Abstract: The new development concept of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing has posed new requirements for the development of human rights theory in China. Innovation is the impetus and vitality for the development of human rights theory and is required for the study of human rights in terms of its content, method, and form. Coordination is the social basis for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China and human rights theory can be scientific and persuasive through coordination of the interests of all parties concerned. Green is the natural basis for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China and human rights theory can have rich connotations and far-reaching impact through ecological protection and environmental control. Openness is the international vision for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China and the international influence of human rights theory in contemporary China can be increased constantly through international exchange and dialogue on human rights theory. Sharing is the value pursuit for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China and human rights should be jointly constructed and shared by the entire people in an all-round way.

 

Keywords: new development concept; human rights theory; innovation; coordination; green; openness; sharing   

  

At the 5th Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping systematically illustrated the new development concept of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing, which will play an important role in leading the economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological development in China. The development concept "radically determines the results and even the success or failure of development."¹ Guided by the new development concept, the development of human rights theory in China has entered into the new historical development stage. This article is intended to apply human rights method and human rights thought to the implementation of the new development concept and make analysis of the new requirements posed by the new development concept for the development of human rights theory in China from the motivation, social, natural, spatial, and purpose dimensions of the development of human rights theory so as to facilitate the development and improvement of the socialist human rights theory system with Chinese characteristics.

 

 

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the grasp of innovation is the grasp of the focal point that has an overall bearing on economic and social development. To set up the concept of innovation-driven development, innovation must be put in the central place of the overall development of the country and continuous efforts must be made to carry forward the innovation in theory, system, science and technology, culture and other various aspects, make innovation throughout all work of the Party and the country, and make innovation the common practice of the whole society.² Innovation is the first driving force that guides not only development but also the development of human rights theory in contemporary China. It is through innovation that human rights theory in contemporary China can maintain vigorous vitality and have impetus for continuous development.                

 

At present the international and domestic environment is undergoing profound change and this is an important reason that constant innovation is necessary for human rights theory in contemporary China. Only by theoretical innovation in response to such change can human rights theory can be provided with vitality. Since reform and opening-up, under the guidance of Marxist human rights philosophy, human rights theory in contemporary China gradually became developed in the course of authentic pursuit against western human rights theory. Its development has been influenced by at least four factors, namely, Marxist human rights philosophy, the fundamental realities of China, the trend of global political and economic development, and the idea of western human rights. Under the new historical conditions, there have been changes to differing extents to the above four factors.              

    

Firstly, the consciousness of problems for the formation of Marxist human rights philosophy is not the same as that for the formulation of human rights theory in contemporary China. During the period of its formation, Marxist human rights philosophy put stress on the criticism of the institutions and practices of bourgeois human rights, and the system of human rights theory is not its theoretical focus. The development of human rights theory in contemporary China gives priority to the formulation of the socialist human rights theory system with Chinese characteristics so as to use such a system to guide the development of the human rights cause in China. Its focus is on formulation rather than on criticism. Thus, Marxist human rights philosophy must be treated with the vision of innovation for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China.        

    

Secondly, the fundamental conditions of China are undergoing profound and far-reaching changes with the promotion of reform and opening-up. Such changes are not only directly reflected in the economy but also prominently manifested in people's attitude toward life, the scale of social participation, national governance, and other aspects. In contrast to that at the beginning of reform and opening-up, Chinese society in general has been greatly changed particularly since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Such changes are required to be reflected in human rights theory in contemporary China, which makes it necessary for the theory to keep pace with the times and undergo innovation constantly.        

    

Thirdly, there have been great changes in global political and economic development. With the increase in its national strength, China's international influence has been enhanced and there has been an increase in its international discourse power. Specifically, more and more attention has been paid to the increase in the international influence of the human rights discourse system of China. It is through constant innovation that human rights theory in contemporary China can adapt to the demand for increasing the international influence of the human rights discourse system of China     

 

Lastly, the western human rights concept needs constant innovation itself. The western human rights concept is derived from the classical human rights theory which is formulated on the basis of the fight against feudal privilege and thearchy and is the fundamental theory for the establishment and development of bourgeois states. So to speak, the classical human rights theory only demonstrates the justification of the existence of the bourgeois states. With social development--in particular, high-tech development--the limitation of the western human rights concept is becoming increasingly prominent and can neither reflect the overall interests of people in the world nor effectively integrate global resources. All these make self-examination and self-criticism necessary for western human rights theory.        

