China's State Council Information Office published on Tuesday a
white paper detailing the nation's progress in human rights
protection over the past year.
The white paper, entitled China's Progress in Human Rights:
2003, provides a plethora of facts and figures detailing the
past year's efforts and achievements in safeguarding the basic
human rights of the Chinese people and providing legal guarantees
of these rights.
It also covers China's exchanges and cooperation with the
international community in this field.
The full text of the paper follows:
China's Progress in Human Rights:
2003
The year 2003 was an important and unusual year for China's
development. It was also a year of great, landmark significance for
progress in human rights in the country. In 2003, the Chinese
government did a good job in tackling the sudden outbreak of SARS
and curbing its spread, as well as in tackling frequent natural
disasters. Persisting in taking economic construction as its
central task, and striving for the coordinated development of
material, political and spiritual civilizations, it achieved new
breakthroughs in its reform, opening-up and modernization efforts.
China maintained political stability, and achieved rapid economic
growth and overall social progress. Moreover, further improvements
were witnessed in the people's living standards and new progress
was made in human rights cause.
The Chinese government gives top priority to the people's life
and health and basic human rights. Adopting the attitude of holding
itself accountable to the people, acting in their interests and
accepting their supervision, the Chinese government has formulated
the principles of government, that is, "governing the country for
the people," and "using the power for the people, sharing the
feelings of the people and working for the interests of the
people."
It has put forward the scientific view of development
characterized by putting people first and promoting the progress of
society and overall development of the people. It has established
the concept of governing the country by guaranteeing the
implementation of the Constitution, establishing a government under
the rule of law and creating political civilization.
In practice, it has adopted a series of distinctively epochal
measures for respecting and safeguarding human rights. It has made
great efforts to acquaint itself with the feelings of the people,
to reflect such feelings, to reduce the people's burdens and
practice democracy. These efforts have markedly improved China's
human rights conditions and won universal acknowledgement from the
international community.
In 2003 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
(CPC) proposed amendments to the current Constitution by adding the
provision that "the state respects and safeguards human rights,"
among others. Not long ago, the Second Session of the Tenth
National People's Congress (NPC) examined and adopted the
amendments to the Constitution.
The added contents include stipulations on promoting the
coordinated development of material, political and spiritual
civilizations, establishing and improving the social security
system, and respecting and safeguarding human rights. The
amendments also include improvements to the land requisition system
and the system for the protection of citizens' lawful private
property, fully demonstrating that revisions to the Constitution
are made to benefit the people and guarantee human rights.
Of particular importance is the formal addition, for the first
time ever, of "the state respects and safeguards human rights" to
the fundamental law of the state, indicating that respecting and
safeguarding human rights has been upgraded from the level of Party
and government policy and stand to the level of a constitutional
principle, from an idea and value of the Party and government
regarding its governance and administration to an idea and value
inherent in state construction, thus further confirming the
prominent status of human rights protection in China's legal system
and state development strategy and opening wider prospects for the
overall development of China's human rights cause.
Despite the fact that China has made great efforts to promote
and safeguard human rights, there is still much room for
improvement of the human rights conditions, as China is a
developing country with a big population and natural, historical,
development-level and other limitations. The Chinese government
attaches great importance to existing problems, and will continue
to take active and effective measures to steadily improve China's
human rights conditions and earnestly raise the level of human
rights enjoyed by the Chinese people.
To help the international community toward a better
understanding of the human rights situation in China, we hereby
give an overview of the developments in the field of human rights
in China in 2003.
In 2003 China's economy observed a rapid and healthy growth, and
the people's rights to subsistence and development were further
improved. Over the past year the country's gross domestic product
(GDP) reached 11,669.4 billion yuan, an increase of 9.1 percent
over the previous year. Calculated at the current rate of exchange,
the GDP per capita surpassed US$1,000 for the first time, a major
step up.
The general living standard of the people continued to rise. In
2003 the per-capita disposable income of urban residents was 8,472
yuan, an increase, in real terms, of 9 percent over the previous
year after deduction for inflation. The net per-capita income for
rural residents was 2,622 yuan, an increase of 4.3 percent in real
terms.
The consumption pattern of the society showed that it was
gradually changing from one of basic living to one of modern
living. In 2003 China's retail sales of consumer goods totaled
4,584.2 billion yuan-worth, an increase of 9.1 percent over the
previous year. The proportion of urban and rural residents'
expenditure on clothing, food and other daily necessities kept
declining, while the proportion of their expenditure on high-grade
daily-use articles, cars, housing, medical care and entertainments
was increasing.
In 2003 the Engel coefficient (i.e. the proportion of food
expenditure in the total consumption spending) per urban and rural
household decreased by 0.6 percentage point from the previous year.
In urban areas, the figure dropped to 37.1 percent from 57.5
percent in 1978, and in rural areas it dropped to 45.6 percent from
67.7 percent in 1978.
In 2003 China produced 2.02 million cars, an increase of 85
percent over the previous year. By the end of 2003 private cars
owned by individuals had reached 4.89 million, an increase of 1.46
million cars over the previous year.
In 2003 an additional 49.08 million households had telephones
installed in their residences, bringing the total number of
households with telephones to 263.3 million at the year's end. Also
in 2003, new mobile phone users increased by 62.69 million,
bringing the total number to 268.69 million at the year's end. The
number of fixed and mobile phone users combined reached 532 million
at the end of 2003. There are now 42 telephones for every 100
people, putting China among the top countries in terms of the pace
and scale of development.
By the end of 2003 there were 30.89 million computers throughout
the country connected to the Internet, and the number of households
logging on came to 79.5 million, ranking China second in the
world.
The housing conditions and living environment for urban and
rural residents steadily improved over the past year. Housing
construction has increased at an annual rate of 20 percent in the
past few years. The per-capita housing area was 22.8 square meters
by the end of 2002, and in rural areas it increased to 26.5 square
meters. In urban areas privately owned housing makes up at least 72
percent. Ninety-four percent of the newly constructed houses in
urban areas were purchased by individuals. The standards for house
decoration, decoration quality, indoor air quality and housing
environment are rising steadily.
In the meantime, China made continuous efforts to solve the food
and clothing problem of the impoverished population. The state
input for development-oriented poverty reduction programs in rural
areas increased from 24.8 billion yuan in 2000 to 29.9 billion yuan
in 2003. This input was used to improve the production conditions
for agriculture and animal husbandry in impoverished areas, to
build roads, to spread compulsory education and eliminate
illiteracy, to train farmers in practical technology, to prevent
and cure endemic diseases, to construct farm fields, to build water
conservancy projects and to provide drinking water for both people
and animals.
The per-capita income of farmers in the major poor counties that
the government aims to help increased from 1,277 yuan at the end of
2001 to 1,305 yuan in 2003, and the size of the impoverished
population without adequate food and clothing in rural China
decreased from 250 million at the beginning of China's reform and
opening-up program in 1978 to 29 million in 2003.
