against polio, and 95 percent against measles.
Early education for children has improved
rapidly in China. In 1990, only 32 percent of children from
three to six years old entered kindergartens, while by the
end of 1998, China had had 180,000 kindergartens with an
enrolment of 24 million and about 70 percent of children
attend kindergartens for one year before they go to school.
A sample survey shows that 94.8 percent of new pupils in
grade one of primary schools across the country have
received preschool education.
V. Equal Rights
and Special Protection for Ethnic
Minorities
Since the founding of the PRC,
ethnic minorities, along with the majority Han ethnic group,
have been the masters of the state, equally enjoying all of
the civil rights granted by the Constitution and laws, and
in addition enjoying the special rights of ethnic minorities
according to law.
The right of the ethnic
minorities to participate on an equal footing in state
administration is guaranteed. In the NPC and the CPPCC
National Committee of the successive terms, the percentage
of ethnic minority deputies and members has exceeded the
proportion of the ethnic minority population in the national
population. Ethnic-minority deputies accounted for 14.37
percent of the Ninth NPC deputies selected in 1998, and for
11.7 percent of the members of the Ninth National Committee
of the CPPCC both surpassing the 8.9 percent proportion of
the ethnic minority population in the national population.
Each of the 55 ethnic minorities has its own deputies and
CPPCC National Committee members. There are over 2.7 million
ethnic-minority cadres throughout China, and a fairly large
number of ethnic-minority personnel working in central and
local state organs, administrative organs, judicial organs
and procuratorial organs.
China practices
ethnic regional autonomy in areas where minority peoples
live in compact communities. According to the relevant laws,
among the chairman or vice-chairmen of the standing
committee of the people's congress of an autonomous area
there must be one or more citizens of the ethnic group or
groups exercising regional autonomy in the area concerned.
The head of an autonomous region, autonomous prefecture or
autonomous county shall be a citizen of the ethnic group
exercising regional autonomy in the area concerned, and the
other members of the people's governments of these regions,
prefectures and counties shall include members of the ethnic
group exercising regional autonomy as well as members of
other ethnic minorities as far as possible.
The people's congresses of the autonomous
areas have the right to enact regulations on the exercise of
autonomy and separate regulations in light of local
political, economic and cultural characteristics. By the end
of 1998, 126 regulations on the exercise of autonomy and 209
separate regulations had been enacted by the autonomous
areas. If resolutions, decisions, orders and instructions
from the higher-level state organs are not suited to the
actual conditions of the autonomous areas, the organs of
self-government of these areas may be flexible in carrying
them out or may decide not to carry them out after gaining
approval from the higher state organs. Furthermore, in
accordance with state laws and regulations, organs of
self-government in autonomous areas also enjoy the right to
control their economies and local finances, the right to
develop educational, scientific, technological and cultural
undertakings, and the right to use and develop the local
spoken and written languages.
Before the
founding of the People's Republic in 1949, economy, culture
and social development were very backward in its ethnic
minority areas. People of ethnic minorities mainly engaged
in agriculture and animal husbandry and lived in poverty.
Since 1949, the state has adopted special policies and
measures to assist and support the economic development and
social progress of the ethnic minority areas in the aspects
of capital, technology and personnel. According to
statistics, the total industrial and agricultural output
value in autonomous areas grew from 3.66 billion RMB yuan in
1949 to 852.35 billion RMB yuan in 1998. The output of pig
iron, raw coal, crude oil and generated energy in these
areas increased respectively from 9,000 tons, 1.78 million
tons, 52,000 tons and 80 million kilowatt-hour in 1952 to
7.02 million tons, 175.69 million tons, 20.47 million tons
and 132.11 billion kilowatt-hour in 1998. The railway
traffic mileage, highway traffic mileage and postal routes
totaled respectively 17,100 kilometers, 376,400 kilometers
and 1.14 million kilometers, or 4.5 times, 12.8 times and
8.6 times the 1952 figures respectively. The grain output
grew from 15.82 million tons in 1952 to 71.5 million tons in
1998, and the total number of large livestock from 24.39
million head to 55.65 million head. Remarkable improvements
have been made in the lives of the minority peoples. In 1997
in ethnic-minority autonomous areas, the net income per
peasant had reached 1,633.11 RMB yuan, or 21.5 times the
1980 figure; the per capita possession of grain came to
424.4 kilograms, or 1.5 times the 1978 figure; and the
average salaries of employees amounted to 5,593 RMB yuan, or
7.9 times the 1981 figure.
