LI  Yunlong*

 

Abstract: In China, development of human rights is inherently included in good governance, which is reflected in the following aspects: Firstly, people participate widely in social and public-interest affairs management through exercising their democratic rights endowed by the constitution. Secondly, citizens’ fundamental human rights and other civil rights are protected by law. Thirdly, people’s rights to know and to express are expanding in China. Fourthly, the Chinese government actively responds to people’s requirements, accepting their supervisions and improving their living standard. To promote the modernization of state’s governance, China must stick to the principles of human rights protection which are supposed to guarantee people’s rights to participate in, to know and to supervise the process of decision-making, as well as to reserve the fundamental rights for the disadvantaged.

 

Keywords:  human rights protection   modernization of  state governance      rights to know and to express

 

The modernization of state governance is an organic part of China’s modernization drive, and human rights are an unavoidable factor in this process. Since the reform and opening up, China has effectively guaranteed human rights in its pursuit of modernized state governance. It is still necessary for China to follow the human rights principle in further promoting its modernization of state governance. 

 

 

Literally, governance has two meanings in Chinese, rule and management. Governance is generally a practice at the state level to, especially, put chaos into order or steer a country onto its normal track. In Chinese, we have several phrases, such as “治理整顿,” “综合治理,” “治国理政,” which mean the same as “governance” here. When understood in this sense, the modernization of state governance stresses the use of modernized methods in accomplishing the mission and goal of a country, or in other words, providing safety, security and order for a social community, administering social public affairs and providing public services for all members of society. The concept of “governance” put forward by the international community in the 1990s further enriched the connotation of the modernization of governance. The World Bank defines “governance” as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development.”¹ Unlike the traditional “rule” or “government,” governance implies the process and results of authoritative decision-making for social benefit. UNDP defines governance as “the exercise of political, economic and administrative power or authority to manage a nation’s resources and affairs.”² To govern a nation well is what we call “good governance.” Specifically, good governance refers to the social management process and activities that maximize the public interest and that can better respond to the requirements for the public management of the society, effectively meet the challenges facing the society and create even better benefits for the public. [page]

 

Human rights must be upheld in the process of modernizing the state governance system, and the system must first of all meet efficiency requirements, effectively manage the highly complex modern society and provide necessary order and services for the public. To accomplish this goal, a nation must respect and protect human rights. Only when the human rights principle is fully observed can we effectively govern a modern society. First, modern state governance must be open and democratic, and participated in by the broad masses. Unlike traditional political reign, modern state governance cannot be exercised longitudinally from top to bottom only. The public shall take part in not only the construction of the state governance system, but also the whole process of state governance. That’s why it is necessary to endow the civilians with democratic political rights since the full democratic political rights of the people are prerequisites for modernization of state governance. Second, the rule of law must be practiced for modern state governance, so that all people will have equal rights before the law. The law shall be the major instrument to adjust various interest relationships, and shall become a basic mode of state governance. The law shall treat everyone fairly. In case someone’s rights are infringed upon, he or she can resort to law to protect their own rights. Third, modern state governance shall be highly transparent and enable people to have the right to be informed and to be heard. State governance is not only a matter of the government, it is a matter relating to the interests of everyone. The people are entitled to learn the key information about the state governance system and its process, and they are free to express their opinions on state governance. Transparency is also helpful for curbing corruption. Fourth, modern state governance must be responsible for the people, respond to their requirements and empower them to supervise governance. Modern nations are built on the basis of the sovereignty of the people and regard the people as the ultimate sources of state power, so their governance must be responsible for the people and be under supervision by the people. Fifth, modern state governance must meet the basic requirements of people in poverty, guarantee the basic rights of the vulnerable, uphold social justice, and restrict the gap between the rich and the poor to a certain limit. Therefore, to provide people with education, medical care, social security and other public services has become a major content of the modernization of state governance.