China attaches great importance to protecting the health and
safety of its citizens. In 2003, faced with the sudden outbreak of
the SARS epidemic, the Chinese government made the people's health
and safety its top priority. It adopted a series of resolute and
effective measures, including the promulgation of the Emergency
Regulations on Public Health Contingencies and Measures for the
Prevention and Treatment of the Infectious Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome, timely release of information on SARS cases, and
improvement of the SARS case reporting system and measures for
prevention and control of the epidemic.
State leaders went to SARS-affected regions many times to
investigate the epidemic conditions and console SARS patients as
well as doctors and nurses, and mobilized the whole nation to join
in the fight against SARS. The central and local governments
earmarked more than 10 billion yuan to purchase medical equipment,
medication and protective gear, and to reconstruct hospitals.
SARS patients, both farmers and townspeople who had financial
difficulties, were treated free of charge, making sure that all
SARS patients were given hospital treatment. These measures
effectively reduced the death rate of confirmed SARS patients on
the Chinese mainland to 6.5 percent, lower than the world's average
of nine percent.
In tackling the outbreak of the highly infectious bird flu
(avian flu) early this year, the Chinese government adopted many
effective measures, such as the killing and compulsory vaccination
of fowls. As a result, the disease was confined to the infected
areas before it could spread to other areas and infect human
beings. By March 16, 2004, the 49 cases of highly infectious bird
flu incidents across China had been eliminated, and people's life
and health had been effectively protected.
Meanwhile, the state adopted policies to give reasonable
compensation to poultry farmers who had suffered financially during
the epidemic. It also provided support to the poultry industry and
poultry enterprises with respect to loans, bank interest discount
and taxation, effectively protecting the interests of the
farmers.
China has strengthened the prevention and treatment of AIDS. It
has established the State Council coordination meeting system for
the prevention and treatment of AIDS and venereal diseases. It has
also worked out China's Medium- and Long-Term Plan for the
Prevention and Control of AIDS (1998-2010) and China's Action Plan
for the Control, Prevention and Treatment of AIDS (2001-2005).
In the four years starting 2003, the Chinese government will
invest 1.75 billion yuan on the prevention and treatment of AIDS.
The state provides free anti-AIDS medicine to patients among
farmers and to other patients in straitened circumstances. In
AIDS-prevalent areas people can receive anonymous examinations free
of charge, and pregnant women with the AIDS virus can receive free
medical screening to prevent them from spreading the virus to the
baby. Orphans of AIDS patients are exempted from paying any fees
required to attend school. Financial support is given to needy AIDS
patients.
On World AIDS Day, i.e., December 1, 2003, China's Ministry of
Health and a UN AIDS team jointly issued the Joint Evaluation
Report on AIDS in China, describing the spread of AIDS and efforts
for its control in China. On the same day, Premier Wen Jiabao
visited AIDS patients in hospitals, shook hands with them and
talked to them. This was designed to guide the public to correctly
understand and control AIDS, and eliminate prejudice against AIDS
patients.
At the same time, the state worked out and implemented the Plan
for the Establishment of a National Public Health Monitoring and
Information System and the Plan for the Establishment of a Medical
Treatment System in Case of Public Health Contingencies. These
plans helped establish a sound early warning and emergency
mechanism concerning public health contingencies, a disease
prevention and control system and a health care law enforcement
supervision system, thus further improving the basic health care
conditions for urban and rural residents.
According to statistics, by the end of 2003 China had 305,000
health care institutions, 2.902 million hospital and clinic beds,
4.24 million medical professionals, and 3,600 disease prevention
and control centers (anti-epidemic stations) with 159,000 medical
personnel. Moreover, there were 755 health care supervision and
examination institutions with 15,000 medical personnel, and 45,000
township clinics with 668,000 beds and a 907,000-strong
professional staff.
As health care conditions improved, people's health has also
improved greatly. The average life expectancy of the Chinese people
has increased from 35 years before the birth of New China in 1949
to the present 71.4 years. The maternal mortality rate dropped from
1,500 out of 100,000 in the early 1950s to 43.2 out of 100,000 in
2002, and the infant mortality rate from 200‰ before the birth of
New China to 28.4‰. At the same time, the incidence and death rates
of infectious, local and parasitic diseases have dropped
drastically.
China sets great store by the development of democracy and the
building of political civilization. It has endeavored to widen the
scope of citizens' orderly political participation, and to
safeguard their civil and political rights in accordance with the
law.
The Chinese Constitution stipulates, "All power in the People's
Republic of China belongs to the people." The NPC and the local
people's congresses at various levels are the organs through which
the people exercise state power. The NPC is the highest organ of
state power, deciding on the major policies and exercising the
legislative power of the state.
From early 1979 till now, the NPC and its Standing Committee
have passed 451 laws, interpretations of laws, and decisions
concerning legal issues; the State Council has enacted 966
administrative statutes; the local people's congresses and their
standing committees have drawn up some 8,000 local statutes; and
the ethnic autonomous areas have enacted over 480 regulations on
the exercise of autonomy and other separate regulations. Now, a
comparatively complete legal system centered on the Constitution
has initially been formed, so that there are basically laws to go
by for every aspect of social life.
Following the principles of putting people above all else and
legislation for the people, the NPC and its Standing Committee have
strengthened their legislative work and improved the quality of
legislation in the past year or more. The Second Session of the
Tenth NPC, held not long ago, examined and approved amendments to
the Constitution, which made partial revisions to the current
Constitution and included in it "the state respects and safeguards
human rights" and other provisions closely related to the people's
vital interests.
In 2003, the NPC Standing Committee examined and adopted 10 laws
and decisions concerning laws, including the Law on Residents' ID
Cards, Law on Road Traffic Safety, Law on Administrative Approval
and Law on the Prevention and Control of Radioactive Pollution. All
these display the basic spirit of serving the people, facilitating
the people and benefiting the people, as well as respecting and
safeguarding their human rights.
In the past year, the NPC and its Standing Committee have
strengthened its inspection of law enforcement and supervision over
the administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs. The NPC and
its Standing Committee have heeded, examined and deliberated the
work report of the State Council; the work reports of the Supreme
People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate; the work
reports of the State Council on the control of SARS, on the
guarantee of senior citizens' rights and interests, on employment
and re-employment, and on the project to divert water from the
south to the north.
The NPC and its Standing Committee have also made a thorough
examination to clear up the government-invested projects that owed
construction fees and payment to migrant workers, and examined the
enforcement of five laws, including the Law on Rural Land
Contracts, Construction Law and Law on the Protection of Minors.
All this has effectively prompted the state organs concerned to
administrate according to law and to exercise fair
jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, the NPC Standing Committee has paid great attention
to petitions from ordinary people, receiving some 31,000 visits and
handling more than 57,000 letters from them. As a result, many
practical problems of concern to citizens have been solved under
its supervision, helping safeguard the legal rights and interests
of the people.
The system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation
under the leadership of the CPC has further played its role in
China's political life. The National Committee of the Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) has performed
its functions of participating in the discussion and administration
of state affairs, exercised democratic rights and carried out
democratic supervision through its regular work of making
proposals, inspections, and reflecting public opinion.