      

    

Under the historical condition that the international and domestic environment is changing profoundly, constant innovation is the only way for human rights theory in contemporary China to adapt to social development and changes.

 

    

Human rights theory in contemporary China is the result of innovation. Since the creation of classical human rights theory, human rights theory has generally been viewed as bourgeois ideology and is a theory serving the interests of the bourgeois. Theoretically speaking, therefore, talking about human rights in a socialist country is in itself a breakthrough of the classical human rights theory system and a great stride in the development history of human rights theory. In addition, the establishment and development of the socialist human rights theory is something new in any and all socialist countries and there is no existing experience for reference basically. The theory needs to be improved continuously in light of social, economic, and cultural development. Innovation is the source of the development of human rights theory in contemporary China and provides the theory with vitality for development.  

  

To comprehensively promote the building of China under the rule of law is in substance to safeguard human rights comprehensively. The comprehensive safeguarding of human rights must be guided by the theory of comprehensive guarantee of human rights. Only when human rights theory is scientific, rational, authentic, practical, and conforming to reality, can the safeguarding of human rights be effectively achieved. As a result, comprehensive and systematic innovation centering on the comprehensive safeguarding of human rights is necessary for human rights theory. Human rights serve as the core and purpose of the rule of law and the overall improvement of human rights theory will, without doubt, greatly promote innovation in the theory of building China under the rule of law and make the guarantee of human rights the core throughout the building of China under the rule of law.

     

    

The innovation in human rights theory in contemporary China focuses on the solving of the problems in the impetus for the development of human rights theory. At present, the struggle for human rights remains fierce internationally. Under this situation, the development of human rights theory based on innovation and the formation of a human rights discourse system facilitating innovation become the only way that enables human rights theory in China to constantly expand its international influence and guide the new development of human rights discourse system in the contemporary world.  

  

 

The innovation in the content of the study on human rights mainly covers, among other things, the area, idea, and scope of human rights study. 

 

(i) Innovation in the area of human rights study. The area of human rights study is open-ended and covers economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological spheres and many other spheres as well. People in the past tend to regard human rights as issues in the political sphere and such an idea is no longer commensurate with the demand of the development of the times. Human rights exist not only in the political sphere but also in economic, cultural, social, ecological, and other spheres and cover all aspects of life. Therefore, innovation in the content of human rights study is supposed to expand the area of the study on human rights, which is the source for the sustainable development of human rights study.  

 

(ii) Innovation in the idea of human rights study. Human rights study ought to be conducted based on the people-centered development concept and according to the intrinsic requirement of upholding the principal position of the people. It is supposed to highlight the value orientation of people’s supremacy, make the realization of people's well-being as the purpose and end-result of the development of human rights theory, and ensure that the development of human rights theory is for the people and depends on the people and that the development results are shared by the people. Starting and ending with the increase in people's well-being and promotion of the overall development of people, the development of human rights theory is meant to develop popular democracy, maintain social fairness and justice, and guarantee people's rights to equal participation and equal development.

        

(iii) Innovation in the scope of human rights study. The appearance of a new scope is the intrinsic requirement of the expansion of the area of human rights study and innovation in the idea of human rights study. The innovation in the scope of human rights study is mainly shown in two aspects: the content innovation of the basic scope, such as the addition to or change in the scope of subject, content, principle, and essence, etc. of human rights as a result of social development, and the appearance of a new scope, such as the concepts of people as principal and people’s supremac,y of which human rights scope value deserves in-depth study.

 

 

Sharp tools make good work. The purpose of innovation in human rights theory is to address the impetus for the development of human rights theory and increase the international influence of human rights discourse system of China. To achieve this purpose, innovation in the method of human rights study is necessary. On the basis of the Marxist materialistic conception of history and dialectics, the methods of study in various disciplines and various fields should be used as reference or adopted to further enrich and improve the level of human rights study.  

 

    

At present, the form of human rights study is simplex and, as a main form, the study of human rights theory is dominated by each human rights research institute. As a result, human rights study fails to have a sound atmosphere and can neither exert great influence nor adequately serve the society. At present it is imperative to create an atmosphere for human rights study, increase the topics for human rights study, and enrich the forms of human rights study so as to facilitate the in-depth study of human rights theory.     

