ZHANG Han*

 

Abstract: 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of China’s first white paper on human rights. Textual sorting and discourse analysis of the white papers over the years since then reveals how China’s expression of “human rights” demonstrates its endogenous power and sense of autonomy in human rights development. As a discourse practice, the white papers on human rights have gradually refined the rights to subsistence and development, expanded and expressed social rights, responded to the real needs of society, and charted the progress in the legal protection of human rights. The white paper on human rights is the official text for understanding China’s human rights cause, as it proceeds from a “practical” perspective to give full play to the social and cultural functions of subject identity, concept cultivation, and communication media and unleash the potential power of multiculturalism, thus laying a solid foundation for enhancing the discourse power of domestic and international human rights.

 

Keywords: human right white papers · value goal · the role of the government · development model · rhetorical discourse

 

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China’s human rights cause has made tremendous and comprehensive progress and has successfully embarked on a socialist human rights development path with Chinese characteristics. Some Western countries, out of their ideological and political motives, however, have ignored China’s great efforts in human rights protection, harbor a bias against China’s human rights development, and even attempt to distort the facts and apply a double standard to human rights. To clarify the facts and express its position, the Chinese government released its first white paper Human Rights in China in 1991. Since then, white papers have gradually become important means to comprehensively showcase the development and achievements of China’s human rights cause.

 

White papers on human rights over the past 30 years not only show the objective development of China’s human rights cause but also demonstrate China’s internal driving force and autonomy in this respect, making them new ideological materials for the international community to understand China’s human rights cause. Previous research has mainly focused on their political and publicity functions¹, but in the context of the ever-increasing international community’s exchanges, dialogues, and cooperation on human rights, white papers on human rights intend to “contribute Chinese wisdom and Chinese approaches to global human rights governance.”² Therefore, from the angle of China’s society and culture, this paper analyzes the development process of China’s human rights cause from a passive response to proactive self-construction in the past 30 years by focusing on the “discourse” and reviewing the text of the white papers on human rights issued by the Chinese government. The aim is to find out how to use a Chinese “discourse” to express “human rights” and highlight the internal driving force and social and cultural functions of China’s human rights development.

 

 

White papers on human rights have been released for 30 consecutive years. As important carriers of human rights knowledge, they show the characteristics of transitioning from abstract theory to concrete practice. On the one hand, they express China’s human rights philosophies and values through certain normative discourses supplemented by “telling stories and presenting facts,” and explore and summarize the experience of human rights practice by applying the universal principles of human rights in light of China’s context. As of August 2021, the Chinese government had released a total of 143 white papers, including 24 with “human rights” in their titles.³ These white papers revolve around the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the development process of China’s human rights cause, cover extensive themes while highlighting priority areas, and profoundly reflect China’s experience in human rights practice back then, thereby providing new concepts and materials for China’s human rights discourse.

 

 

The release process of white papers on human rights over the past 30 years can be divided into three stages.

 

Initial stage (1991-2004): At this stage, the white papers are mainly about the annual human rights situation, criminals’ human rights, women’s and children’s human rights, freedom of religious belief, family planning, environmental protection, labor and social security, rural poverty alleviation, the human rights situation in Tibet, etc. In particular, the first white paper on human rights in 1991 was regarded as “an important milestone in the history of human rights development in China”⁴ and a new chapter to record the development of China’s human rights cause. It is since then that China’s concept and values of human rights have systematically formed. More important, in response to the prejudice and misunderstanding of the international community towards China’s ethnic border areas, these white papers have also become an important window to clarify fallacies and show the actual human rights situation in ethnic border areas such as Tibet and Xinjiang.

 

Promotion stage (2004-2012): Since “respecting and protecting human rights” was written into the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China in 2004, the content of such white papers has expanded from the routine review of the annual human rights situation to looking back on the legal protection of human rights, democratic politics, the development of the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, food and drug safety, social and labor security and other fields. Especially since the Chinese government issued the white paper China: Democracy That Works in 2005, human rights development has always been embedded in the development of China’s democratic system, which promotes the democratic and legal protection of human rights. At the same time, specific human rights such as labor rights and interests, social security, and employment status have also become the focus of white papers during this period, which reflects the state’s respect and protection for every “worker.”

 

Diversified development stage (since 2012): Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, as the report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017 pointed out, “socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era,” as a result the topics for the white papers on human rights have also become increasingly diversified, involving legal protection for human rights, the right to development, environmental protection, poverty alleviation and reduction, the rights of special groups, climate change, ethnic border areas, building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and so on.

 

Over the past 30 years, the number of white papers on human rights has gradually increased, which clearly shows the policy theory and development practice of China’s human rights cause with real data and objective facts and elaborates on the “people-centered” human rights philosophy, rights of special groups, legal protection of human rights and other theories⁵ so that human rights can be perceived and recognized with the close connection between individuals and society, and the concept of human rights that lacks practical rationality in Western traditional theories is broken.

