The Influence of the Founding of the PRC on the Contemporary Development of China’s Human Rights
LI Yunlong*
Abstract: The founding of People’s Republic of China marked the start of a completely new historical development stage for human rights in the county. The founding of the People’s Republic of China has had a profound impact on the development of human rights in contemporary China. The People’s Republic of China defined the socialist nature of the development of human rights in contemporary China, shaped the new concept of equality in Chinese society, determined the direction of human rights development that attaches importance to the protection of economic and social rights, and established the idea of advancing human rights development from the overall perspective.
Keywords: People’s Republic of China; development of human rights; human rights in China
Since its founding 70 years ago, the People’s Republic of China has laid the foundation for the development of human rights in contemporary China. The political and social reforms in People’s Republic of China have exerted a profound impact on the development of human rights in contemporary China and have imprinted human rights in China with deep socialist characteristics.
I. A Long-Underestimated Fact
The UN General Assembly passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December 1948, marking a milestone in the global development of human rights. As President Xi Jinping said, “As an important document in the history of human civilization, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has had a profound impact on the global development of human rights”1. The year after the issuing of the declaration, another great event with worldwide significance occurred – the founding of the People’s Republic of China. This marked the end of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society that had existed in the county since the Opium War as well as the feudal auto-cratic system that had lasted for more than 2,000 years, the possibility that China may develop into a capitalist country, the situation that the very oppressors and exploiters ruled the numerous laboring people, and the fragmentation, incessant wars, poverty and misery of the people in China.”2 The aforementioned two great events serve as an integral part of the development trend of world history after World War II. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights ushered in a bright future for international human rights by promoting the international community striving toward humanity, civilization and progress. “As embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the spirit of moderation, tolerance and understanding may be considered as one of the greatest advances for human beings in the process of achieving global civilization. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights can be regarded as a revolutionary act to a certain extent. For the international community, the comprehensive achievements of the revolution are approaching.”3 The founding of the People’s Republic of China pointed out socialism was the direction for China, realized the most profound and greatest social transformation in Chinese history, and fundamentally transformed the international status of the Chinese nation, thus standing out as a milestone in the 5,000-year history of the Chinese nation.4 However, China had been isolated from the development of human rights in the world for a long time due to it being isolated by most Western countries for over 20 years after its founding and it had no seat in the United Nations, so the People’s Republic of China had no access to international human rights activities. As a result, the People’s Republic of China was isolated from international human rights activities for a long time, leaving China wandering outside the mainstream of the international development of human rights. Therefore, China had no access to the activities of the UN Commission on Human Rights and the formulation and ratification of the International Covenants of Human Rights, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. During this period, China was completely isolated from the global development of human rights, so it could not keep pace with the global development and even could not learn new concepts of international human rights in a timely manner. Therefore, human rights were hardly referred to in the political field in the initial 20 years after the founding of People’s Republic of China. For a long time, “human rights” was even considered as a derogatory term in the main-stream ideological discourse.
Even after the PRC assumed its rightful seat in the United Nations, China still kept away from the universal human rights. Initially, China was detached and evasive from human rights by not involving the activities of the UN Commission on Human Rights, not communicating with the UN Commission on Human Rights, and not joining in the International Covenants of Human Rights. However, many UN activities involved human rights, so China could not completely avoid the issue. To solve the problem, the Chinese government set up an inter-ministerial coordination group in 1980 to study such issues as China’s policy in international human rights activities. In the end, the group acknowledged China’s support for the developed concept of human rights, promoting the international human rights fighting to be more conducive to anti-imperialism, anti-colonization and anti-hegemony.5 Accordingly, China attended the conferences of the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council for the discussion on human rights. In addition, China also participated in the activities of some special UN bodies on human rights, such as the Special Committee on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (1974), the Namibia Council (1981) and the Decolonization Committee (1975). In 1981, China was admitted to the UN Human Rights Commission in the UN Economic and Social Council and began to formally participate in international human rights affairs. In the 1980s, China integrated international human rights with its diplomatic work by taking the fight against all hegemonism in both the East and the West as the central task in its international human rights work. As a result, China was active in the UN Commission on Human Rights back then.6 However, China’s involvement in international human rights activities did not change the negative attitude at home toward human rights in China, so the external work on human rights was obviously inconsistent with the domestic publicity on human rights.
