Edited and translated by Liang Jun, People's Daily Online
The Chinese government on Tuesday released a white paper under the title Progress in China's Human Rights in 2012. The white paper is China's 10th report on human rights since the government began releasing such reports in 1991.
As an important chronicle data, the 10 white papers summarize the situation of human rights in China and elaborate on the progress of the cause of human rights and main achievements made.
They, along with the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) and the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2012-2015), make up the series of documents on national human rights of contemporary China.
If we say China's first national human rights action plan released in 2009 is the implementation of the constitutional principles that China respects and protects human rights, then the white paper issued on Tuesday embodies the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held last November.
The white paper summarizes the protection of human rights in five aspects including the construction of economy, politics, culture, society and ecological civilization, which is in line with the overall arrangement of the 18th CPC National Congress report.
The first nine white papers on China's human rights focus on specific human rights, namely, the rights to subsistence and development, civil and political rights, the judicial protection for human rights, economic, social and cultural rights, and the rights and interests of women and children. But one thing remains unchanged - China has always taken people's rights to subsistence and development as top priority.
Practice and time has proved it was a right strategy to promote the development of cause of human rights when China was in a period with relatively backward economy and large population. By adhering to the strategy China created a miracle to feed 20 percent of the world's population with only 7 percent of world arable land, and achieved two great leap-forward historical development: from poverty to having enough to eat and wear, then to being well-off.
With China's entry into the stage of all-round construction of a well-off society, the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010) has begun to create a new system of human right protection that include economic, social and cultural rights protection and citizen's rights and political rights protection.
Currently, the white paper has further adjusted China's human rights protection system and introduced the new general layout involving five aspects. Over the past 22 years, the gradual change of the 10 white papers on China's human rights and two action plans has paved a road of human rights protection with Chinese characteristics.
Read the Chinese version: 十部白皮书 人权保障路
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