In the past year, the various special committees of the CPPCC
National Committee made in-depth investigations into specific
issues, such as rural poverty-relief work in the new stage, the
defining of government functions in employment, and the increase in
farmers' income in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, resulting
in 37 investigative reports and 114 proposals in specialized
fields.
They have organized 23 inspection groups composed of over 500
CPPCC National Committee members and members of its Standing
Committee for inspection tours across the country, culminating in
the submission of 22 reports on their inspections.
The central committees of all the democratic parties and the
All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce submitted 84
proposals and passed on to concerned quarters 1,674 pieces of
public opinion and information through the CPPCC channel.
Along with the full-scale democratic construction at the rural
grass-roots level, the democratic rights of the masses there have
been respected. At present, 28 provinces, autonomous regions and
centrally administered municipalities have worked out or revised
the measures for implementing the Organic Law of Villagers'
Committees and 31 of them have formulated the procedures for the
election of villagers' committees.
The election of villagers' committees of the fifth or sixth
terms have been completed in most of the provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities throughout the country, with the average
rate of participation in the elections being above 80 percent, and
the rate even exceeding 90 percent in Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan,
and Hunan provinces.
Making village affairs known to the villagers, referred to as
the "Sunlight Project" by the people, has been practiced across the
country. So far, over 90 percent of villages have set up bulletin
boards for such purposes, giving timely reports to villagers of
village, financial and administrative affairs concerning their
interests.
The legal protection of citizens' lawful private property has
been further improved. The revised Constitution states clearly that
citizens' lawful private property is inviolable; that the state
protects citizens' rights to private property and to its
inheritance in accordance with the law; and that the state may, in
the public interest, and in accordance with the law, expropriate or
requisition citizens' private property for its use and shall make
compensation for the private property expropriated or
requisitioned.
Citizens' freedom of information, of speech and of the press, as
prescribed by law, has been further protected. In 2003, the press
spokesperson system was successively set up by people's governments
at all levels, and the related information publicizing system was
improved, thus greatly helping make the government's administrative
affairs better known and enabling citizens to enjoy more rights to
information, supervision and participation in public affairs.
At present, the Measures for Protecting the Copyright of the
Information Network is in the process of investigation prior to
being put into law. The newly revised and promulgated Publications
Administration Regulations and Regulations Governing the
Administration of Audio-Visual Products have made further
stipulations on citizens' freedom of speech and of the press. The
Publications Administration Regulations prescribe that "citizens
may, in accordance with these Regulations, freely express in
publications their opinions and expectations of state affairs,
economic and cultural undertakings and social affairs, and freely
publish the results of their scientific research, literary or
artistic creations and other cultural pursuits."
The state energetically promotes undertakings of the press,
providing favorable conditions for citizens to enjoy freedom of
speech and of the press. By the end of 2003, China had 282 radio
stations, 744 medium- and short-wave radio transmitting and relay
stations, 320 TV stations and 62 education TV stations, and
published national and provincial newspapers with a print run of
24.36 billion, periodicals with a print run of 2.99 billion, and
books with a print run of 6.75 billion.
Employees' rights to participate in and organize trade unions
are protected. By the end of September 2003, the total number of
grass-roots trade union organizations had increased 79.1 percent as
compared with the figure five years ago, and the number of trade
union members nationwide had risen 38.8 percent over that five
years ago. There were 808,000 non-public enterprises with trade
union organizations, boasting a membership of 29.601 million, which
accounted for 32.7 percent of the total staff.
Among all enterprises and institutions, 351,000 had established
the employees' conference system, 263,000 had their employees'
conferences carry out the evaluation of the performance of the
enterprise or institution leaders, and 291,000 practiced the
publicizing of enterprise or institution affairs.
Of the 56,000 enterprises and institutions that had grass-roots
trade union organizations and the boards of directors, 29,000 had
trade union chairmen on the boards of directors. Of the 44,000
enterprises and institutions that had grass-roots trade union
organizations and supervisory committees, 25,000 had trade union
chairmen on the supervisory committees. Some 118,000 non-public
enterprises in China practiced the publicizing of enterprise
affairs.
Citizens enjoy the freedom of religious belief in accordance
with the law and normal religious activities are protected.
According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 100,000
venues for religious activities in China, with a clergy of about
300,000, and over 3,000 national and local religious organizations,
and 74 religious colleges and schools.
Each religion publishes its own scriptures or classics, books
and magazines, among which the print run of the Bible alone has
reached 30 million. Chinese religious organizations have
established relations with religious organizations and personnel in
more than 70 countries and regions.
In 2003, China further beefed up its judicial reform, claiming
significant progress in judicial guarantee for human rights.
China has cracked down on various criminal offenses in
accordance with the law to protect citizens' life and the safety of
their property. In 2003, the Chinese public security organs
vigorously combated gang-related crimes, homicide, robbery, rape
and kidnapping, and other serious violent crimes and criminal
offenses, investigating and cracking 2.341 million criminal
cases.
The people's courts concluded the investigations of 634,953
criminal cases of first instance, of which 57,505 were criminal
cases involving the jeopardizing of public security, 184,018 were
cases of infringement on citizens' rights of the person or their
democratic rights, and 278,969 were cases of property
infringements, effectively protecting the victims' legitimate
rights and interests.
The Chinese government has carried out a major reform in its
social assistance program, replacing the Measures for the
Sheltering and Send-off of Urban Vagrants and Beggars with the more
humane and law-based Measures for Assisting and Managing Urban
Vagrants and Beggars with No Means of Livelihood.
Public security organs have practiced strict enforcement of the
law and emphasized law enforcement in the interests of the people.
They have promulgated the Provisions on Procedures of Handling
Administrative Cases by Public Security Organs; tightened
law-enforcement procedures; strengthened internal supervision over
law enforcement; firmly dealt with violations of human rights
involving the extortion of confessions by torture, the abuse of
guns and police instruments and other coercive measures; actively
conducted on-site supervision and special supervision; and
seriously dealt with law and discipline violations, so as to ensure
that law enforcement by public security organs is strict, just and
humane, and to protect and guarantee human rights.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security has made great
efforts to improve administrative management and publicized 30
measures for facilitating and benefiting the people, involving
household register, traffic, entry and exit, and fire control that
are closely related to the people's vital interests - to the
acclaim of the people nationwide.
Preventing and correcting cases of extended detention to protect
the legitimate rights and interests of the suspects and the
accused. In 2003, the Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's
Procuratorate and Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the
Notice on the Strict Enforcement of the Criminal Procedure Law, and
on the Conscientious Prevention and Correction of Extended
Detention, which provided for a strict system for investigating and
dealing with extended detention. The Supreme People's Procuratorate
set up special telephones and e-mail addresses for handling reports
on extended detention by procuratorial organs, so as to strengthen
public supervision and to gradually put in place a mechanism for
preventing and correcting extended detention.