 

    

Coordination is the intrinsic requirement for sustainable and healthy development3 and serves as the social basis for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China. The coordination of the interests of all parties concerned can help to solve the problem of unbalance in human rights guarantee in the course of development and ensure that human rights of the people are practically guaranteed and that people have more sense of gain. At the same time, whether the coordination is sound or not has a direct bearing on the social stability and only the rational coordination in human rights guarantee can maintain the stability and unity of the society.

 

 

The development of human rights theory in contemporary China should show respect to the universality of human rights on the one hand and proceed from the fundamental situation of China on the other hand. This requires that human rights theory in contemporary China, on the basis of inheriting and carrying forward the excellent results of global human rights culture, give expression to the achievements of the human rights cause in contemporary China, reflect the people’s demand for human rights theory in contemporary China, and facilitate the development of human rights guarantee practices in contemporary China. The combination of the principle of universality of human rights with the fundamental national conditions becomes the theoretical core and primary guide of the development of human rights theory in contemporary China. The universality of human rights is the key to a scientific human rights theory in contemporary China and the fundamental conditions of China are what the rationality of human rights theory in contemporary China lies in. The universality of human rights points out the direction for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China and the fundamental conditions of China provide impetus for such development. Theoretically speaking, the combination of the universality of human rights with the fundamental conditions of China, which is at the second level in the development of their relationship, is the development and transcendence of the first level in the development of their relationship. At the first level, the universality of human rights is separated from the fundamental conditions of China, making it impossible to accurately understand human rights theory in contemporary China. The sole recognition of the universality of human rights would lead human rights theory in contemporary China into the superstition of classical human rights theory while the sole emphasis on the fundamental conditions of China would render human rights theory in contemporary China mere self-talk and thus unable to have human rights discourse internationally. The combination of the universality of human rights with the fundamental national conditions makes up for the defect in the first level and makes human rights theory both scientific and rational. The integration of the universality of human rights with the fundamental conditions of China is at the third level in the development of their relationship. This integration indicates that the universality of human rights and the fundamental conditions of China have formed a dialectical unity whereby they supplement each other and cannot be separated. The movement from combination to integration of the universality of human rights with the fundamental conditions of China is a process of historical development. It is the inevitable result of the in-depth understanding of their relationship. Moreover, coordination is the necessary requirement of such movement from combination to integration. 

 

Firstly, the thinking of coordination is the basic premise for accurate understanding of the universality of human rights and the fundamental conditions of China. Such accurate understanding cannot be achieved by paying attention to either the universality of human rights or the fundamental conditions of China. The understanding of universality of human rights requires the consideration of the fundamental conditions of China and the understanding of the fundamental conditions of China requires the understanding of the universality of human rights. This is the way that can ensure a comprehensive grasp of the connotation and relationship of the two. 

 

Secondly, the method of coordination is the basic method for adjusting universality of human rights and the fundamental conditions of China. The level of coordination has a bearing on the degree of combination of the universality of human rights with the fundamental conditions of China and the better the coordination is, the closer the combination of the two will be. To improve the coordination capability, the constant improvement of people’s understanding of human rights is necessary. Only through the improvement of overall human rights awareness and quality as well as the constant enhancement of human rights practices in the society, will the coordination capability be effectively improved, and the combination of the universality of human rights and the fundamental conditions of China be constantly intensified.                                  

Lastly, coordination is the norm of the relationship between the universality of human rights and the fundamental conditions of China. Whether the two are in the relationship of combination or integration, coordination is the norm of their relationship. Even in the stage of integration, the universality of human rights and the fundamental conditions of China exist independently from each other at all times and, instead of forming a new matter, they show better coordination. 