This situation had not been fundamentally changed before the release of the White Paper on Human Rights in China issued by the State Council Information Office in 1991. The White Paper acknowledged the concept of human rights in the name of the Chinese government for the first time by stating that human rights was a “great term”, that “it has been a long-cherished ideal of mankind to enjoy human rights in the full sense of the term” and is the “lofty goal” of modern society, that “...much has been achieved in this regard” and the Chinese people fully enjoy human rights. The White Paper highly praised the impact of the founding of People’s Republic of China on the development of human rights in China, and pointed out that the founding of People’s Republic of China marked the first time when the Chinese people truly enjoyed due human dignity, the safety of their lives, and real democratic rights.7
It should be noted that the aforementioned evaluation is a high appraisal. Yet regrettably, due to the lack of discourse on human rights in the initial 30 years after the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the “leftist” mistakes, people still did not fully understand the impact of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on the human rights. In most cases, when human rights issues of the initial 30 years were involved, people either ignored them as much as they could or focused on the negative restrictions on the development of human rights at that time. In the discussion on the development and progress of human rights in China, people tend to cite China’s human rights protection policies and achievements after the reform and opening-up as evidence for the development of human rights cause in China. It is obvious that such statements are not comprehensive. Since history is a continuous process, so China today is a continuation of the past. The founding of People’s Republic of China serves as the foundation and premise for the development of human rights in contemporary China. The development of human rights after the launch of the reform and opening-up policy has actually continued to promote extensive social progress after the founding of People’s Republic of China. To learn the whole situation of human rights in China, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate the progress of human rights in People’s Republic of China and comprehensively study the significance of the founding of People’s Republic of China to the development of human rights in contemporary China.
II. Great Progress of Human Rights in the People’s Republic of China
Before the founding of People’s Republic of China, human rights were not guaranteed in the country. The founding of People’s Republic of China ushered in a new period for the development of human rights in China. The Communist Party of China led the Chinese people to overthrow the three mountains (imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism), so the Chinese nation could stand as an equal with other nations in the world and the Chinese people could rise. People’s Republic of China has realized the human rights ideal of the people’s democracy and developed a socialist concept of human rights.
In People’s Republic of China, independence and sovereignty have been guaranteed. After the Opium War in 1840, the Western imperialist countries began to invade China on a large scale. The invasion, occupation and rule of China by the imperialist powers depredated China into a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society. In about 100 years, such imperialist countries as Britain, France, Russia, Japan and the United States successively initiated wars of aggression against China. During these wars, these imperialist countries occupied large swathes of Chinese territory, massacred tens of millions of Chinese civilians, forced the Chinese government to sign over 1,100 unequal treaties, and plundered war reparations and other funds of 100 billion taels of silver. In eight unequal treaties alone (e.g. The Treaty of Nanking, The Treaty of Shimonoseki and The Boxer Protocol), foreign invaders extorted 1.953 billion taels of silver, equivalent to 16 times the income of the Qing government in 1901. “During Japan’s allout war of aggression against China (1937-1945), over 930 cities in China were occupied, resulting in direct economic losses of 62 billion US dollars and indirect economic losses of over 500 billion US dollars.”8 At that time, the Chinese people were under the oppression and exploitation of the feudal landlord class and the imperialists. The imperialist aggression did not transfer China into a capitalist society, but destroyed the feudal public order and public affairs management, and kept the original methods of exploitation and oppression intact. To satisfy the imperialists in plundering the wealth of China, China’s feudal rulers had to exploit and oppress the people more cruelly, the majority of whom were peasants. Due to the enslavement of internal and external reactionary forces, China was torn apart and trapped in continuous wars, with subjugation and genocide looming. In such a situation, the people suffered humiliation, hunger and cold, and lost the minimum guarantee of life and human dignity. In modern China where sovereignty was lost, the basic human rights of the people could not be properly ensured. To acquire human rights, China first had to fight for national sovereignty and achieve the national independence and liberation. After its founding, People’s Republic of China abolished the unequal treaties imposed on China by Western powers, and eliminated the privileges and forces of the imperialist countries in China. In addition, People’s Republic of China negotiated and established diplomatic relations with other countries following the principle of equality, mutual benefit and respect for territorial sovereignty, rather than inheriting the old diplomatic relations between the Kuomintang government and other countries. This is the famous diplomatic policy of “starting anew” and “putting the house in order before inviting guests” in the diplomatic history of People’s Republic of China. Its core is to firmly and completely safeguard China’s national sovereignty, interests and dignity.9 After the founding of People’s Republic of China, the United States led the imperialist countries in denying the new regime in China, blockading the economy of China, and encircling the regime militarily. The United States brazenly initiated the war of aggression against North Korea and extended the war to the Yalu River, aiming to strangle People’s Republic of China in the cradle. Under extremely difficult circumstances, the Chinese government and people resolutely strived to resist the US aggression and aid North Korea, finally forcing the US-led invaders back to south of the 38th parallel and their signing of the Armistice Agreement. In this way, China strongly defended its independence and sovereignty, enhanced its international status and won the respect of global countries.10 After the war, China became an equal of the international community in international politics, so the imperialist countries never dared to defy China again. In summary, sovereignty and independence have laid a solid foundation for the healthy development of human rights in China.