In 2003, cases of extended detention involving 25,736 people
were corrected, basically rectifying such deviations. This was a
clear-up of extended detention, the most extensive in scope, the
biggest in scale and the largest in number of people involved in
the nation's judicial experience. Thereby, the judicial guarantee
for human rights was greatly strengthened.
The people's courts have improved their work of judicial
interpretation and the administration of justice concerning
administrative and state compensation. In 2003, the Supreme
People's Court formulated 20 documents of judicial interpretation
related to criminal law, civil law, administration and law
enforcement. Among them, the Interpretations of Some Questions
Related to the Concrete Application of the Law in Handling Criminal
Cases That Impair the Prevention and Control of the Sudden Onset of
Infectious Diseases and Other Disasters, and the Interpretations of
Certain Questions Related to the Application of the Marriage Law of
the People's Republic of China, Part Two provided a guarantee to
the legitimate rights and interests of citizens in a more practical
way.
In 2003, the people's courts concluded the investigations of
88,050 administrative lawsuits of first instance, in 10,337, or
11.74 percent, of which improper administrative actions were
annulled. The people's courts also handled 3,124 state compensation
cases, where a compensation sum totaling 89.74 million yuan was
ordered. All this has served to protect the legitimate rights and
interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations that
had fallen victim to illegal exercise of power by government
functionaries.
Procuratorial organs have exercised their power of legal
supervision, and strengthened legal supervision over infringements
at various links of lawsuits. In 2003, among the cases prosecuted
by procuratorial organs, 259 were cases of illegal detention, 29 of
illegal search, 52 of extorting confessions by torture, and 32 of
abusing prisoners or detainees. Procuratorial organs appealed
against court judgments of 2,906 criminal cases that they deemed
incorrectly tried, and offered 1,184 written proposals for
correction regarding infringements by the courts in handling
criminal cases.
By the end of June 2003, procuratorial organs at all levels had
set up 3,329 procuratorial offices at prisons, detention houses and
reeducation-through-labor centers, established 75 procuratorates at
large prisons, and provided procuratorial services through
representative offices at 92 percent of the nation's prisons,
detention houses and reeducation-through-labor centers.
In 2003, the Supreme People's Procuratorate carried out a
special clear-up of complaints by prisoners at procuratorates at
all levels, continuously strengthened its efforts in handling cases
of criminal compensation, and went all out to remove obstacles to
access by people with complaints, thus protecting the people's
legitimate rights and interests in a practical way.
Legal aid has been implemented effectively, ensuring citizens'
right to receive legal aid. The Regulations on Legal Aid,
formulated and promulgated in 2003, are the first administrative
statute to be ever issued in China. They established a basic
framework for China's legal aid system, and defined the scope of
citizens' right to legal aid.
By the end of 2003, there were 2,774 legal aid agencies in
China, or 356 more than in the previous year, with 9,457 workers,
or 1,172 more than in the previous year, providing legal aid
services in 166,433 cases, or 36,658 more than in the previous
year.
The people's courts further strengthened their legal aid work.
In the same year, they reduced lawsuit fees in 4,860 cases,
exempted lawsuit fees for 16,926 cases, and allowed delayed payment
of lawsuit fees in 206,496 cases, where the litigants had real
financial difficulties. The total amount of reduced and exempted
lawsuit fees was 141 million yuan, and that of delayed payment of
lawsuit fees was 916 million yuan. In this way, the people's courts
ensured that people whose legitimate rights and interests had been
infringed upon but had financial difficulties could afford to press
lawsuits.
The legitimate rights and interests of criminals are also
protected. In 2003, the Ministry of Justice, based on the Law on
Prisons, formulated and implemented the Regulations on Reform
Through Reeducation in Prisons, Regulations on the Procedures for
Applications by Prisons for Commutation and Parole, and Regulations
on Visits to and Correspondence of Foreign Prisoners, which further
defined the legitimate rights of prisoners in custody.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice is actively seeking to reform
the ways of imposing punishment in prisons and the ways of prison
management, practicing open prison management in an all-round way,
promoting the institution of law-based prison work, and making
efforts to build a new type of prison system that is just,
incorruptible, free of abuses and highly efficient, to guarantee
prisoners' legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the
law.
In 2003, adhering to the principle of putting people first, the
Chinese government made new efforts to promote the all-round
development of the urban and rural areas, regions, economy and
society, and to enhance the people's economic, social and cultural
rights. These efforts were crowned with marked success.
Emphasizing employment as the basis of people's livelihood, the
Chinese government has made positive efforts to establish a
responsibility system for employment and re-employment, formulating
mutually supporting policies, creating job opportunities,
increasing fund input, and improving employment services, so as to
provide a fairly adequate guarantee for people's right to work.
In 2003, the central government appropriated an additional
special subsidy of 4.7 billion yuan to support employment and
re-employment, which greatly increased employment. At the end of
2003, there were 744.32 million people in employment in China, 6.92
million more than the number at the end of 2002. They included
256.39 million urban people, an increase of 8.59 million from the
previous year. In 2003, 4.4 million people laid off from
state-owned enterprises were re-employed. At the end of 2003, the
nationwide registered urban unemployment rate was 4.3 percent.
To guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of people
sustaining work-related injuries, in 2003 the Chinese government
strengthened its efforts and increased financial input for
legislation and law enforcement in the field of labor security.
Regulations were formulated and promulgated, such as the
Regulations on Insurance for Work-related Injuries, and
supplementary regulations such as the Procedures for Confirming
Work-related Injuries, Measures for Casualty Compensation Paid in
One Lump Sum by Illegal Employers, and Regulations on
Identification of Dependents of Employees Who Incurred Work-related
Death.
Coverage of insurance for work-related injuries has been
extended to include enterprises of all types throughout China, as
well as private businesses with hired workers. It is clearly
stipulated that all employers in urban and rural areas alike shall
sign for the insurance scheme on work-related injuries to guarantee
that employees receive timely medicare and compensation when they
are injured in accidents on the job or when they contract
occupational diseases, thus promoting the prevention of
work-related injuries and vocational rehabilitation.
Social security has been improved. The newly amended
Constitution stipulates clearly, "The state establishes and
improves a social security system compatible with the level of
economic development."
In 2003, the central government spent 70 billion yuan, 19.9
percent more than the previous year, to ensure that the basic
living allowances for laid-off employees from state-owned
enterprises and pensions for retired employees from enterprises
were paid on time and in full, and to guarantee the issuance of
basic living allowances to laid-offs from state-owned enterprises,
the access to unemployment insurance, and the implementation of the
scheme of a minimum standard of living for urban residents.
Of the 70 billion yuan, 9.2 billion yuan were used for
subsidizing urban residents for a minimum standard of living, as
compared to 4.6 billion yuan spent in the previous year. According
to statistics, in 2003 154.9 million people nationwide enjoyed
basic old-age insurance, 7.54 million more than in the previous
year; basic pensions issued totaled 313.1 billion yuan, which
basically ensured that retirees from enterprises received their
pensions on time and in full.
