Action plan to promote human rights in China

Xinhua: The formulation, implementation and assessment of the first Action Plan would have provided experiences for the formulation of the Action Plan. What characteristics does the second Action Plan possess?

Wang Chen: Both Action Plans adhere to the Scientific Outlook on Development which puts people first, and takes realization, preservation and advancement of people's fundamental interests as the starting point and goal of the formulation of the Action Plan. The new Action Plan has the following characteristics:

First, China's stance and view on human rights are further clarified. The Introduction of the Action Plan illustrates China's view of human rights by specifying three basic principles for formulating and implementing the Action Plan. These are: the principle of pushing forward the work according to law, the principle of comprehensive advances and the principle of pursuing practicality. To advance the development of human rights, China must adhere to the constitutional principle that "the state respects and preserves human rights." We must also adhere to the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international conventions on human rights. We must promote the coordinated development of economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights, and promote the balanced development of individual and collective human rights. We must also respect the principle of the universality of human rights, while ensuring cohesion with China's national conditions and new realities. These principles represent China's dialectic understanding of the various internal relations of human rights from the perspective of traditional Chinese culture, which emphasizes harmony and balance. They combine to serve as the central principles for advancing the development of the cause of human rights in China.

Second, the comprehensive development of human rights is closely integrated with China's 12th Five-Year Plan. In combination with the implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan, the Action Plan integrates China's human rights endeavors with economic, political, cultural, social and ecological construction, as well as the work plans of various departments in all sectors for the coming four years. In essence, it serves as China's plan for human rights development during the 12th Five-Year period.

Third, the Action Plan is more feasible and workable. Summing up the experiences from the formulation, implementation and evaluation of the previous plan, the new Action Plan ensures that all objectives are described in detail and that all tasks can be evaluated by clearly-defined standards, so that objectives and tasks can be implemented, examined and evaluated.

Fourth, the Action Plan attaches greater importance to the role of NGOs and mass media in promoting the development of human rights. According to the Action Plan, China will "improve the social management mechanism and promote the constructive role of NGOs in human rights protection" and "encourage the mass media to play a positive role in the publicizing, implementation and supervision of the Action Plan."

Fifth, the Action Plan requests that efforts be made to publicize the concept of human rights and spread relevant knowledge, so as to promote public awareness of human rights. The Action Plan prioritizes the education and training of civil servants, and requires the training programs to cover topics related to human rights. Human rights education in various forms will be held in all types of schools and at all levels. For the first time, the Action Plan states that China would "encourage and promote the publicity of human rights knowledge in enterprises and public institutions, and develop a corporate culture that honors and protects human rights." It also states that "China will give full play to the role of national human rights education and training bases," and that "by 2015, at least five new bases will be opened," and "China will make the Action Plan an important part of human rights education and training."

Xinhua: The key to the success of the Action Plan is effective implementation. We have noticed that compared with the previous plan, this plan has a new chapter titled "Implementation and Supervision." What are you planning to do to ensure effective implementation?

Wang Chen: Action and implementation are essential to the Action Plan. We have worked hard to make sure the implementation is effective and we wrote a new chapter especially on implementation and supervision to ensure the success of the plan.
According to the Action Plan: First, relevant departments at the central level, and local governments at all levels, will attach the importance to the Action Plan. While taking into consideration the specific responsibilities of each department and regional characteristics, they will take effective measures to achieve the aims and complete the tasks of the Action Plan. The joint meeting mechanism for the Action Plan will conduct research and examinations at different phases, have a final evaluation and publish the evaluation report.

Second, the Action Plan will be taken as an important part of human rights education and training, and the mass media will be encouraged to play a positive role in the publicizing, implementation and supervision of the Action Plan.

Third, in the process of implementing the Action Plan, China will respect and give full play to the public's initiative, enthusiasm and creativity. It will improve the social management mechanism and promote the constructive role of NGOs in human rights protection. Active efforts will be made to probe and improve the social mechanism for protecting human rights in line with the specific conditions of the country as a whole and its different regions and promote the effective implementation of the Action Plan.

We believe that through the vigorous promotion and effective implementation of the Action Plan, the socialist value of respecting and protecting human rights will become more widespread and China will make further progress in its development and enhancement of human rights.