People’s Republic of China overthrew the feudal hierarchy and achieved extensive equality. Due to the over 2,000 years of feudalism, China had a deep-rooted feudal hierarchy and people had considerable inequalities in identity and status. Before the founding of People’s Republic of China, China had been a feudal hierarchy. People’s Republic of China has opposed all kinds of feudalism, adopted different political and legal measures, established new social and cultural norms, eliminated the feudal legacy in all aspects of society, and realized extensive political, economic and social equality. In 1954, the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China was promulgated, which comprehensively embodied the spirit of equality. The Constitution stipulated that “all citizens of the People’s Republic of China are equal before the law”, “all citizens of the People’s Republic of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and stand for election, regardless of ethnic status, race, sex, occupation, family background, religious belief, education, property status or length of residence”, “women shall enjoy the equal right, with men, to vote and to stand for election”, and “all nationalities in the People’s Republic of China are equal...discrimination against and oppression of any nationality are prohibited; any act which undermines the unity of the nationalities is prohibited.”11
After the founding of People’s Republic of China, the Chinese people have enjoyed the political right to administer the country as well as extensive rights of personal freedom. In 1949, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference elected the Central People’s Government and passed the Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (hereinafter referred to as the “Common Program”) as the interim constitution in nature and function. The Common Program clearly stipulated that the state power belongs to the people, and the organs through which the people exercise state power are the people’s governments at all levels elected through general elections. The people were entitled to vote and stand for election as well as having freedom of thought, speech, assembly, publication, association, communication, person, domicile, change of domicile, religious belief and the freedom of holding processions and demonstrations in accordance with the law. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Common Program, people’s congresses at all levels were held in China to create people’s democratic political power.12 In 1953, the People’s Republic of China promulgated the Electoral Law of the People’s Republic of China, which stipulates that all Chinese citizens over the age of 18 have the right to vote. In December 1953, a nationwide general election was held. Voters first elected the people’s representatives of townships, towns and municipal districts, and then the people’s congresses of townships, counties and provinces were convened consecutively to elect the representatives of the people’s political power organizations at all levels and the people’s congresses at the next higher level. The election involved a total number of 278 million people, reaching a turnout rate of 85.88 percent. This is the first nationwide general election in Chinese history. The Chinese people exercised their right as masters of China for the first time.13 In September 1954, the first National People’s Congress was convened, during which the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China was passed. The Constitution stipulated that all power in the People’s Republic of China belongs to the people. The National People’s Congress and the local people’s congresses at various levels are the organs through which the people exercise state power. As the highest organ of state power, the National People’s Congress exercises legislative power and law enforcement supervision, elects and dismisses state leaders, and raises inquiries to the State Council and various ministries. In addition, the Constitution also stipulates the rights of citizens in such aspects as politics, economy, society, culture and person.14
To eradicate the foundation of feudal rule and offer farmers ownership of land, land reform was carried out. The land system in the old China was extremely unreasonable. Although only 10 percent of the rural population, landlords and rich peasants owned 80 percent of the land, leaving numerous peasants in poverty and seriously hindering the economic development of China. After the liberation of China, the land reform policy in the liberated areas was gradually spread to the whole country. By the spring of 1953 when the national land reform was basically completed, a total of 300 million farmers acquired 700 million mu of land (1 mu = 666.6666667 square meters) and a large amount of means of production for free, and the annual rent exempted reached about 70 billion catties (1 catty = 500 grams) of grain. After the land reform, farmers were more motivated to produce and their economic status and living conditions were fundamentally changed.15