There were 29.33 million retirees from enterprises covered by
socialized management and services, accounting for 84.5 percent of
the total, and an increase of 41 percentage points over the
previous year. Nearly 60 million people have been covered by the
rural old-age insurance scheme, and close to 1.4 million farmers
were paid pensions.
At the end of 2003, there were 108.95 million people around
China covered by medical insurance, an increase of 14.95 million as
compared with the figure at the end of 2002; 103.73 million people
covered by unemployment insurance, an increase of 1.91 million;
45.73 million people covered by work-related injury insurance, an
increase of 1.67 million; and 36.48 million people covered by
child-bearing insurance, an increase of 1.6 million.
There were 4.15 million people enjoying unemployment insurance
benefits, 250,000 fewer than in the previous year; 1.95 million
laid-off employees from state-owned enterprises registered at the
re-employment service centers, 1.44 million fewer than in the
previous year, all of them having received their basic living
allowances on time and in full and had their social insurance fees
paid.
In total, 22.35 million urban residents throughout China
received minimum standard of living allowances from the government,
an increase of 1.7 million over the previous year.
The state attaches great importance to the protection of the
legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers from rural
areas. In 2003, the State Council issued the Notice on Properly
Carrying Out the Work of Management and Services for Rural Migrant
Workers in Urban Areas, which clearly provides for handling the
issues concerning rural migrant workers in urban areas, delayed
wage payment to those workers, schooling of their children,
improvement of their working and living conditions, and job
training for them.
The government launched a special campaign to protect rural
migrant workers' rights and interests around the country. This
campaign, aimed at protecting the labor rights and interests of
rural migrant workers, included distributing free Manual of
Protection of Laborers' Rights; setting up hotlines for their
complaints; solving the problems of delayed wage payment, poor
working environment and faulty social security; and guaranteeing
wage payment on time and in full. The fact that the Premier of the
State Council personally ordered the payment of rural migrant
workers' arrears of wage vividly reflects the government's great
concern about the problem of failure to pay rural migrant workers'
wages and the protection of their rights and interests. According
to statistics, from November 2003 to February 2004, a total of over
24 billion yuan of overdue wages was paid to rural migrant
workers.
The state protects farmers' legitimate rights and interests in
accordance with the law. In 2003, the state promulgated the newly
amended Law of the People's Republic of China on Agriculture, thus
strengthening efforts in guaranteeing farmers' rights and
interests. The chapter "Protection of Farmers' Rights and
Interests" in the Law on Agriculture stipulates clearly that
farmers' right to contractual operation of land shall not be
infringed upon, and that such activities as qualification,
upgrading and checking, equal sharing out of tax payment, imposing
illegal education charges on farmers, and holding back or diverting
compensation fees for requisitioned land are forbidden.
At the same time, it standardizes the procedures for raising
funds and recruiting rural labor, and provides corresponding
administrative or judicial aid measures to be taken when farmers'
rights and interests are infringed upon. The Law on Rural Land
Contracts, effective as of last year, furnishes farmers with a
long-term, guaranteed land-use right, and clearly describes their
legal rights to the use of contracted land, to proceeds from the
land, to the transfer of the contracted operation right, to
independent organization of production and disposal of products, to
inheritance of the proceeds from contracted operation, and to
proper compensation when the contracted land is requisitioned in
accordance with the law. Special provisions have been made to
protect female farmers' right to contract land.
At present, China is drafting a Law of the People's Republic of
China on the Protection of Farmers' Rights and Interests, which
will go a step further toward providing all-round legal protection
to farmers' rights and interests.
In 2003, the central and local governments made a series of
decisions aimed at encouraging farmers to increase their incomes
and become prosperous. The state adopted various measures,
including sci-tech training for farmers, establishment of a
sci-tech service system in rural areas, and aid to the impoverished
through sci-tech development. Great amounts of manpower and funds
were put into the work to help farmers shake off poverty and attain
prosperity.
To reduce farmers' burdens, the government has carried out a
reform of rural taxation. Taxes on agricultural specialties other
than tobacco will gradually be cancelled. From 2004, the rate of
agricultural tax will be reduced yearly by more than one percentage
point until it is cancelled five years later.
In the meantime, the government will take further steps to
increase input in public welfare undertakings in rural areas,
solving the difficulties in rural children's access to primary and
secondary school education and in farmers' medicare; to speed up
the reform of the rural economic system, increase input in
agricultural infrastructure, improve rural production and living
conditions and promote the development of the agricultural economy;
to comprehensively solve the issues of farmers' old-age pension and
insurance according to the minimum standard of living scheme for
city residents; to reform the household registration system in
rural areas and protect farmers' right to migration and choice of
work.
On February 8, 2004 the Central Committee of the CPC and the
State Council promulgated the Proposals on Several Policies to
Increase Farmers' Incomes, which clearly provides for readjustment
of the agricultural structure, expansion of farmers' employment,
promotion of sci-tech progress, deepening of rural reform, increase
of agricultural input, and strengthening of support and protection
for agriculture according to the demands of comprehensive economic
and social development in urban and rural areas, and in pursuit of
the principle of "giving more, taking less, and being
flexible."
These measures, aimed at increasing farmers' incomes at a higher
speed, and reversing the trend of widening the gap between urban
and rural residents' incomes as soon as possible, fully embody the
Chinese Government's determination to protect farmers' rights and
interests. They are bound to bring blessing to the country's 900
million farmers.
The state puts great efforts into the development of education,
to ensure citizens' right to receive education. From 1997 to 2002,
appropriations for education nationwide increased by 59 billion
yuan annually on average, at a yearly rate of increase as high as
16.7 percent.
In 2002, the total input in education nationwide was 548 billion
yuan, and the proportion of the government's financial
appropriation for education in the GDP increased from 3.19 percent
in 2001 to 3.41 percent, representing the highest increase since
1989.
According to statistics, 2,478 counties (cities and districts)
in China have basically introduced nine-year compulsory education
and eliminated illiteracy among young and middle-aged people, of
which number 51 were added in 2003.
Meanwhile, the national illiteracy rate among young and
middle-aged people shrank to below five percent. In 2003, the UIS
of UNESCO published the latest statistics on the elimination of
illiteracy worldwide in the past decade, which shows that among the
40 countries surveyed, China had made the greatest achievements in
this field.
In 2003, ordinary institutions of higher learning around China
admitted 3.822 million students and 269,000 graduate students,
617,000 and 66,000 more than in the previous year,
respectively.
The state is speeding up cultural restructuring to promote
cultural development. In 2003, the Regulations on Public Cultural
and Sporting Facilities officially went into effect. A number of
key basic cultural projects were completed, and some public
cultural facilities were built, rebuilt or expanded, including
libraries, museums, cultural centers, cinemas, theaters and music
halls.