 

 

Human rights are the rights vested with every individual. In different countries or in different historical periods of a country, the levels of human rights guarantee for different groups of people tend to be different due to the political, economic, and cultural influences as well as the effect of various other factors. There is no doubt that human rights theory in contemporary China recognizes the existence of such difference in human rights guarantee. In this context, it is necessary, more than ever, to properly coordinate the levels of human rights guarantee for all groups of people and include all people under the coverage of human rights guarantee in the whole society. This is the basic requirement of building a comprehensive well-off society. The “comprehensive well-offs need to cover the entire population and benefit all the people. In order to truly benefit all people, the development must be in the interests of the people, rely on the support of the people, and have its results shared by the people.”⁴ “To build a comprehensive well-off society, no one should be left behind. We cannot by then announce that a comprehensive well-off society has been built while there are still tens of millions of people living below the poverty line. This will affect not only the satisfaction of the people with the building of the comprehensive well-off society but also the international recognition of China as a comprehensive well-off society."⁵ As regards the building of a comprehensive well-off society, it is most important to strengthen human rights guarantee for vulnerable groups. Human rights guarantee for vulnerable groups is the core of human rights guarantee and its level serves as an important indicator measuring the situation of human rights guarantee of a society. At present, the progress in the level of human rights guarantee for vulnerable groups has a direct bearing on the realization of the goal for building up a comprehensive well-off society. "As a big developing country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, China faces many difficulties and challenges and, in particular, time is pressing and tasks arduous for achieving the defined goal of lifting over 70 million impoverished people in rural areas nationwide out of poverty by 2020."⁶ Therefore, human rights guarantee for vulnerable groups must be intensified in order to build up a comprehensive well-off society as scheduled. It is when adequate food and clothing are available that people can live a well-off life and the well-off society can be worthy of the name.

      

    

China covers a vast geographic area and the economic, social, and cultural development in different regions is unbalanced. This results in great difference among the levels of human rights guarantee in different regions. Generally speaking, the level of human rights guarantee in the eastern regions, which are developed, is higher than that in the western regions, which are less developed; the level of human rights guarantee in big cities is higher than that in rural areas. With a view to fully guaranteeing human rights and building up a comprehensive well-off society, the levels of human rights guarantee in all regions need to be coordinated and human rights guarantee needs to cover all regions. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that "the whole country cannot be regarded as well-off without the well-offs in rural areas and less developed regions."⁷ In order to improve the level of human rights guarantee in all regions, it is imperative to intensify the overall arrangement and coordination of the urban-rural development, and regional development needs to be enhanced and make the effort to narrow the gap between rural and urban development an important task to build a comprehensive well-off society. The narrowing of the development gap between urban and rural areas cannot be simply seen as a matter of closing the gap in terms of GDP and the rate of economic growth. Rather, it is to narrow the differences that exist in terms of income levels of residents, infrastructure accessibility, access to basic public services, and standards of living."⁸ The levels of human rights guarantee in all regions cannot be improved without proper arrangement and coordination for addressing the differences in all respects.  

 

    

Green is the necessary condition for sustainable development and the important reflection of the people's pursuit for good life. The green development is meant to properly address the issue of harmonious coexistence of man and nature. Human development and activities must be based on the respect for, compliance with, and protection of nature; otherwise the revenge from nature would be unavoidable. This is the irresistible law.⁹ Green is the natural basis for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China. Through ecological protection and environmental control, human rights theory in contemporary China will be further enriched in theoretic connotation and far-reaching in theoretic significance. 

  

 

Human rights are the rights that humans possess and ought to possess based on their natural attributes and social attributes. Without the natural attributes of humans, the existence of human rights is impossible. The natural attributes of humans manifest the characteristics of humans as members of nature. The natural properties of humans indicate that humans are from nature, exist in nature and will ultimately return to nature. The "human-nature relationship is the most fundamental relationship in human society. Nature is the basis and premise for human society to come into being, to exist and to develop and humans can purposefully utilize and transform nature through social practices and activities. But humans are after all a part of nature and should not place themselves above nature in the development and utilization of nature. Humans must act in the way that conforms to the law of nature. Humans and nature, interdependent and interconnected, form a unity. We cannot demand all the time from, without input in, the nature or pay attention to utilize all the time without consideration of the development of the nature. To protect natural environment is to protect humans and to develop ecological civilization is to bring benefits to mankind."¹⁰ Green development is significant to the development of human rights theory in that it emphasizes the importance of a sound natural environment to the guarantee of human rights. When mountains and rivers are no longer green and the natural environment is polluted, human rights would inevitably be in serious crisis. So to speak, the role of green development in the development of contemporary human rights theory is a new epochal topic and classical human rights theory has never encountered such an issue since its emergence. Modern human rights ideas mainly fight against the product of theocracy and monarchial power. The western concept of natural rights regards human rights as natural rights but mostly promotes the inseparability of human rights and humans or the existence of humans as humans rather than interpreting human rights from the perspective of green development or ecological protection. In this respect, the emphasis on the green development of human rights is a development thought of human rights theory in contemporary China to summarize the development pattern of global human rights and address the crisis faced with human rights guarantee in the world due to the deteriorating ecological environment. The rise or decline of human rights depends on the rise or decline of the ecological environment. The protection of the ecological environment is related to the fundamental interests of the people and the long-term interests of the nation. As pointed out by General Secretary Xi Jinping, environment is like people's livelihood, green mountains are like beauty, and blue sky is like happiness. We should protect the ecological environment just like we protect our eyes and treat the ecological environment just like we treat our lives and make it our bottom line to not damage ecological environment.¹¹          

