By Luo Yuting

The Human Rights Research Academy of Wuhan University being named a national human rights education and training base is an affirmation and sign of trust in the university as well as a glorious responsibility. We are going to work hard to build the academy into a world-recognized education and research platform with Chinese characteristics, making its necessary contribution to human rights development in China.

Wuhan University has a long tradition and academic strength in the areas of human rights research, law and policy consultation and human rights legal assistance. In the 1990s, the university led in human rights research and made landmark achievements. The book, Human Rights Theories and Practices, compiled by Prof. Han Depei and Prof. Li Long, won first prize for university research in humanities and social sciences awarded by the Ministry of Education. Prof. Wang Exiang created China’s first nongovernmental organization for legal assistance, the Underprivileged Rights Protection Center of Wuhan University, which was praised by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government and also achieved academic results in international human rights law research. Prof. Wang Xigen assumed the role of senior consultant to the United Nations in the area of the right to development. Wang’s doctoral thesis, “Basic Human Rights in Society Under the Rule of Law: Research on the Development of the Rights Legal System,” won the National Top 100 Doctoral Dissertations Award.

The university’s Human Rights Research Academy has four centers specializing in legal assistance, development and human rights research, public interest law research and international human rights law research, respectively. They are distinctive in combining theory and practice and integrating domestic and international research.

The university will vigorously support the work of the academy, complying with the targets and requirements for the national human rights education and training bases, sticking to the correct political orientation, improving institutional and organizational work, streamlining research resources, strengthening human rights theoretical research and education and training, expanding international exchange and cooperation, pushing forward education and research on human rights knowledge popularization, and making new contributions to human rights development in China.

First, system innovation. The university has transformed its human rights research and education center into the Human Rights Research Academy, setting up a board of directors and academic committee. Humanities and social sciences Prof. Li Long is the director of the academy. Vice Dean Wang Xigen of the School of Law, also a Cheung Kong Scholar Chair professor, is executive director. Li Junru, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies and former vice president of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, chairs the academic committee. The academy is associated with the School of Law, whose Party secretary serves as chairman of the board. The school and the academy will join hands, complement each other and work together for innovation.

Second, think tank construction. The university is going to develop the academy into a platform for national human rights construction and popularization, offering quality policy advice and proposals to Party and government agencies and serve as a consultancy for improving human rights legislation and policy drafting.

Third, create high-level innovative results. The university will link its work to the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, stick to the correct orientation of Marxism, and deeply study key and difficult issues on human rights theories and practices in contemporary China. The university will follow the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, focus on the overall situation, sharpen its competitiveness, encourage innovative research, build the Chinese human rights discourse system, and accumulate strength to realize the Chinese Dream that will rejuvenate the Chinese nation and the dream for human rights development.

Fourth, raising the quality of education and training. The university will improve academic programs for undergraduate and graduate students, provide human rights education and training for lawyers, public servants, social workers and students, improve human rights awareness among the people, the spirit of the rule of law and the level of legal protection, and train more excellent professionals for the country.

Fifth, overseas publicity. The university will publicize the image of China as a responsible large country, provide advice on overseas publicity in the area of human rights, stimulate international exchange and carry out close cooperation with relevant international organizations, universities and research institutions.

(This is a speech by Luo Yuting, vice secretary of the CPC committee of Wuhan University at the ceremony announcing the second group of national human rights education and training bases.)