According to statistics, from 1998 to 2002, total appropriations
for cultural undertakings in China reached 32.42 billion yuan, 2.7
times that during the period of the Eighth Five-Year Plan
(1991-1995). In 2002, there were 972 projects of fixed assets
investment in the cultural sectors around the country, with
completed investment totaling 3.09 billion yuan. In 2003, the
appropriation from the central budget for cultural undertakings
totaled 537 million yuan, a record figure in China.
At the end of 2003, there were 2,587 art troupes, 2,892 cultural
centers, 2,708 public libraries and 1,519 museums in China. In the
same year, 140 feature films and 61 films on science and education,
documentaries and animated cartoons were produced. These
developments have met the demands of the people for cultural
life.
The state protects the legitimate rights and interests of women
and children in accordance with the law. Since 2000, the state has
successively enacted or revised laws and regulations, including the
Marriage Law, Law on Population and Family Planning, Law on Rural
Land Contracts, Regulations for the Administration of Family
Planning Technology and Services, Implementation Procedures for the
Law on Health Care for Mothers and Infants, and Regulations for
Premarital Health Care Work.
In 2001, the Chinese government promulgated and put into effect
the Outline for the Development of Chinese Women 2001-2010 and
Outline for the Development of Chinese Children 2001-2010.
Currently, the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and
Interests is being revised. The formulation, revision and
implementation of these laws, regulations and policies have
enhanced the protection of the rights and interests of women and
children in respect to children's survival and growth, and women's
health care, education, employment, marriage and family.
Women's right to participate in the administration of state
affairs is protected. Currently, among the 29 ministries and
ministerial-level commissions and agencies of the State Council
there are 22 female officials of the ministerial rank. Among the
deputies to the Tenth NPC, women make up 20.24 percent of the
total; among the NPC Standing Committee members, 13.2 percent; and
among its vice-chairpersons, 18.8 percent. The Tenth NPC elected
one female vice-premier and one female state councilor. Among the
Party and government leaders at all levels in 31 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central
Government there are more than 5,000 women.
Job opportunities for women keep growing, and women have become
increasingly independent economically. In 2002, some 335.52 million
women were employed, or 45.5 percent of the total female
population. The net increase of employed women over the past five
years was 5.65 million. From January to September in 2003, 1.31
million laid-off women were re-employed, or 37.43 percent of the
total number of laid-off women.
The number of urban women employees makes up 38 percent of the
total number of the urban employed. The proportion of women
employed in the primary and secondary industries has been on the
decline, while in the new industries and technology- and
knowledge-intensive industries, the proportion of women has
increased remarkably.
The educational gap between men and women is narrowing, and the
ratio of women in education at all levels has been on the rise. By
2002, the enrolment rate of school-age children in primary schools
was 98.58 percent, and that of girls 98.53 percent.
Female students currently in primary schools, ordinary middle
schools, secondary vocational schools and ordinary institutions of
higher learning were 47.2 percent, 46.7 percent, 51.86 percent and
43.95 percent, respectively, of the total student body in those
schools. The rate of illiterate young and middle-aged women had
dropped to less than 5 percent. In 2002, there were 78 female
academicians in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese
Academy of Engineering, representing 6.2 percent of the total
number of academicians.
Health care for women and children has been improved. Recently,
the Chinese government has conducted a general survey and provided
medical treatment for gynecological diseases and a systematic
health examination for women in pregnancy and confinement recently
throughout the country.
In addition, measures for the prevention and treatment of common
gynecological diseases are regularly carried out. By the end of
2002, the rate of nationwide medical examination for pre-marriage
women and prenatal examination for pregnant women was respectively
68.03 percent and 90.14 percent, which were increases of 3.48
percent and 0.78 percent, respectively, compared with the figures
for 2000. In 2002, there were 3,067 maternity and child care
establishments in China. The rate of adoption of modern midwifery
in rural areas reached 97.2 percent that year.
Over a long time in the past, the state has instituted a planned
immunity, prevention and vaccination system, carrying out
activities to prevent and cure juvenile pneumonia, diarrhea,
rickets and iron-deficiency anemia. It has launched a baby-friendly
drive, promoted breast-feeding, established baby-friendly
hospitals, and provided health services, including nutrition
guidance, monitoring of the growth and development of children,
screening of infantile diseases and children's early-stage
education, so as to continuously enhance the level of children's
physical development and nutrition.
In 2002, the rate of serious malnutrition in children below the
age of five was 2.83 percent, or 0.26 percentage point lower than
the figure for 2000. In 2002 there were altogether 178 children's
welfare homes, 52 more than in 2000, and social welfare
institutions took in 55,000 children, over 10,000 more than in
2000. Some 51,400 handicapped children were given rehabilitation
training, over 10,000 more than in 2000.
The state has taken special measures to crack down on abducting
and selling and other criminal activities against women and
children in accordance with the law, to protect women and
children's rights from infringement. In 2003, public security
organs have rescued well over 2,000 abducted women and children
from the clutches of human traffickers. In 2002, the State Council
revised and implemented the Regulations on Prohibiting the Use of
Child Labor, and effectively curbed this abuse.
In China, citizens of all ethnic minorities enjoy all equal
civil rights specified in the Constitution and laws, as well as
various special rights granted them, in accordance with the
law.
Ethnic minorities enjoy equal rights to participate in the
administration of state affairs and the rights to independently
manage the affairs of their own regions and their own ethnic
communities. Among the deputies to the Tenth NPC, there are 415 of
ethnic-minority origin, representing 13.91 percent of the total
number of deputies. Each of China's 55 ethnic minorities has its
own deputy(ies).
By 2003, all principal leading positions of the local autonomous
governments at all levels and of all kinds in China had been
entirely assumed by citizens of the ethnic group(s) exercising
regional autonomy in the areas concerned. A large number of people
of ethnic-minority origin also served in leading positions in
working departments in organs of self-government of ethnic
autonomous areas.
The training of ethnic-minority cadres has been further
promoted. In the past three years, the number of such cadres who
attended the training sessions sponsored by the State Ethnic
Affairs Commission alone reached 4,000. Most of the 42,000
ethnic-minority cadres at the county (division) level or above have
attended training courses of one kind or another.
The economy in ethnic-minority areas has been developing
rapidly, and the local people's living standard has improved
greatly. In 2003, the gross output value in those areas exceeded
1,100 billion yuan, an increase of 11.1 percent over the previous
year, which was higher than the nation's average. Of these regions,
the gross output value of Tibet and Ningxia exceeded 11.5 percent,
while that of Inner Mongolia reached 16.3 percent, ranking first in
the country.
Since the beginning of 2004, funds for helping the poor provided
by the central government will be increased by 60 million yuan, to
be used primarily in programs for invigorating the border areas,
enabling the poor to become comfortably off and accelerating
development in border areas inhabited by ethnic minorities.
The state has, for the first time, listed poverty relief for
ethnic minorities with relatively small populations as a focus of
the state's development-oriented poverty reduction program. A
special help-the-poor policy is adopted for a total of 630,000
people of 22 ethnic-minority groups, the population of each of
which is smaller than 100,000. Within three to five years, great
efforts will be made to assure them of relatively great improvement
in production, living standard, infrastructure, culture and
education, medical and health care, telecommunications and
transport.