 

 

China faces an arduous task of modernization of state governance due to its feudal history of over 2000 years and its semifeudal and semicolonial status beginning in the 19th century. Since the reform and opening up, China has made great progress in modernization of state governance, which is rather successful when measured against whichever standards. The modern state governance of China inherently includes the development of human rights.[page]

 

1. The people of China exercise their constitutional democratic rights to participate broadly in the management of social and public affairs. In the past 30-odd years, the democratic political system with Chinese characteristics has been constantly improved and the rights of the people to participate in political affairs have been constantly increased. The system of National People’s Congress has been continuously improved, with competitive elections and reelections when the term of office expires being institutionalized. As the people’s congresses are constituted through elections, the governments are changed in an orderly way and reelected when the term of office expires in accordance with the law. In 2010, the National People’s Congress adopted the draft amendment to the Electoral Law, stipulating that the number of deputies to the people’s congress at all levels shall be allocated in accordance with the principle that each deputy represents the same number of urban or rural people. This signifies that the right of urban and rural citizens to vote on an equal footing has been truly respected and implemented in the field of law. The scope of democracy at the grassroots level has been constantly expanded, with more channels for citizens to take part in politics. The direct election of village committees is generally practiced throughout China. By the end of 2012, most of the provinces of China had carried out eight to nine rounds of elections of village committees upon the expiration of the term of office. Over 98 percent of village committees were elected directly, and on average 95 percent of villagers took part in the voting. Democratic election, democratic management, democratic decision-making and democratic supervision have become the basic modes of rural administration. Social organizations have become a major form by which the people of China take part in state governance. China has 492,000 social organizations that play important roles in education, science and technology, culture and sanitation, social management, social welfare, charity and public welfare, etc. 

 

2. Against the background of the development of the rule of law, basic civil rights and other rights are legally guaranteed. Taking the law-based country as an important goal for building state systems, China has gradually established, over the past 30-odd years, a legal system that centers around the Constitution, takes as its mainstay the laws of different categories and is comprised of administrative and local regulations. The legislative organs at various levels of China have formulated a total of 243 laws, 721 administrative regulations and 9,200 local regulations.³ These laws and regulations cover all relations in society, which has basically changed the situation where there were no laws and regulations to abide by in many fields of social life. The judicial system of China has introduced in an all-round way the principle of the presumption of innocence, and established and improved the open trial system, the lawyer advocacy system and the legal aid system. In the development of the rule of law, China has continuously enhanced human rights protection in the judicial area. In 2004, the National People’s Congress adopted the amendment to the Constitution, including the “the state respects and protects human rights” into the Constitution, elevating the level of human rights protection in the legal hierarchy. In the Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China newly amended in 2012, the spirit of respecting and protecting human rights is implemented in amendments and revisions made in the clauses regarding evidence, defense, compulsory and investigatory measures, review and prosecution, trial and execution, as well as newly added stipulations. The Amendment further standardized the conditions and procedures applicable to compulsory custodial measures, set up the rule of excluding illegally obtained evidence, which clearly states that no person may be forced to prove his or her own guilt, and that confessions by a suspect or a defendant obtained through extortion or other illegal means and witness’s testimony and victim’s statements obtained through the use of violence, threats or other illegal means should be excluded from evidence. The practice of recording and videotaping investigation and questioning processes is widely adopted. The law explicitly states that for crimes punishable by life imprisonment or death and other serious crimes, audio or video recording of the interrogation process is mandatory.⁴ In line with the spirit of respecting and protecting human rights, in 2013, China abolished the system of “reeducation through labor” that had been implemented in China for many years. [page]

 

3. The rights of to be informed and to be heard have been constantly extended with the development of modernization of state governance. In recent years, the Chinese government has constantly increased the transparency of its affairs by formulating the Regulation on Disclosure of Government Information and setting up the government information disclosure system. China began to enforce the audit results announcement system in 2003, and began to announce the public budgets of governments at all levels in 2010. In 2012, 97 central government organs announced their departmental budgets, 98 central government organs announced their final accounts, and 98 central government organs announced their expenses on overseas trips, purchasing and maintaining government vehicles, and official receptions. In 2011, the central government organs actively announced 1.49 million pieces of government information, and the governments of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) announced 28.85 million pieces of government information.  