In old China, the
illiteracy rate among ethnic minorities was often over 95
percent. Only 10 percent of school-age children attended
school in Ningxia, 97 percent of the people in Tibet were
illiterate, and there were only 16 secondary schools in
Inner Mongolia. Since the founding of the People's Republic,
the educational situation in ethnic-minority areas has been
improved remarkably, and the illiteracy rate has been
reduced by 68 percentage points. By 1998 in ethnic
autonomous areas, there were 94 institutions of higher
learning with 226,400 students, 13,466 middle schools with
5.2964 million students, and 90,704 primary schools with
12.409 million pupils. To date, the state has independently
founded 12 specialized ethnic universities and institutes,
59 ethnic teachers' training schools, 158 ethnic secondary
vocational schools, 3,536 ethnic middle schools, and 20,906
ethnic primary schools. Since 1990, the gap between the
school attendance rate in the areas inhabited by minority
peoples and the average national level has been reduced from
3.7 percentage points to 0.7 percentage point.
The fine traditional cultures of ethnic
minorities are being preserved. Chinese law provides that
all ethnic groups have the freedom to use and develop their
own spoken and written languages. The organs of
self-government in ethnic autonomous areas all use one or
more languages of their areas to carry out their
responsibilities. When several languages are current, they
may mainly adopt the language of the ethnic minority
exercising the regional autonomy. Since the 1950s, the
Chinese government has helped a dozen minority peoples
create or improve 13 scripts. The state has established
special bodies to organize the editing and publishing of
ancient writings of ethnic minorities. More than 120,000
titles of such works have been collected, of which over
110,000 have been edited and 5,000 published. More than
3,000 experts and scholars organized by the state have
completed the editing and publishing of five series of books
on ethnic-minority issues, including A Brief History of
China's Ethnic Minorities, Brief Records of Ethnic
Minorities' Languages and A General Survey of Ethnic
Minority Autonomous Areas, comprising over 400 titles with
90 million words. Now each of the 55 ethnic minority groups
has a brief written history. The Chinese government has set
up special institutions for the preservation, translation
and research of the three major epics of ethnic minorities:
Gesar, Jianggar and Manas. The three epics and treatises
concerning them have been published in the appropriate
ethnic-minority languages, in Chinese and in other
languages.
The state respects the folkways and
customs of minority peoples in such aspects as diet, burial,
festivals and marriage. Minority peoples also enjoy freedom
of religious belief, supported by specific state policies.
To date, there are more than 18 million believers in Islam
among ethnic minorities, over 30,000 mosques and 40,000
imams and ahungs. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has
more than 8.1 million religious believers, accounting for
over 56.3 percent of its total population, 23,000 places for
religious activities (over 20,000 mosques included), 29,000
religious personnel and over 80 religious groups. In Tibet,
there are more than 1,700 places for Tibetan Buddhist
activities, and 46,000 lamas and monks.
In old
China, the medical and health conditions in ethnic minority
areas were extremely backward. Endemic and epidemic diseases
ran rampant, and the population declined steadily. Since the
founding of New China, medical and health conditions in such
areas have been remarkably improved, the populations have
increased rapidly and the standard of health has risen
greatly. According to statistics, medical and health
institutions in ethnic autonomous areas grew from 361 in
1949 to 16,724 in 1998, the number of hospital beds grew
from 3,310 to 392,671 and the number of medical personnel
from 3,531 to 605,255. In 1998, the Tibet Autonomous Region
had more than 1,300 medical and health institutions, or 21
times the 1959 figure, and over 6,700 hospital beds, or 17.6
times the 1959 figure. The population of ethnic minorities
in China was only 34.013 million according to the first
national census of 1953, but it had reached 108.46 million
in 1995. In the ethnic-minority areas, both the death rate
of the people in general and the mortality rate of infants
keep going down. For example, in the Tibet Autonomous Region
the mortality rate of women in pregnancy and childbirth
decreased from five percent in 1959 to 0.7 percent in 1998,
and the infant mortality rate from 43 percent in 1959 to
3.677 percent in 1998. Meanwhile, the average life
expectancy of minority peoples has been prolonged from less
than 30 years before 1949 to the current 65 years.
VI. The Cross-Century Development Prospects
for Human Rights in China
Fifty years is but a
moment in human history. Nevertheless, in the past 50 years
the Chinese people have made a great historic leap in the
development of human rights. In safeguarding and promoting
human rights, although setbacks occurred, one indisputable
basic fact is that after unremitting efforts over half a
century, the poverty-stricken, weak and humiliated old China
has become an independent New China in the early stage of
prosperity, and the 1.25 billion Chinese people have become
the masters of their own destiny. They have changed the
terrible situation of chronic hunger, cold and ignorance,
rid China of the label of "The Sick Man of East
Asia," lead a civilized and healthy life of plenty, and
enjoy unprecedented democracy and freedom. We can say that
the human rights situation in present-day China is totally
different from that of the old China even compared with the
years before the initiation of reform and opening-up, the
great progress that has been made in this respect is
universally acknowledged.