The state has listed Muslim food in the Catalogue of Goods
Specially Needed for Ethnic Minorities, and 345 enterprises have
been designated to engage in the production of these foodstuffs
specially for China's 20 million Muslims.
In 2003, 400 million yuan was earmarked as development funds for
ethnic minorities, to solve special difficulties in their
production and daily life. Through preferential policies toward
ethnic-minority peoples, 600 million yuan was channeled to ethnic
minorities to develop trade and enterprises producing special
articles used by them.
The state has increased its input in education for ethnic
minorities and is striving to solve the most difficult problems
that hinder the development of their education, with the aim of
enhancing the educational level of citizens of ethnic-minority
origin. Special educational funds allocated by the central budget
and key educational projects organized and implemented by the state
are all oriented to the ethnic-minority areas.
In the application and distribution of various special
educational funds, local governments have also adopted preferential
policies toward education for ethnic minorities. Beginning in the
autumn of 2003, the central and local governments jointly earmarked
funds to provide textbooks free of charge to poverty-stricken
students at the stage of compulsory education in 56 counties of
Xinjiang, and exempted them from all school fees.
Commencing in 2004, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will
invest 4.858 million yuan each year on top of an annual 8.703
million yuan for classes for ethnic-minority students in boarding
schools. Hubei Province will, as one of its major tasks on its
poverty reduction program for ethnic minorities-inhabited areas,
build 100 primary and middle boarding schools for students of the
compulsory education period in rural areas. This will solve the
problem of accommodation for 30,000 ethnic-minority students from
poor families.
In higher education, the state has adopted a preferential policy
toward ethnic-minority students. In the enrolment of institutions
of higher learning, the policy of giving priority to
ethnic-minority students is being continued. By the end of 2003, of
699 administrative areas at the county level in ethnic autonomous
areas in China, 405, or 32 more than in 2002, had by and large
realized the goal of nine-year compulsory education and eliminated
illiteracy among the young and middle-aged.
The state has all along paid attention to research, protection
and development of traditional ethnic-minority cultures, organized
collection, editing, translation and publishing of the cultural
heritages of all ethnic minorities in a planned way, protected
scenic spots, historical sites, valuable cultural relics and other
important historical and cultural heritages of the ethnic-minority
people, and formulated special preferential policies in respect of
cultural facilities improvement, training of literary and artistic
talents, cultural exchanges with foreign countries and protection
of cultural relics.
The state has spent a large amount of money on the protection of
cultural relics in the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. Some
cultural relics in Qinghai Province as well as Tibet Autonomous
Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been repaired. For
five years starting in 1989, the state allocated over 55 million
yuan for the renovation of the Potala Palace, and more than 200
million yuan has been planned for all-round maintenance of the
Potala Palace in the future.
The state has strengthened efforts for the collection, editing
and rescue work of ethnic languages and scripts, including those of
the Manchu, She, Hezhen, Jing, Gelo and Tujia. The government
regularly sponsors national ethnic-minority cultural activities and
large-scale traditional sport meets of ethnic minorities to promote
the development of their cultures and sports.
There are 60 million disabled people in China, accounting for
about 5 percent of the total population. The Chinese government
puts great stress on the protection of the rights of the disabled,
and is going all out to implement the Outline of the Tenth
Five-Year Plan for the Disabled in China (2001-2005). By way of
taking important measures such as improving the legal system,
implementing state programs, mobilizing social forces and providing
equal opportunities, the Chinese government endeavors to give
special help to the disabled, establish and gradually improve the
system for the protection of human rights of the disabled,
encourage them to participate in social life on an equal footing,
and share the material and cultural achievements of society.
The state will continuously improve its socialized
rehabilitation service system, implement the key rehabilitation
projects, and help disabled people to improve their physical
functions, self-reliance in daily life, and social
adaptability.
In 2003, a large number of disabled people overcame their
handicaps to varying degrees: 570,000 people suffering from
cataracts received operations to recover their sight; 31,000 people
suffering from poor sight were provided with visual aids; 18,000
deaf children received training in hearing and speaking; 77,000
physically handicapped persons and children suffering from cerebral
palsy and mental handicaps participated in rehabilitation training;
2.43 million people suffering from serious mental diseases
underwent comprehensive medical treatment and rehabilitation
training; more than 3,800 persons suffering from leprosy-related
handicaps received corrigent surgical operations; and a total of
1.22 million devices for aiding the disabled were supplied.
The disabled persons' right to receive education has been better
protected. The Chinese government has included education for
handicapped children in the state compulsory education system, and
implemented such education according to overall planning.
Currently, the number of special education schools for blind,
deaf and mentally handicapped children has reached 1,655, and that
of special education classes attached to ordinary schools is 3,154,
with a total student body of 577,000 in both.
Some disabled students from poor families have received
financial support. More than 10,000 handicapped children, for
example, have been given financial aid for schooling under the two
programs "Aid the Disabled for Schooling" and "Enrolling Blind
Children for Schooling in the Central and Western Regions." In
2003, more than 3,000 disabled students were admitted to
institutions of higher learning, and 490,000 disabled people went
in for vocational education and training.
The state protects the rights of the disabled to labor and
social security. According to statistics, now 1.09 million disabled
people are employed in urban entities specially set up for the
handicapped; 1.236 million are employed by social sectors under
specified apportioning; and still another 1.7 million work on their
own account or find employment in entities organized by themselves
of their own accord.
In rural areas, 16.85 million disabled people engage in crop
cultivation, fish breeding and poultry raising or household
handicraft making. The rate of employment for the disabled has
increased year by year. In 2003, 1.23 million poverty-stricken
disabled people in rural areas no longer had the problem of having
enough to eat and wear through the help-the-poor projects.
At present, there are 2.59 million disabled people in China who
benefit from the minimum living standard program. Four hundred and
forty thousand disabled people live in welfare homes or homes for
the aged, or enjoy the government-sponsored "five guarantees" (of
food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses) program,
or live at separate homes of residents having regular links with
welfare homes or homes for the aged. Some 2.46 million disabled
people receive temporary relief or subsidies and 1.03 million are
covered by social security schemes.
The cultural and sports life of the disabled has become
increasingly rich and active. In cultural centers, libraries,
gymnasiums and stadiums, more and more conveniences and services
have been provided for disabled people. Nationwide, 1,618 cultural
venues for the disabled and 131 art troupes made up of disabled
people have been established. TV and radio stations, newspapers and
magazines give wide coverage to the lives of disabled people,
including special programs and topics.
A national comprehensive sports training center for the disabled
is being in preparation for construction. In 2003, China
successfully held the Sixth National Sports Meet for the Disabled.
Besides, disabled athletes from China have won 177 gold medals in
important international sports meets.
