Cui Yuying, vice minister of the State Council Information Office, at the ceremony announcing the second group of national human rights education and training bases

July 22, 2014
 

We are announcing the second group of national human rights education and training bases, which is a significant as well as pleasant event in China’s human rights development. On behalf of the State Council Information Office, I would like to express my warm congratulations to Renmin University of China, Fudan University, Wuhan University, Shandong University and the Southwest University of Political Science and Law. I would also like to express my sincere respect to the experts and scholars who have made excellent contributions to China’s human rights cause over the past decades.

The establishment of national human rights education and training bases is not only a solemn promise China has made to the international community, but also an important measure for boosting the human right cause in China. In April 2009, the State Council Information Office issued China’s first national plan with the theme of human rights, the National Human Rights Action Plan (2009-2010), specifying that it would choose a few higher-learning institutions to be national human rights education and training bases. Under the strong leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and with efforts from various sides, Nankai University, the China University of Political Science and Law and Guangzhou University were named the first national human rights education and training bases in October 2011. Over the past three years, the three universities have worked hard to explore human rights education and training models that are suitable to China’s national conditions and development practices, strengthening institutional and academic construction while enhancing theoretical research and talent cultivation, making great efforts in improving the human rights theory and discourse system with Chinese characteristics, popularizing human rights knowledge and spreading human rights culture, providing policy consultation and social services and promoting international exchange and cooperation related to human rights, and producing a positive impact on society, which has earned praise from all of society. In line with the National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-2015), at least five more national human rights education and training bases should be added to the list. After solid preparation for the appraisal process, the second group of such national bases is being named today, which will definitely boost human rights development in China.

Respecting and ensuring human rights has become a major principle and mission of the CPC in governing the country. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, with Comrade Xi Jinping as general secretary, and under the guidance of the key strategic thinking of achieving the great revitalization of China, the CPC sticks to beginning from the real conditions of the country, working for promoting social justice and fairness and improving people’s benefit, boosting economic, political, social and cultural development, ensuring equal participation and development of the people, and bringing more fruits of development to the people. More new results achieved in the course of human rights development in China have laid a solid basis for improving human rights education and training.

Human rights work is an important part of the ideological work of the CPC, and has a bearing on national security, development and stability, national sovereignty and dignity, as well as the image of China. There is a profound change in the balance of power in the world and international public opinion, which signifies both opportunity and challenge in human rights work. On the one hand, with China’s comprehensive national strength and international status continuously rising, the influence of the socialist path with Chinese characteristics and its theories and institutions have been enhanced in an unprecedented way and the achievements made by the Chinese have been praised by more and more countries in the world. More people have recognized China’s human rights concept and idea. On the other hand, due to ideological confrontation and the need for strategic containment, the United State and some European countries are playing the human rights card and imposing pressure on China with human rights issues. In the international human rights confrontation, Western countries overwhelm China, which is on the defensive side. The competition on human rights issues is still complicated and severe.

Human rights education and training are basic work in the area of human rights development. The State Council Information Office, as a major coordinator for human rights theoretical research and human rights publicity as well as the leading organ in the national human rights action inter-agency mechanism, will earnestly implement the guidance of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as general secretary, effectively play the guidance and coordination role, and make necessary contributions to China’s human rights education and training.

I wish to take this chance to underline four aspects involved with better building human rights education and training bases. First, correct political orientation. We should hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics, adhering to confidence in the path, the theories and the institutions, making national human rights education and training bases incubators of Chinese socialist human rights values and reliable carriers for spreading modern Chinese human rights values. The bases must be based on China’s real and practical conditions. Without adherence to socialism with Chinese characteristics, human rights theoretical research in China will be without roots or origins and without clear goals. Second, the human rights discourse system with Chinese characteristics. Faced with the rapid growth of multi-polarization in the world and the diversity of civilizations, we should speed up constructing the human rights theory system with Chinese characteristics, summarize theories and thoughts that reflect the advancement of China’s human rights cause, and use such theories and thought as well as the Chinese concept to influence the world. We should focus on human rights theoretical studies to consistently improve the capacity for setting the human rights agenda, cultivate China’s human rights discourse and spread China’s voice, which can effectively influence international opinion and create a favorable environment for human rights discourse. Third, human rights think tanks with Chinese characteristics. National human rights education and training bases are places not only for gathering human rights professionals but also for training talent for the future. Such bases should try hard to build themselves into innovative, open and modern human rights think tanks, with balanced focus on research, training and consultation. The bases should actively offer human rights opinion analyses, policy consultation and specialized reports, bringing wisdom to the Party and the government for better governance and international communication. Fourth, international exchange and cooperation. The national bases should conduct academic exchange with international organizations and human rights research organizations in various countries, actively expand new ways and areas for international human rights exchange, and utilize international occasions to show the good image of China in respecting and ensuring human rights. The bases should use various forms of international exchange to show the achievements of China’s human rights theoretical research and human rights development, telling vivid stories of modern Chinese developing human rights, publicizing the experience of China in promoting and protecting human rights, seeking common ground between China and the rest of the world on human rights issues, and increasing understanding and cooperation in human rights among various countries.