 

 

 

The focus on economic construction since reform and opening-up has brought along the rapid development of the economy in China. However, the relationship between economic development and ecological environmental protection is not properly dealt with in some places and some areas. As a result of economic development by uncontrolled consumption of resources and damage to the environment, the problems in energy, resources, and ecological environment have become increasingly prominent. If such situation is not changed, energy and resources will be difficult to sustain, the ecological environment will be overwhelmed, and human rights guarantee will confront serious challenges. In this regard, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "we owe too much debt in terms of ecological environment and we will pay high price for it in the future if we don't pay attention to address the issue."¹² Proper relationship should be maintained for economic development and ecological environmental protection and further initiatives should be taken to promote green development, cyclic development, and low-carbon development without sacrificing the environment and wasting resources in exchange for temporary economic gains. Coordination should be made to promote the new type of green industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, set out on a development path with economic development and ecological civilization supplementing each other and bringing out the best in each other, use a sound ecological environment to promote the undertaking of human rights guarantee in China, improve the quality of people's lives, and safeguard the good image of China.        
 

    

Nature is an interdependent and interactive system. The thinking way of systematic engineering should be used to properly implement the key tasks for construction of ecological civilization, effectively safeguard energies and resources, bring environmental pollution under control, build sound ecological environment, create favorable production and life environment for the people, further improve the ecological condition for guarantee of human rights, and effectively respect and guarantee human rights. An ecological “red line” for human rights guarantee should be maintained and human rights guarantee will be radically affected once this red line is broken through. The national spatial development layout for human rights guarantee should be optimized to make a beautiful homeland with blue sky, green land, and clean water for human rights guarantee. The natural resources for human rights guarantee should be saved, resource conservation should be made the fundamental policy for construction of ecological civilization and the comprehensive benefits of resource utilization should be greatly increased. The ecological protection for human rights guarantee should be intensified, the improvement of environmental quality should be taken as the core, and the focus should be on the resolution of the prominent environmental problems that damage the health of the people. At the same time, the global climate system that is fair, rational and of win-win cooperation should be formed to accelerate the construction of ecological civilization from the global perspectives.

            

    

The construction of ecological civilization is a revolutionary transformation involving modes of production, lifestyle, ways of thinking, and concept of values. The realization of such transformation must rely on system and the rule of law. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "it is the implementation of the strictest system and the rule of law that can provide the construction of ecological civilization with reliable guarantee."¹³ At present the prominent problems existing in the protection of ecological environment in China are mostly related to the imperfection in system, mechanism, and the rule of law. To deepen the system reform for ecological civilization requires that the ecological civilization institutional system that is clear in property right, involves multiple parties, lays equal emphasis on incentive and restraint and has complete system be built and that the construction of ecological civilization be placed on the institutionalized track ruled by law. It is necessary to improve the assessment and evaluation system for the economic and social development guaranteeing human rights and include the consumption of resources, environmental damage, ecological benefits, and other indicators reflecting the situation of ecological civilization construction in the human rights guarantee assessment evaluation system. The ecological environment accountability system for human rights guarantee should be established to strictly implement the subject responsibility for environmental protection and improve the system of responsibility assessment of leading cadres. The administrative system for resource and ecological environment should be established and improved and environment-related human rights guarantee should be taken as the basis for promoting the construction of the rule of law in human rights with ecological civilization.  
         

