Wang Chen: China registers historic progress in human rights

BEIJING, Dec. 9 (Chinese media) -- On the occasion of the

60th anniversary of the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

and the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, Wang Chen, director

of the State Council Information Office, accepted an exclusive interview by the

Human Rights journal, during which he gave a positive appraisal of the position

and role of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, expounded China's basic

views on human rights and achievements in human rights development and

visualized the prospects of human rights development in China and the world as a

whole.

The full text of QA is as follows:

Q. Dec. 10 this year marks the 60th anniversary of

the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.

How do you view and evaluate this document?

A. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

adopted at the UN General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948 is the UN's first document

devoted to the human rights issue. It is truly a worldwide declaration of human

rights that came into being on the basis of summing up the historical experience

and absorbing and infusing the cultural spirit of the East and the West. Over

the past 60 years, it has played an important role in awakening the people of

the world to their pursuit for human rights, directing and promoting the

development of international human rights theories and practice. It is still of

great guiding significance for the development of the human rights cause in the

world.

First of all, the UDHR for the first time in history

put forward the universal concept of "human rights," confirming that "everyone

is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, without

distinction of any kind," and making the economic, social and cultural rights

and civil and political rights two paralleled and inalienable components of

human rights, thus breaking the narrow, traditional conception of human rights

of the West and enriching and developing the contents of human rights.

Then, the UDHR served as a source of encouragement to

the people of colonies and appendage countries in their great movement for state

independence and national liberation, thus making indelible contributions to

destroying the colonial system that had been ruling mankind for centuries and to

promoting world peace, human rights and justice.

The UDHR has also had a far-reaching influence in the

spread of the human rights principles and in the institution of human rights

laws in the world. As a result, the UN has adopted dozens of international human

rights documents including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

All the continents have also adopted many regional documents. The majority of

the countries throughout the world have, in various ways, included respecting

and protecting human rights in their Constitutions or related laws.

Q. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of

China's reform and opening up. Over the past 30 years, China has made tremendous

progress in its economic and social development and its international status has

risen significantly. What changes do you think have taken place with regard to

human rights?

A. The past three decades have witnessed historic

changes in all aspects of the society in China. But the most profound changes

that have taken place should be those in the people and their concepts, their

living standards and their dignity and values. Over the past 30 years, the

Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government have persevered in

reform and opening up in its economic and social development in an all-round

manner and integrated the universality of human rights with the concrete

national conditions and have made unremitting efforts to promote and protect

human rights, thus blazing a new trail for human rights development that has

distinct Chinese characteristics, thus resulting in a synchronized and

coordinated development in the human rights cause and the political, economic,

social and cultural development. It is not exaggerating to say that China has

made historic progress in human rights and that China's human rights conditions

are in the best historical period.

--- Respecting and protecting human rights has

received attention never seen before and has become an important principle of

the CPC and the Chinese government in governing the country. Since China's

reform and opening up, the most prominent progress China has made in human

rights is to have freed itself from the bondage of the "leftist" thinking that

regarded human rights as the slogan of the bourgeoisie and established the

important position of human rights in the social and political life. Since the

16th CPC National Congress, in particular, the CPC Central Committee with Hu

Jintao as General Secretary has advanced the "people first" scientific

development theory and the important strategic thinking of constructing a

socialist harmonious society, which have made respect for and protection of

human rights an important component part. Since 2004, "respecting and protecting

human rights" has been written into the Constitution, the 11th five-year

development program and the Constitution of the CPC. All this has shown that

human rights development has become a major theme in social construction and

development and an important principle of the CPC and the Chinese government in

governing the country and maintaining friendly relations with neighbors. The

unprecedented attention given to human rights has provided powerful political

and legal guarantee for human rights development both in theory and practice.