The People’s Republic of China liberated women and safeguarded women’s human rights. In the old China, women were at the bottom of society and suffered multiple layers of oppression. The first law promulgated after the founding of the People’s Republic of China was the Marriage Law in 1951. The law stipulated that the feudal marriage system of arranged and forced marriage, the superiority of males to females, and ignorance of children’s interests, was abolished, and a new marriage system was being implemented, which featured free marriage for men and women, monogamy, equality between men and women, and protection of the legitimate interests of women and children. 16 Due to the promotion and implementation of the Marriage Law, numerous feudal marriages were dissolved, and such phenomena as beating, scolding and abusing women decreased rapidly. Free choice in love and marriage became the fashion. In addition, People’s Republic of China also eradicated the prostitution system by closing all brothels, gathering prostitutes for study and education, so as to help them change their minds, treat sexually transmitted diseases, learn labor skills, guide and support them to live a normal life and become self-reliant workers. Meanwhile, women were encouraged to receive education and integrate into social life, and effective measures were taken to promote women’s employment.17
The People’s Republic of China implemented a system of regional national autonomy, promoted the development of ethnic minority areas, and established a new type of ethnic relations of equality, mutual assistance and unity. In the old China, serious ethnic discrimination and oppression had been lingering for a long time. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it was announced that all ethnic groups were equal, and discrimination, oppression and divisions among ethnic groups were prohibited. All ethnic groups were free to develop their languages, and maintain or reform their customs and religious beliefs. The Chinese government also launched a publicity campaign to advocate ethnic equality and unity and oppose nationalism, especially Han chauvinism, and highlight respect for and protection of small and weak ethnic groups. To protect the special rights and interests of ethnic minorities effectively, China implemented a system of regional national autonomy in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. Based on the number of people living in compact communities and the size of the region, ethnic autonomous organs at the township, county, regional and provincial levels were set up to implement regional national autonomy. The system of regional national autonomy not only effectively guarantees the rights of ethnic minorities to equally engage in the management of state affairs, but also protects the high degree of autonomy of ethnic minorities in managing their own ethnic and regional affairs.18
III. The Significance of the Founding of the PRC on the Contemporary Development of China’s Human Rights
The founding of People’s Republic of China signified the complete end of 2,000 years of feudal rule as well as China’s semi-colonial history since the Opium War. From then on, Chinese society would develop in a new direction. Therefore, the founding of People’s Republic of China exerted a profound impact on the development of human rights in contemporary China.
To begin with, the People’s Republic of China defined the socialist nature of the development of human rights in contemporary China. The People’s Republic of China is a socialist country led by the working class based on the alliance of workers and peasants. Politically it adheres to the leadership of the Communist Party of China and economically to the dominant position of the state-owned economy. It is a new social, political and economic structure that transfers the Chinese society into a new look. The People’s Republic of China has completely changed the social structure and values of the old China and set up an entirely new social structure. Socialism became the fundamental framework and dominant feature of Chinese society as well as the basis for all subsequent development, including the development of human rights. The human rights in contemporary China have developed based on the foundation laid by the People’s Republic of China. Since the reform and opening up, especially from the 1990s, China has gradually integrated into the world in the field of human rights. China has made great efforts to accept international ideas on human rights and actively integrated with the international mainstream. Meanwhile, international discourse on human rights also poured into China. However, China did simply copy the human rights concepts and systems of other countries, such as western countries. Instead, China learnt from the beneficial elements of international human rights and incorporated the international protection system, laws and concepts on human rights into China’s socialist framework, thus establishing a socialist protection system on human rights with Chinese characteristics. With the core of socialism, the development of human rights in contemporary China follows socialist principles. The new socialist path points out the future of human rights development in China and determines the basic characteristics of the development of human rights in contemporary China.
