Information Office of the State Council of
the People's Republic of China
February 2000, Beijing


Contents
      I.      A Historic Turning Point in the Progress of Human Rights in
China
      II.    Great Improvement in the Rights to Subsistence and Development,
and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
      III.   Civil Rights and Political Rights of Citizens Effectively
Safeguarded
      IV.   Protection of the Rights of Women and Children
      V.    Equal Rights and Special Protection for Ethnic Minorities
      VI.   The Cross-Century Development Prospects for Human Rights in China

I. A Historic Turning Point in the Progress of Human Rights in China
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 SafeguardedI
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 right 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.