--- The rights to subsistence and development have

received protection never seen before. The 30 years of reform and opening up

have witnessed vigorous economic and social development, with the economy

growing at an average annual rate of over 9 percent. The living standards of the

1.3 billion Chinese people have improved greatly, realizing the historic leap

from poverty to adequate food and clothing and from adequate food and clothing

to a well-off level. By the end of 2007, the per capita GDP had risen to 18,700

yuan from 379 yuan in 1978, increasing by nearly 50-fold. The disposable income

of urban residents had risen to 13,786 yuan from 343 yuan and that of rural

residents had risen to 4,140 yuan from 134 yuan, increasing about 40-fold and

31-fold, respectively. The per capita living space had risen to 27 square meters

from 6.7 square meters in the urban areas and to 30.7 square meters from 8.1

square meters in the rural areas. The urban and rural Engel's Coefficient had

dropped to 36.3 percent and 43.1 percent from 56.6 percent and 67.71 percent,

respectively. Transport, telecommunications, culture, education and recreation,

medical service and health care, family service, tourism and sightseeing and

other development and enjoyment consumption had increased steadily. The number

of people in poverty was reduced to 14.79 million from 1978's 250 million. At

present, the life expectancy of Chinese has risen to 73 years from 68 years in

1978, attaining the level of medium developed countries.

--- Civil and political rights have been brought

under real protection. Since reform and opening up, China has constantly

strengthened its efforts to rule the country by law, build a country of the rule

of law and improve democracy. The rights of person and political rights of the

citizens have been extended and effectively protected on the orbit of democracy

and law. At present, there are 229 effective laws in force in addition to the

about 600 effective administrative decrees of the State Council and more than

7,000 local laws. These, with the Constitution as the core, go to form a

socialist legal system distinct in Chinese characters. All aspects of social

activities have laws to go by and all rights of the citizens have been brought

under the secure protection of law. In the meanwhile, China is actively and

steadily pushing forward its political restructuring aimed at increasing the

orderly political participation by citizens, making administrative affairs

transparent, intensifying the oversight and checks and balances of power and

protecting citizens' political rights by law. In the rural areas, in particular,

grassroots democracy covering elections, policy decision making, management and

oversight has been developing apace, enabling hundreds of millions of peasants

to enjoy the right of direct election.

--- Economic, social and cultural rights improved

incessantly. Since reform and opening up, the Chinese government has adopted

various measures to deal with unemployment and re-employment and set up a social

security system and strengthened support to education, science and technology,

culture and public health and other social undertakings, striving to ensure the

economic, social and cultural rights of the citizens on a solid footing. In

2006, the government scrapped the agricultural tax and agricultural specialty

product tax, ending the history of peasants delivering tax for farming the land

which had lasted for more than 2,600 years. At present, China has basically

popularized the nine-year compulsory education and illiteracy has been

eliminated among 99 percent of the young and middle-aged population. China has

already edged into the ranks of countries with a fairly high level of education.

From 1978 to 2007, the number of students at tertiary schools increased by

nearly 22 times from 867,000 to 18.85 million. The number of public cultural

services and facilities has increased considerably. The public cultural service

system covering both urban and rural areas has taken shape. The cultural

activities of the people have been enriched. The new rural cooperative medical

service that started in 2002 has now covered 730 million peasants or 85.7

percent of the rural population, contributing greatly to the improvement of the

health of the rural people.

--- Exchanges and cooperation with foreign countries in the area of human rights expanded. Since reform and opening up, China has, closely following the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, taken an active part in the UN's work on human rights and in drawing up legal documents in this regard, making its due contributions to enriching the concept of international human rights and promoting the development of international human rights activities. China has approved and joined related human rights treaties and conventions. Up to the present, China is a signatory party to 25 international human rights conventions and treaties and has adopted effective measures to perform its obligations and timely submitted reports on its performance to accept the review by the UN treaty organizations. China has always advocated for dialogue, cooperation and exchange on the basis of equality and mutual respect in order to make the international human rights cause develop healthily. So far, China has conducted more than 70 human rights dialogues and exchanges with other countries, which helped enhance mutual understanding. China has made positive efforts to promote human rights development in each other's countries.

Q. As you are the head of the State Council

Information Office, could you tell us the functions of your unit and what is the

role the office has played in human rights?