The state endeavors to create a social environment of care and
help for the disabled. The National Help-the-Disabled Day, the
third Sunday of May each year, has been observed for 13 years, with
a rich variety of activities. In recent years, help-the-disabled
activities in various forms have been carried out, such as
"Volunteers for Helping the Disabled," "Red Scarf Movement for
Helping the Disabled," "Cultural Circles' Help for the Disabled,"
"Help for the Disabled from Science and Technology Circles" and
"Legal Assistance for the Disabled."
More than 40,000 liaison offices of help-the-disabled volunteers
have been established throughout the country. Today, the number of
registered young volunteers is upwards of 1.86 million.
Much headway has been made in building easy environments for the
disabled. A large number of sloping passages, paths for the blind,
handrails and audio traffic signs and other facilities for the
disabled persons' convenience have been either built or renovated
on the major roads, in shopping centers, hospitals, hotels,
cinemas, theaters, museums, airports, railway stations and
residential areas in the large and medium-sized cities. Many news
programs on TV are accompanied by sign language. More and more TV
programs and films have subtitles.
For years, the great efforts and achievements made by China for
the protection of the human rights of the disabled have won wide
attention and appreciation from the United Nations and the
international community.
China has all along been supportive to and actively participated
in activities in the field of human rights sponsored by the United
Nations. Since 1981, China has been consecutively elected and
appointed a member of the Untied Nations Commission on Human
Rights.
In 2003, Chinese delegation attended the 59th Session of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Substantive Session
of the United Nations Economic and Social Council and the Third
Committee Meeting of the 58th Session of the United Nations General
Assembly. China sent specialists to attend the 55th Session of the
Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of
the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the 2nd Session
of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
At these meetings, Chinese delegates and specialists actively
participated in examination and deliberation of issues concerning
human rights, expounded China's principles and stand on human
rights issues, safeguarded the purpose and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations, strove to promote international
cooperation and exchanges in the field of human rights and made
positive contributions to the healthy development of the
international human rights cause.
China has been actively involved in formulation of legal
documents concerning international human rights. In January and
September 2003, the Chinese government sent specialists to attend
the first meeting and the informal consultation, respectively, of a
UN working group in respect of drafting the Legally Binding
Normative Instrument for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearances, and to attend the meeting of the special
committee for the formulation of the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities.
In November 2003, China organized the inter-government
conference in Beijing for the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific for drafting the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and adopted the Beijing
Declaration. The conference played a positive and promotional role
in the progress of the formulation of the Convention.
China supports the strengthening of international cooperation in
the field of human rights. It advocates full consideration for and
application of existing United Nations laws, human rights documents
and supervision mechanism, full respect for the internal laws of
all nations and their functions, and at the same time, due
consideration for the protection of human rights and the
preservation of the normal judiciary functions of nations.
China has been actively involved in and promoted the activities
of the second "Asia and Pacific Decade of the Disabled (2003-2012)"
and striven to improve the conditions of its own disabled people.
On December 10, 2003, Julian Hunte, chairman of the 59th Session of
the United Nations General Assembly, presented the United Nations
Human Rights Award to Deng Pufang, chairman of the China Federation
of the Disabled. It was the first time such an award had been given
to a Chinese as well as the first time it had been presented to a
handicapped person. It was an expression of high appreciation for
Deng Pufang personally by the United Nations on his outstanding
contribution to the protection of disabled persons' human rights
and his tenacious efforts for promoting the development of world
disabled people's movement. It was also an appreciation of the
international community for years of efforts made by China in
promoting and protecting human rights.
The Chinese government cherishes the important role of
international human rights documents in promoting and protecting
human rights. It has, to date, acceded to 21 international human
rights conventions, and has taken every measure to honor its
obligations under those conventions.
In 2003, the Chinese government submitted, as scheduled, its
first compliance report to the United Nations with respect to the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The
report gave an overall account of the efforts made by China in
promoting and protecting the economic, social and cultural rights
of the people in recent years. In addition, China also submitted to
the United Nations its second compliance report with respect to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the combined 5th and 6th
report concerning the implementation of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
These reports introduced in detail, respectively, the
legislative, judicial and administrative measures taken and
progress made by China from 1996 to 2001 regarding the protection
and promotion of the rights of the child, as well as actions taken
by China in eliminating discrimination against women from 1998 to
2002. These reports also dealt with the implementation of the
Beijing Action Program and also with the implementation of the
results of the 2000 Special Session of the UN General Assembly
(United Nations Conference) on Women's Affairs. Moreover, the
reports indicated China's attention to performing her obligations
under the conventions in the field of women and children, and
expounded her stand on carrying out relevant international
cooperation and exchanges.
China has actively participated in cracking down on cross-border
organized crimes and terrorism. In 2003, the NPC Standing Committee
of China approved 13 international treaties China acceded to,
including the Amendment to Article 1 of the Convention on
Prohibition or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional
Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have
Indiscriminate Effects, United Nations Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime, and Cooperative Covenant on Cracking
on Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism Between the People's
Republic of China and the Republic of Kyrghyz.
The Ministry of Public Security of China and the United Nations
Children's Fund and the International Labor Organization have
jointly carried out an international cooperative project of
preventing and cracking down on the abducting and selling of women
and children.
China has actively carried out dialogues and cooperation with
countries throughout the world with regard to human rights on the
basis of equality and mutual respect. In 2003, the Chinese
government held dialogues, discussions or exchanges in respect of
human rights respectively with the European Union and Australia,
Canada, Britain, Germany, Holland, Norway, Switzerland, Austria and
Belgium; hosted the fifth China-Canada-Norway human rights forum;
and hosted, jointly with the European Union, the China-EU judiciary
seminar. Those dialogues, exchanges and cooperation helped China
and the relevant countries and organizations toward a better mutual
understanding on the human rights issue, reduced disagreements and
expanded consensus.
Simultaneously, non-government-sponsored dialogues and exchanges
on human rights were very active. Non-governmental organizations
(NGO) such as the China Human Rights Society and the China Human
Rights Development Fund have sent many delegations to a number of
countries in Europe, North America, Oceania and Africa, invited
human rights organizations and officials of certain countries to
visit China, and carried out extensive exchanges and cooperation
with regard to human rights, which have greatly increased mutual
understanding and trust.
The China Human Rights Society has translated and published
human rights works in cooperation with the Human Rights Institute
of Norway's Oslo University and the Human Rights Research Center of
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh College of Political Science. In October
2003, the China Human Rights Society submitted, as required, its
first work report to the United Nations Economic and Social
Council.
China holds that the development of human rights is an important
mark of the continuous progress of the civilization of human
society, and an important part of the progressive current of world
peace and development. Full realization of human rights is the
common goal of countries throughout the world as well as an
important target for China in her efforts to build a moderately
prosperous society in an all-round way, as well as her "peaceful
rise" in the world.
China will, as always, devote herself to promoting the human
rights cause, actively carry out exchanges and cooperation with the
international community according to the provisions of the
Constitution of China and the need for modernization of the
country, and make her contributions to promoting the healthy
development of the international human rights cause.
(China.org.cn March 30, 2004)