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China registers historic progress in human rights

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-09 14:11

The 11th five-year development program, from its guidelines, principles, goals to concrete policy measures, is a full expression of the requirements of "people first," scientific development and social harmony. This has charted a clear orientation for the all-round development of human rights. Secondly, over the past 30 years of reform and opening up, China has pioneered a new path best suited to its national conditions in human rights development, which features "people first," stability as precondition, reform as the motive force, development as the key, the rule of law as the guarantee, and comprehensive and coordinated development in the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. So long as we continue along this path, China's human rights cause is sure to see new progress as the modernization drive goes on.

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

Q. Great changes have taken place in the present-day international human rights. How do you view the present situation in this field? How do you think the world human rights cause can develop healthily?

A. There are two prominent features in the current international human rights situation. One is that the international community has never attached such great importance to human rights as at present and human rights have become an important subject in international exchange and cooperation.

Since the end of the Cold War, human rights issues have become increasingly important in international relations and international politics. With the rapid growth of economic globalization and informationization of social life, countries have become increasingly inter-dependent and mutually cooperative, thus accentuating the importance of human rights issues.

Countries have attached more and more importance to human rights issues and reached more and more common understanding on these issues. In March 2006, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, deciding to set up the Human Rights Council under it to replace the Human Rights Commission affiliated to the UN Economic and Social Council.

This shows that human rights have for the first time been juxtaposed with security and development as the "three main pillars" of the UN. In recent years, some countries have, according to the UN requirements, set up national human rights organizations such as national human rights commissions, thus putting the promotion and protection of human rights in a more important position. The second is that it has become a common call to have dialogue and oppose confrontation, making those who use human rights to create confrontation be more and more unpopular. All this represents progress and development in the area of international human rights.

However, what cannot be ignored is that there are still factors of disharmony in the development of world human rights and there are still stiff challenges. For instance, as the new international political and economic order has not been established and the world economic development is still very uneven, and the South-North gaps continue to grow, the rights to survival and development of the people of developing countries are being seriously threatened.

Some countries and regional groups have politicized and ideologized human rights by practicing double standards, flying the "human rights" flag to negate the sovereignty of other countries and carry out hegemonism and power politics, thus seriously spoiling the atmosphere of international cooperation in and obstructing the healthy development of human rights in the world.

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