What’s more, the People’s Republic of China created a brand-new concept of equality in Chinese society. Equality serves as the core of human rights. For a long period, China was a feudal society, with a highly developed hierarchy and a deep-rooted concept of hierarchy. After the 19th century, modern political concepts were introduced into China from the West, and the Revolution of 1911 took freedom and equality as its watchwords. However, the Republic of China failed to put them into practice. China was still hierarchical, far from achieving the liberty, democracy and human rights in the enlightenment thoughts. Only after the founding of the People’s Republic of China did the traditional hierarchy system and hierarchy concept was completely removed in China and the concept of equality fully instilled into the people. The People’s Republic of China subverted the feudal privileges that had existed for thousands of years, damaged the social structure where nobles, landlords and local gentry rode above the general public, and set up a new society where people are equal. The Chinese revolution was so thorough that the ruling class, which had been inherited from generation to generation and enjoyed superiority over others, was abandoned on the historical rubbish-heap. Compared with other countries with no social revolution, the People’s Republic of China is a highly egalitarian society. It has achieved a relatively high degree of property equality and economic equality through land reform, agricultural cooperation and socialist transformation of industry and commerce. The monopoly of social resources and domination of national wealth by the proprietariat and the plutocrat was put to an end. The People’s Republic of China implements the policy of ethnic equality and spreads the concept of ethnic equality vigorously. In addition, the People’s Republic of China introduced gender equality. In summary, the People’s Republic of China set up a political and social system in which people enjoy equality and promoted the ideology of equality for all. With broad equality as the basis, the social revolution has brought profound changes to the Chinese society and served as a historical prerequisite for the contemporary development of Chinese society. Meanwhile, these pursuits of equality are also integrated with the requirements for human rights. When China promoted the protection of human rights after the launch of reform and opening up, the established social equality would naturally become an integral part of the protection of human rights, and the concept of equality in the People’s Republic of China could easily be admitted into the field of human rights.
In addition, the People’s Republic of China has pointed out a direction for the development of human rights: focusing on the protection of economic and social rights. Right after the People’s Republic of China was founded, it was announced in the Common Program that “all undertakings as the economic lifeblood of the country and sufficient to control the national economy and people’s livelihood shall be managed by the state in a unified way. All State-owned resources and enterprises are the public property of all the people.”19 In the state-owned enterprises, workers shall be entitled to engage in production and management. In the private enterprises, employers and the trade unions on behalf of the workers shall sign collective contracts. For all enterprises, the working house per day shall be 8 hours or 10 hours. In all regions, the local authorities shall stipulate the minimum wage, implement the labor insurance system step by step, protect the special interests of female workers, and carry out an industrial and mining inspection system to improve the safety and sanitation facilities in industrial and mining areas. The 1954 Constitution further stipulated that citizens are entitled to work, rest and receive education, and workers are entitled to acquire material assistance due to old age, sickness or disability. The state shall offer social insurance, social relief and public health to ensure the aforementioned rights.20 Similar to other socialist countries such as the Soviet Union, China has especially focused on protecting economic and social rights. Following such a direction, the protection of human rights in contemporary China has continued to prioritize the protection of economic and social rights. Since the start of reform and opening-up, China has taken economic development as the core, creating the sustained economic growth miracle for over three decades. In such a way, China has achieved a historic leap forward from poverty to affluence as well as from adequate food and clothing to a well-off society. Nowadays, China has leaped forward from a low-income country to a middle-income country with a per capita GDP of over 9,000 US dollars. In addition, it has launched the largest poverty reduction campaign in human history. During the campaign, it has reduced the poverty stricken population by more than 700 million. The number of impoverished people in rural areas has decreased from 770 million in 1978 to 30.46 million in 2017. Moreover, it aims to eliminate absolute poverty by 2020. Now, China has established the largest social security system that covers the largest population in the world. By June 2018, the basic medical insurance system, including the basic medical insurance for urban workers, the new rural cooperative medical insurance and the basic medical insurance for urban residents, covered a population of over 1.3 billion. The number of social security card holders has reached 1.15 billion, covering 82.81 percent of the national population. The domestic education system has made considerable progress since the right of access to education has been protected more effectively. By 2017, the accessibility to compulsory education has reached the average level of global high-income countries. In addition, high school education is accessible to almost every person, reaching a gross enrollment rate of 88.3 percent. The popularization level of higher education has been further improved, since the gross enrollment rate has reached 45.7 percent.21 It is obvious that the rapid progress in ensuring economic and social rights is directly subject to the goal the country strives for.
Last but not least, the People’s Republic of China has pointed out a path of advancing the development of human rights from an overall perspective. For the traditional Western countries, the starting and end point of human rights development fall upon individuals. Individuals are the core and focus for the protection of human rights. It is one way to achieve the development of human rights by ensuring the human rights of each individual. The logic being if the human rights of all individuals are ensured, the s human rights situation in the whole country will naturally improve. On the contrary, just as the country’s name indicates, the starting and end point of all work in the People’s Republic of China is the people. The CPC and the government emphasize the interests of the vast majority of the people and strive to develop the economy, enhance people’s livelihood, spread democracy, promote the development of medical and health care, culture and education, and advance national modernization and social progress. The logic being that once the overall society improves and becomes prosperous, wealthy and progressive, all individuals in society will benefit. The extended version of the logic in the protection of human rights in the contemporary China means to focus on the overall development of human rights in China and realize individual human rights through the protection of collective human rights. It is a strategy for the development of human rights starting from the overall to the individual, serving as an important feature of the development of human rights in the contemporary China. China endeavors to realize individual human rights. The rights of individuals in person, freedom, politics, economy, society and culture have been greatly improved.