A. Our office was founded in 1991. The functions of

our office can be summarized as "letting the world know about China and making

China known in the world." To tell the world about China includes not only

explanations about China's domestic and foreign policies, China's history,

culture and political, economic and social development but also revelation of

the truth and China's stands and views on some major issues on which there are a

lot of misunderstandings, deep biases and accusations in other countries so as

to remove doubts and enhance understanding and create a good international

context for China's peaceful development. The human rights issue, for instance,

is an area in which the outside world has known little about China and there are

many misunderstandings. So it is a very important part of the work of our office

to present the fact and views of China on human rights. In the recent two

decades, we have done the following work with regard to human rights:

--- Expounding China's views, advocacies and practice

with regard to human rights, telling the world the unremitting efforts made by

the Chinese government and people in promoting human rights and the resulting

achievements so as to help the international community to know more about the

true human rights conditions in China. Toward the end of the 1980s and at the

beginning of the 1990s, some international antagonistic forces, out of different

ideologies and social systems, launched an anti-China wave, spearheading human

rights attacks against China. To tell the world about the true human rights

conditions in China and its basic stand and policies, our office issued the

first white paper on human rights Human Rights in China. After that, our office

has issued seven white papers to give an account of the general situation of

human rights in China. In addition, it has issued more than 30 white papers and

dozens of important articles on such topics as democracy, criminals'

transformation, women and children, population and family planning, poverty

relief, labor and social security, ethnic minorities and religion, and the rule

of law, all of which are closely associated with human rights and are of

international concern. These white papers and articles have given a complete and

systematic picture of the human rights conditions in China, summed up its basic

experience in human rights development, completely and authoritatively expounded

the basic views of the Chinese government on human rights issues. They have

played an important role in helping the international community get a complete

and true picture of China's human rights conditions, in giving the lies to the

distortions and accusations by international antagonistic forces and in clearing

up the misunderstanding about China's human rights. These documents have won

favorable comments from the international opinion. It is generally believed that

China's active stance to clear about issues concerning human rights by way of

issuing white papers has "increased the openness and transparency of the

government," "enhanced the understanding of the international community on

China's human rights conditions and made the international community see the

progress China has made in human rights and know the endeavors made by the

Chinese government toward improvement of human rights."

--- Refuting unfounded accusations against China's

human rights conditions by the US Department of State in its "Country Report on

Human Rights" and safeguarding China's state sovereignty and national dignity.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the U.S. Department of State, in collaboration

with some other Western countries, has been repeatedly mooted anti-China bills

in the UN Human Rights Commission and issued its annual "Country Report on Human

Rights" to distort and accuse China of its human rights conditions. Starting

from 1994, our office has issued more than 10 weighty commentaries against the

attacks by the U.S. Department of State in its "Country Report on Human Rights"

by presenting solid facts to lay bare the true intentions of the United States

in carrying out its anti-China and anti-Communist and hegemonic strategies on

the pretext of human rights. These commentaries have caused strong favorable

reactions from the international community. From 2000 to the present, in

countering the distortion and accusation by the United States by way of paying

back in its own coin, so to speak, we have issued the Human Rights Record of the

United States for eight years running, using a lot of data and facts to expose

the bad human rights records of the United States and its double standards on

human rights. The move has been extensively echoed in the world. Some foreign

media described these articles as "like a sharp sword, pointing directly at the

tender point of the United States." Some developing countries said that China

has voiced what the developing countries wanted to say. Mass media of some

developing countries appealed to their ruling authorities "not to keep silent

anymore and to learn from China to give response to the U.S. 'Country Report on

Human Rights' and safeguard national dignity."

--- Holding exhibitions to demonstrate the human

rights conditions of China and its unique path concerning human rights

development. In November 2006, our office and the China Society for Human Rights

Studies held a "China Human Rights Exhibition" at the Beijing Cultural Palace of

Nationalities. From July to October 2007, the two units held photo exhibitions

"Contemporary Chinese Life through the Lens" in India, Nepal, Austria, Italy,

Egypt and Uzbekistan. A theme exhibition "Chinese People's Life through the

Lens" was also held at the Beijing Cultural Palace of Nationalities during the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The "China's Human Rights Exhibition" was the first

of its kind in the world. It exhibited more than 700 photos and more than 250

objects, more than 1,000 titles of books on human rights, 24 tables and charts.

These, plus situational models, video and film shows, electronic calendars,

electronic white papers, internet interaction, touch-screen QA and

on-the-spot demonstration of folk arts, have visualized and specified the

abstract concept of human rights and artistically reproduced the glorious course

traversed by the Chinese people in fighting for, safeguarding and developing

human rights and the great achievements they have scored. They have also

systematically displayed the policies and laws of China in protecting human

rights, giving a complete picture of China's human rights conditions and

progress at all levels, from all perspectives and in all aspects. They served as

an important information platform for Chinese and foreign visitors to get an

objective and complete picture of China's human rights. Many foreign media

described the exhibition as "having reflected the progress and openness of

China" and "very useful for the international community to know about China's

human rights."