   

Based on practice, we learn that development and growth require compliance with the trend of economic globalization, opening-up and adequate utilization of advanced scientific and technological results, as well as useful management experience created by mankind.¹⁴ Openness is the international vision for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China. The international influence of human rights theory in contemporary China will be constantly increased through international exchange and dialogue on human rights theory.

 

    

International vision is required for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China, which is mainly based on the consideration of the following two aspects. On the one hand, human rights are the rights for each individual in human society. As far as jurisdiction is concerned, human rights have national boundaries and fall within the internal affairs of a country. But as far as the origin of human rights is concerned, human rights are enjoyed by humans and human rights are the rights enjoyed jointly by the individuals in international society. "All nations and the people from all nations should jointly enjoy dignity, jointly enjoy development results and jointly enjoy security guarantee."¹⁵ Humans existing as individuals are all over the world, which requires that human rights theory reflecting the rights of individuals be international. On the other hand, it is the demand for increasing the international influence of China's human rights discourse system. Since the classical human rights theory, human rights discourse has been the western human rights discourse in general. The western countries seem to have the undoubted leading role in discourse on human rights issues. Although China has made great progress in political, economic, and institutional construction after reform and opening-up in more than thirty years and there has been obvious improvement in the people's life, western countries still make use of human rights issues to impose pressure on China frequently. Of the reasons contributing to such a phenomenon, an important one is the lack of sufficient foreign exchange and publicity of human rights. In view of this, the establishment and development of human rights theory in contemporary China requires "going out" and international vision. Initiatives should be taken to participate in the international exchange and dialogue on human rights and constantly increase China's human right discourse power through human rights dialogue and exchange among different civilizations and different countries.   

     

 

    

The rule of law is the essential requirement and crucial guarantee for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and the inevitable requirements for realizing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. It matters to our Party in governing the country and making it prosperous, to the happiness and well-being of the people, and to the prolonged stability of the Party and the country. The rule of law can better bring into play the leading and regulating role of law. To increase the international influence of China's human rights discourse system, the rule of law must be implemented to include such efforts in the construction of the socialist rule of law system with Chinese characteristics. This is not only the basic political principle but also the basic the rule of law method for increasing the international influence of China's human rights discourse system. Under this framework, efforts will be made to carry out various constructions in the human rights discourse system based on the rule of law and advance along the path of building China under the rule of law.  

    

   

To increase the international influence of China's human rights discourse system, it is necessary to stick to the principle of relying on laws and policies, have legislation in advance and bring into play the leading and boosting role of legislation. By following the principle of the people being the basis and legislation for the people and persistence in the socialist core values, the laws and policies for the human rights discourse system should be made to comply with the principles of the Constitution, reflect the will of the people, and gain the support of the people. Only when the laws and policies have explicit provisions in that regard can they serve as a fundamental guarantee for increasing the international influence of China's human rights discourse system. With the guarantee by laws and policies, people can take actions or refrain from taking actions, consciously respond to the call of the laws and policies, and take part in various endeavors for increasing the international influence of China's human rights discourse.  

        

    

These measures and methods include at least: (i) actively participating in the activities of the United Nations system and international human rights organizations and strengthening the contact, exchange, and communication with these organization; (ii) strengthening the exchange and communication on human rights affairs with some regional human rights institutions and organizations; (iii) strengthening the work with the parliaments and parliament members of relevant countries; (iv) strengthening the exchange and communication between non-government organizations of China and international non-government organizations; (v) bringing into play the role of public diplomacy of China; and (vi) intensifying the external publicity of human rights in China.    

 

    

Sharing is the essential requirement of socialism with Chinese characteristics,¹⁶ and the value pursuit for the development of human rights theory in contemporary China. Guided by the correct human rights theory, the human rights cause in China has gained sustained and healthy development and the people's sense of gain has been increasing. Likewise, human rights theory in contemporary China has been developing continuously on the basis of the sharing by the whole people of the development results of the human rights cause in China. 