Meanwhile, China also tries to realize collective human rights. In China, the right to subsistence is considered as a collective human right. The right to subsistence is viewed from the perspective of the whole country to ensure the subsistence right of the whole nation. Domestically, China aims to create the environment for the all-round development of all the population, so that the people may contribute to and benefit from the economic development of the country and enjoy its achievements. Internationally, China is committed to setting up an impartial and reasonable international economic order and striving for a more beneficial international environment for the economic development of China. In addition, China is paying increasingly attention to environmental protection and is working hard to protect people’s right to enjoy a healthy environment. Moreover, China has been taking the people as the core, to vigorously develop a well-off society, improve education, promote employment, reform the income distribution system, establish a social security system and enhance social management, aiming to protect all basic human rights to the utmost extent and fulfill the people’s yearning for a better life.
(Translated by LU Mimi)
* LI Yunlong ( 李云龙 ), Professor of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, Party School of the Central Committee of C.P.C (National Academy of Governance).
1. Xi Jinping, “Adhere to the Path of Human Rights Development in Line with the National Conditions and Promote the All-Round Development of Human Beings”, People’s Daily, December 11, 2018.
2. Association of Chinese Historians, “The Great Historical Significance of the Founding of People’s Republic of China”, People’s Daily, September 1, 2009.
3. Asborn Eide and Gudmundur Alfredsson, Preface on “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”: A Common Standard of Achievement, trans. Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies (Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1999), 5.
4. Jiang Hui and Gong Yun, “On the Great Historical Significance of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China”, Guangming Daily, May 29, 2019.
5. Chen Shiqiu, “China’s Active Participation in International Activities on Human Rights for 30 Years”, in China’s Reform and Opening-up and Human Rights Development for 30 Years, ed. China Society for Human Rights Studies (Beijing: People’s Daily Press, 2009), 441-442.
6. Ibid., 442-443.
7. The State Council Information Office, “The Situation of Human Rights in China”, in China Society for Human Rights Studies ed. Human Rights in China, (Beijing: China Intercontinental Press, 1997), 3-14.
8. Ibid., 8.
9. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC and Literature Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, Selected Works of Zhou Enlai on Diplomacy (Beijing: Central Literature Publishing House, 1990), 48-50.
10. Xie Yixian, A Diplomatic History of China – The Period of the People’s Republic of China 1949-1979 (Zhengzhou: Henan People’s Publishing House, 1988), 106-108.
11. Dong Yunhu and Liu Wuping, “The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (January 17, 1975)”, in Universal Laws on Human Rights (Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1990), 819-823.
12. Dong Yunhu and Chang Jian, 60 Years of Progress in China’s Human Rights (Nanchang: Jiangxi People’s Publishing House, 2009), 19-20.
13. Ibid., 19-20.
14. Ibid.
15. The State Council Information Office, “Fifty Years of Progress in China’s Human Rights on Progress”, in China’s Human Rights – Compilation of White Papers on Human Rights in China, ed. China Foundation for Human Rights Development (Beijing: New World Press, 2003), 390.
16. Dong Yunhu and Chang Jian, 60 Years of Progress in China’s Human Rights (Nanchang: Jiangxi People’s Publishing House, 2009), 17.
17. Dong Yunhu and Zhang Shiping, Women’s Human Rights in China (Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1995), 68-69.
18. The State Council Information Office, “Fifty Years of Progress in China’s Human Rights on Progress”, in China’s Human Rights – Compilation of White Papers on Human Rights in China, ed. China Foundation for Human Rights Development (Beijing: New World Press, 2003), 391-392.
19. Dong Yunhu and Liu Wuping, “The Common Program of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference”, in Universal Laws on Human Rights (Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1990), 814.
20. Dong Yunhu and Liu Wuping, “The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (January 17, 1975)”, in Universal Laws on Human Rights (Chengdu: Sichuan People’s Publishing House, 1990), 823-824.
21. The State Council Information Office, “Progress in Human Rights over the 40 Years of Reform and Opening-Up in China”.