--- Spreading knowledge about human rights to

heighten the awareness of the people so as to stimulate an all-round development

of the human rights cause. Over the years, we have offered human rights lectures

that lasted for several months over the Central People's Broadcasting Station,

started a QA column on human rights in the People's Daily that lasted for a

year, sponsored a human rights knowledge quiz in the Guangming Daily, organized

the compilation of the "Human Rights Reader for Officials," which has been made

part of the teaching materials for cadre training in the country and organized

training courses of all kinds for human rights cadres. These activities have not

only helped heighten the awareness about human rights on the part of officials

and common people but also enhanced their consciousness in respecting and

safeguarding human rights, thus expanding the social foundation for safeguarding

and protecting human rights. At the same time, we have taken the lead in

organizing the formulation of "National Human Rights Program of Action," aimed

at bringing about a complete and orderly development of human rights in China.

That is China's first national program of action in the area of human rights,

which has mapped out plans for human rights development for the next two years.

It is an important move of the Chinese government in implementing the

constitutional principle of "respecting and protecting human rights" and the

"people first" scientific development theory. The program covers such areas as

government functions, extension of democracy, law and order, people's

livelihood, protection of the special rights of women, children and the ethnic

minorities and the raising of awareness about human rights in the whole society.

By setting and implementing the goals and measures in a systematic way, it will

surely help improve the human rights conditions in China and make progress in

this regard.

Q. Just as you have mentioned that China has made

great achievements in the human rights cause since reform and opening up, but

there are still some problems and difficulties that cannot be ignored. As far as

the present is concerned, what problems and difficulties do you think still

exist in the human rights cause? What is the prospect of the development of

human rights in China?

A. Human rights are a development process. China is a

developing country with a population of 1.3 billion. Due to natural, historical,

cultural and economic and social factors, there are still many problems and

difficulties in the development of human rights. There are quite a few things

less than satisfactory in the human rights conditions in the country. For

instance, the political and economic structural systems are yet to be improved;

democracy and the legal system remain to be perfected; governments at all levels

have to heighten their awareness about protecting human rights and about

exercising administration according to law; the economic and social development

is uneven and the enlarging gaps between the urban and rural areas, between

different regions, and between the rich and the poor have not been brought under

control; problems and difficulties are quite outstanding in such areas as

employment, social security, income distribution, education, medical service,

housing and production safety. All this will affect the immediate interests and

rights of the people. It is, therefore, a long-term and arduous task of the

Chinese government and people to continue and strengthen their efforts to

promote and protect human rights.

Despite all these difficulties and problems, I am

still fully confident of the prospects of human rights development. First of

all, China has put human rights high on the agenda for national development.

Running through the entire report to the 17th CPC National Congress are such

terms as "people first," improvement of people's livelihood, expansion of

democracy and protection of human rights. The report stressed the importance of

respecting and protecting human rights and ensuring the rights of all members of

the society to equal participation and equal development. The report made a

clarion call for improving the democratic system, diversifying the forms of

democracy and expanding democratic channels, and "protecting the people's right

to know, right to participation, right to expression and right to oversight." It

also called for acceleration of social construction focusing on the improvement

of the livelihood of the people, "promoting social justice and equity, striving

to enable all the people to have school to attend when in need, get due income

from labor, have access to due medical treatment when falling ill, get proper

care when in old age and have decent and adequate housing." The 11th five-year

development program, from its guidelines, principles, goals to concrete policy

measures, is a full expression of the requirements of "people first," scientific

development and social harmony. This has charted a clear orientation for the

all-round development of human rights. Secondly, over the past 30 years of

reform and opening up, China has pioneered a new path best suited to its

national conditions in human rights development, which features "people first,"

stability as precondition, reform as the motive force, development as the key,

the rule of law as the guarantee, and comprehensive and coordinated development

in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. So long as we

continue along this path, China's human rights cause is sure to see new progress

as the modernization drive goes on.

I firmly believe that so long as we unswervingly implement the constitutional principle of respecting and protecting human rights, constantly improve democracy and the rule of law, our society will become more harmonious and people will live a still better life and enjoy human rights to the full.