 

 

Subject and content of human rights, i.e, who should enjoy human rights and what human rights to enjoy, are two core issues of human rights concept. The difference in the answers to these questions serves as the important standard for distinguishing among different ideas of human rights. According to classical human rights theory, the subject of human rights must be the individual and the content of human rights mainly refers to civil rights and political rights. This idea of human rights has affected the understanding of human rights during a long historical period. Since reform and opening-up, we have further understanding of the subject and content of human rights. To be specific, we recognize that the subject of human rights covers not only individuals but also collectives and that the content of human rights covers not only civil rights and political rights but also economic, social, and cultural rights. The individual human rights and collective human rights form a dialectical and unified relationship. Individual human rights serve as the basis for collective human rights while collective human rights serve as the guarantee for the individual human rights. Civil rights, political rights and cultural rights constitute important content of international human rights standards. With the people-centered idea of development being highlighted at the 5th Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the subject and content of human rights are further enriched. The people-centered idea of development requires that "the people's happiness be the purpose and end result of development, the development be for the interests of the people and rely on support of the people and the results of development be shared by the people."¹⁷ The people-centered idea of development reflects not only our Party's basic aim of serving the people heart and soul but also the materialist conception of history that the people are the basic force pushing forward the development. This idea also gives expression to the requirement of the aim to gradually realize the common prosperity. Therefore, the people-centered idea of development should, instead of mere talking and thinking, be practiced in all links of economic and social development.¹⁸ In this context, the subject and content of human rights should comply with this requirement of the times and be innovated and developed in their connotation. Based on the new development concept of "sharing by the whole people" and "sharing in all-round way", the meaning of "whole people" in the subject of human rights should be stressed, i.e., the sharing of human rights by the whole people should be stressed. In respect of the content of human rights, the meaning of "in all-round way" should be stressed, i.e., the sharing of human rights in an all-round way should be stressed. The sharing of human rights by the whole people means that human rights are enjoyed by all, not a few or a part, of the people. The sharing of human rights in an all-round way means that the development results in economy, politics, culture, society, and ecology are shared and the lawful rights and interests of the people in all respects are guaranteed comprehensively.  

 

 

To implement the sharing of human rights by the whole people in an all-round way is a complicated social system project and involves national sovereignty, economic foundation, democratic politics, human rights education, legal construction, and many other aspects. Specifically, legal construction is the key and the promotion of the rule of law in an all-round way can ensure the effective respect to and guarantee of human rights. This is also the strategic arrangement for human rights made at the 4th Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Under the overall framework of human rights guarantee based on the rule of law, the overall thoughts on human rights guarantee are further developed at the 5th Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China into the thoughts of "joint construction and sharing" and "progressive sharing". As far as human rights guarantee is concerned, there are joint construction and sharing of human rights on the one hand and progressive sharing of human rights on the other hand. Joint construction and sharing of human rights means that sharing is based on joint construction in terms of human rights guarantee and the process of joint construction is also the process of sharing. In another word, sharing of human rights is accompanied by joint performance of obligations. Progressive sharing of human rights means that there is a process from low level to high level and from unbalance to balance for sharing of development results and difference exists even at a very high level. For human rights guarantee, there is no exception to this law. Human rights guarantee should not go ahead too much or be left behind too much and should, instead, be promoted gradually and steadily according to national conditions. All in all, to set up the sharing development concept of human rights, it is imperative to adhere to the concept that development should be for the interests of the people, rely on the support of the people and have its results shared by the people, make effective institutional arrangement centering on the respect and guarantee of human rights, enable the people to have more sense of gain in the development based on joint construction and sharing, strengthen the impetus for development, and promote the human rights cause in China to a further high level of development.       

 

(Translated by Hu Jinhua)

 

* CHEN Youwu (陈佑武), Ph.D. in law, professor of Institute for Human Rights, Guangzhou University.

1. Xi Jinping, A Reader of General Secretary Xi Jinping's Series of Important Speeches (Version 2016), Xue Xi Publishing House, People's Publishing House, 2016, at 127.

2. Supra note 1, at 133.

3. Supra note 1, at 133 and 134.

4. Supra note 1, at 59.

5. Ibid., at 60.

6. Idid., at 55.

7. Ibid., No. 5.

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid., at 134.

10. Ibid., at 231.

11. Ibid., at 233.

12. Ibid., at 234 and 235.

13. Ibid., at 240.

14. Ibid., at 135.

15. Ibid., at 61 and 262.

16. Ibid., at 136.

17. Ibid., at 128.

18. Ibid., at 128 and 129.