 

In 2011, organs and departments under the Central Government handled applications for disclosing over 3,000 pieces of information, and 70 percent of such applications were handled in accordance with relevant regulations and the information applied for was disclosed. The governments of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) accepted more than 1.3 million applications, and 85 percent of such applications were handled and the information applied for was disclosed.⁵ The citizens of China can freely express their opinions and views on any matter in all fields of social life. They can have broad and in-depth discussions on the problems in the economic, social and cultural fields and form their own points of view. Any major policy of the government will be widely discussed before and after it is implemented, with the opinions for and against such policies fully expressed. Nowadays, the Internet has become a new platform where the Chinese people can express their opinions and participate in state governance.

 

4. In the activities of state governance, the Chinese government actively responds to people’s demands, and is subject to public supervision. The Chinese government attaches high importance to people’s opinions and demands. The governments at all levels make special arrangements to collect public opinion and set up offices for handling the reported complaints and to receive those who make visits for lodging complaints. The opinions and views expressed by netizens on the Internet have drawn much attention from the government at all levels, and provide important references for the government to improve their work, determine the focus of their work and make decisions. Nearly all the websites of the government at all levels in China have a Mayor’s Email Box or a Leader’s Email Box to receive emails from the public. Leaders of China at all levels often log onto the Internet to learn about public opinion and sometimes directly exchange ideas with netizens over the Internet, discussing state affairs or answering questions asked by netizens. The Internet serves as a bridge directly linking the government and the public. It has been a general practice for the governments to solicit opinions before promulgating any major policies. Each year, public opinion is solicited over the Internet during the plenary sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). In recent years, the recommendations collected through the Internet each year amount to several million, which have become useful references for the government to improve its work.[page]

 

The political system of China itself has set up various supervision organs that are responsible for overseeing the execution of power. The party organizations of the Communist Party of China at all levels have set up Commissions for Discipline Inspection, which are responsible for supervising the leading officials of the Party. The National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee are responsible for the supervision of law enforcement. The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conferences (CPPCC) at all levels exercise their rights to supervise through recommendations and criticisms. The news media are responsible for supervising the government by voicing public opinions. In recent years, public opinion voiced on the Internet has become an important means for the Chinese people to supervise the government. Through the Internet, people point out problems in every field of society, criticize the work of government at all levels and supervise the behavior of government officials. There is a huge number of Chinese netizens who form a powerful force of supervision. A large number of cases of violating laws and discipline and corruption cases were first exposed on the Internet, and then investigated and punished. In recent years, a large number of problems unveiled on the Internet have been solved. A sample survey shows that over 60 percent of netizens make positive comments on the fact that government has brought the supervisory role of the Internet into play. They say that this reflects the progress made in the pursuit of social democracy in China. 

 

5. China has continued to improve the well-being of its people and drastically reduced the poverty-stricken population. China’s economy has maintained a continuous annual growth rate of 9 percent on average over the past 30-odd years; per capita GDP grew from 381 yuan in 1978 to 41,826 yuan in 2013; and both urban and the rural residents saw a remarkable increase in their income and wealth. Generally speaking, China has solved the problem of food and clothing, achieved moderate prosperity and is embarking on a path leading to prosperity. Rapid economic development and the increase in income have improved people’s quality of life in an all-round way. 

 

Over the past 30-odd years, the Chinese government has attached great importance to addressing poverty by formulating the Seven-Year Priority Poverty Alleviation Program, the Outline for Development-Oriented Poverty Alleviation in China’s Rural Areas (2001-2010), and the Outline for Development-Oriented Poverty Alleviation in China’s Rural Areas (2011-2020). The government has appropriated funds for the special purpose of reducing poverty. In poor areas, these funds have been used to transform infrastructure, develop industries and address the difficulties of the local people in production and living. As a result of these efforts over more than 30 years, the poverty-stricken population has been dramatically decreased from 250 million in 1978 to 14.79 million in 2007, and the per capita ratio has decreased to 1.6 percent.⁶ The conditions of production and living have been greatly improved in poor regions. In recent years, China has been increasing inputs in order to relieve poverty, and constantly adjusted the standards of the rural poor population and of the low-income population, rendering help to more and more poor residents and low-income residents. In December 2011, the Chinese government adjusted the poverty standard of rural residents to an annual net income of 2,300 yuan per capita, making 122.38 million people the objects of poverty alleviation, but the number went down to 82.49 million in 2013.⁷[page]