Nevertheless, it
must be admitted that China is still a developing country.
Limited by impediments of natural, historical and economic
development, there is still room for improvement with regard
to the levels of China's democracy and legal system
building, the degree of social civilization and people's
living standards. However, on the basis of 50 years of
development, especially with the successful experiences
accumulated in the past 20 years of reform and opening-up,
the Chinese government and people are capable of solving the
problems on the road of advance, and will make constant
progress in their endeavors to improve human rights.
First, to fully realize human rights is a
basic goal of China's cross-century development. After China
adopted the policy of reform and opening-up, it worked out a
cross-century economic development strategy to realize
modernization in three stages, each stage being aimed at
enhancing China's overall national strength and improving
the Chinese people's living standards. This inevitably
entails improving the human rights situation. The goals of
the first and second stages -- to solve the problems of food
and clothing of the entire Chinese people and to enable them
to live a relatively comfortable life -- have already been
basically achieved; the goal of the third stage -- to reach
the level of the medium-developed countries in the mid-21st
century, so that the entire Chinese people can realize
common prosperity -- already has a relatively good
foundation. At the 15th National Congress of the CPC held in
1997, on the basis of summing up experiences, and from the
height of China's cross-century development, while
reiterating the three-stage development strategy, emphasis
was placed on democracy and legal system building. The
congress stressed the continuance of the reform of the
political system, the further expansion of democracy, the
perfection of the legal system, and making "exercising
the rule of law'' a basic state policy. In March 1999, the
Second Session of the Ninth NPC included "exercising
the rule of law and building a socialist country governed
according to law'' in the Constitution, making ``exercising
the rule of law and building a country governed according to
law'' a basic goal of the reform of the political system and
the democracy and legal system building, which is fixed in
the form of the fundamental law of the state. The essence of
this goal is guaranteeing that the Party and the government
control political power and administer the state according
to law, that the law-enforcement departments work in
accordance with the law, and that the citizens exercise
their rights and perform their duties in accordance with the
law. In short, we must guarantee human rights in the
country's laws and systems. Therefore, the implementation of
the strategy of exercising the rule of law and the
realization of the goal of building a country governed
according to law possess important and essential
significance in guaranteeing human rights and promoting
China's cross-century development of human rights.
Second, since China introduced the policy of
reform and opening-up, it has found a road for the promotion
and development of human rights that suits its reality.
China is a developing country in the East with a long
history and a huge population, but with a relative shortage
of resources and wealth. To promote human rights in such a
country, China cannot copy the mode of human rights
development of the developed Western countries, nor can it
copy the methods of other developing countries. China can
only start from its own reality and explore a road with its
own characteristics. Since the introduction of the policy of
reform and opening-up, China has, on the basis of summing up
its historical experiences and drawing lessons from them,
found a road to building socialism with Chinese
characteristics, and therefore has found a road to promoting
and developing human rights which is in line with the
country's reality. This means putting the rights to
subsistence and development in the first place, under the
conditions of reform, development and stability, and thus
promoting human rights development in an overall way. The
characteristics of this road are, in terms of the basic
orientation of developing human rights, that we stick to the
principle of developing the productive forces and promoting
common prosperity, based on the improvement of the living
standards of the entire people and promoting the human
rights of the entire people; in terms of the order of
priority, the top priority is given to the rights to
subsistence and development, while taking into consideration
the people's political, economic, social and cultural rights
and the overall development of individual and collective
rights; in terms of the methods of promoting and
guaranteeing human rights, we stress that stability is the
prerequisite, development is the key, reform is the motive
power, and government according to law is the guarantee.
Over the past 20 years, China has stuck to this correct road
of development. As a result, not only have the living
standards and mental outlook of the Chinese people changed
greatly, but a set of relatively complete political and
legal systems that guarantee the people's democratic rights
have been formed. Thus, great progress has been made in
putting human rights into a legal and institutional
framework, and China's human rights development has been
improving constantly. Practice has proved that building
socialism with Chinese characteristics is a road of
development that is in accordance with the fundamental
interests of the Chinese people, and also the only road
which can effectively promote human rights in China.
We can say that China's cross-century
development objective in the sphere of human rights has been
set, the foundation has been laid, and the road has been
opened. Looking forward to the 21st century, we have every
reason to believe that China's human rights situation will
see unwavering improvement, as long as we follow the plans
laid down at the Party's 15th National Congress, and while
continuing to carry out the three-stage economic development
strategy, earnestly implement the general plan of exercising
the rule of law and strive to build a socialist country
governed according to law.
-End-
White Paper--Fifty Years of Progress in China's Human Rights
2003-11-20 17:48