 

 

Despite the progress made in the modernization of state governance, China still lags far behind developed countries in this regard. The long-term development goal of China is to basically realize modernization in the middle of the 21st century. To fulfill this goal, China needs to further political reform and improve state governance. In November 2013, the Decision of the Central Committee of The Communist Party of China on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform was adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC. It stated the task was “to promote the modernization of the state governance system and capacity,”⁸ and in this process, human rights shall be still better respected and guaranteed. 

 

China shall do better in guaranteeing the democratic rights of its people to participate in state administration. The system of National People’s Congress shall be constantly improved. The People’s Congresses and their Standing Committees at all levels shall fully exercise the constitutionally granted rights of legislation, appointment, decision-making on major events and supervision. A close relationship shall be maintained between the representatives and the electors, the level and scope of direct election shall be gradually enlarged, and finally the representatives of the People’s Congresses at all levels and major government officers shall be directly elected by the electorate. As an effective means for broadening channels for people to participate in politics in an orderly way, consultative democracy shall be applied to every process of state governance. To further stimulate the vitality of social organizations, China shall cultivate and develop various social organizations and bring their roles into play to promote citizen autonomy. 

 

China shall further follow the principle of the rule of law in building a country governed by law, where all men are equal before the law, the individuals and organizations shall act within the legal framework, and none of them shall have privileges beyond the law. The law shall be the major means of regulating the relationships between individuals, organizations, social groups and the country. The courts and the procuratorates shall exercise adjudicative and procuratorial power independently and impartially and free from outside interference. The courts shall guarantee the judges’ right of independent adjudication because they make the judgments and are accountable for their judgments. The principle of guaranteeing human rights shall be observed in each process of judicial practice. The extortion of confessions through torture shall be forbidden, and the exclusionary rule shall be strictly followed. [page]

 

China needs to further widen the people’s rights to be informed, to be heard and to exercise supervision. The government shall disclose the process of exercising power in accordance with the law, comprehensively implement the policy of openness in government affairs by disclosing information on government decision-making, administration, services and work results, ensuring that power is exercised under public supervision. China shall constantly broaden the space for speech for its citizens and increase channels for them to express their opinions so that people's opinions can be communicated to the government without obstacles. It shall intensify public supervision over the administrative behavior of the government to prevent power from being abused and forestall corruption. 

 

The ultimate goal of modernization of state governance is to benefit all the people fairly and equally with the development results, to improve their living standards, and to enhance their sense of happiness. To this end, China needs to take further steps to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, intensify poverty-alleviation efforts and elevate the socioeconomic status of socially vulnerable groups. China shall also improve its social security system by integrating the basic pension fund systems and medical insurance systems of urban and rural residents, so as to promote the overall development of the minimum subsistence guarantee system in urban and rural areas and constantly improve the level of such guarantees. China shall energetically promote educational fairness by narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, between regions and between schools so as to enable all students to enjoy quality education. 

 

LI Yunlong(李云龙), director of the International Relation Studies Office of the Institute of International Strategic Studies of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, Beijing, China.

 

1.Governance and Development, The World Bank, 1992, p. 1.

 

2.UNDP, Reconceptualising governance, Discussion Paper 2, New York, 1997, p. 9.

 

3.Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2012, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2013, p. 13.

 

4.Information Office of the State Council, Judicial Reform in China, website of the Information Office of the State Council.

5.Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2012, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2013, pp. 18-19.

 

6.The Eighth Report on 30-Year Reform and Opening Up: 30-Year Brilliant Achievements in Agriculture and Rural Economy, Website of the National Bureau of Statistics.

 

7.National Bureau of Statistics, Annual Bulletin of Statistics of China (2005-2011), website of National Bureau of Statistics.

 

8.Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2013, p. 3.