 

 

The themes of China’s white papers on human rights cover a wide range of content in multiple fields. They expand the three pillars of the “economy, society, and the environment” in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda into a “five in one” development model. It realizes the significance of political and cultural elements for sustainable and overall human development, and also reflects the country’s comprehensive protection of human rights and its sense of responsibility.⁶ Therefore, the core topics of white papers on human rights can be divided into the following three categories: summary, civil and political rights, and economic, social, and cultural rights.⁷

 

The first category is the white papers on human rights make comprehensive summaries, which are mainly multi-year white papers and annual white papers. The Chinese government issued white papers on human rights in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively as a continuation and expansion of the first white paper on human rights in 1991. They introduced the human rights protection in that year; white papers making summaries were released at important historical milestones, such as 50 Years of Progress on Human Rights in China released in 2000, Progress in Human Rights over the 40 Years of Reform and Opening-Up in China in 2018, Seeking Happiness for People: 70 Years of Progress on Human Rights in China in 2019, and Moderate Prosperity in All Respects: Another Milestone Achieved in China’s Human Rights in 2021. In particular, the white paper The Communist Party of China and Human Rights Protection — A 100-Year Quest in 2021 comprehensively introduced the theory and practice of human rights of the CPC over the past century, fully demonstrating the determination and progress of the CPC to elevate the development and progress of human rights to a higher level.⁸ This white paper systematically reviewed and summarized the human rights situation in China from multiple perspectives at different stages.

 

The second category is civil and political rights white papers. The development of human rights is inseparable from institutional development, and only through continuous improvement of the democratic political system, political party system, legal system and other systems related to human rights can the people’s right to a fair trial, personal freedom, freedom of speech, and freedom of religious belief be truly realized. In 2005, the white paper China: Democracy That Works mentioned “respect and protection of human rights” for the first time. In 2008, the white paper China’s Efforts and Achievements in Promoting the Rule of Law proposed that “taking the Constitution as the basis, the cause of human rights protection should be continuously lawbased and institutionalized.” The two white papers The Socialist System of Laws with Chinese Characteristics in 2011 and Judicial Reform in China in 2012 introduced in detail the relationship between the maintenance of judicial justice and the strengthening of human rights protection, emphasizing that “strengthening human rights protection is an important goal of judicial reform.” The white paper New Progress in the Judicial Protection of Human Rights in China in 2016 declared that “judicial protection of human rights is an important part of human rights progress in a country.” The white paper New Progress in the Legal Protection of Human Rights in China in 2017 proposed to “strengthen the legal protection of human rights in all areas,” and uphold human rights in every link of the process “from legislation through law enforcement and judicial justice to a law-abiding society.” This makes the value of the rule of law in human rights protection highly integrated with the legal protection approach of human rights and lays a government document foundation for the connection between human rights and the rule of law.⁹

 

The third category is the white papers on economic, social, and cultural rights. The content of these white papers involves topics such as the right to development, poverty alleviation, social labor security, health status, environmental protection, intellectual property, food and medicine, and food security. The white papers China’s Progress in Poverty Reduction and Human Rights in 2016 and Poverty Alleviation: China’s Experience and Contribution in 2021 elaborated on how China embarked on a unique path of “poverty alleviation and poverty eradication in a real sense” by shifting from targeted poverty alleviation to targeted poverty eradication, from offering assistance to boosting development, and from regional poverty alleviation to lifting every household out of poverty, and eliminated poverty from the perspective of human rights.¹⁰ The white paper The Right to Development: China’s Philosophy, Practice, and Contribution in 2016 reiterated that “the right to development is an inalienable human right,” and divided the abstract theory of the right to development into concrete economic, political, cultural, social, green and common development goals.

 

 

In addition to the core issues, white papers on human rights also involve specific issues such as special groups and ethnic border areas. This is not only an in-depth implementation of the “people-centered” human rights concept but also to clarify the fallacies and reveal the truth to the international community through a large amount of data and objective facts.

 

Nine white papers have been released on rights related to special groups. Women, children, the elderly, the disabled, criminals, and other special groups who are in a vulnerable position based on their physical and mental status or social and cultural identity are more vulnerable to violations of their rights and most in need of special measures to reduce and eliminate the damage caused by discrimination so that they enjoy equal development opportunities.¹¹ Among them, there are four white papers on women’s rights released in 1994, 2005, 2015, and 2019 respectively. They show with facts and data that the subject status of women as “people” has been highlighted and valued, which is conducive to eliminating “gender discrimination” and realizing “gender equality” to a certain extent and reflects the legal obligations and moral responsibilities assumed by the state, society, and individuals in identifying and protecting women’s rights.¹²

 

In all, 29 white papers on ethnic border areas have been released including 14 on Tibet, 12 on Xinjiang, and three on ethnic policies. Based on the chronological order of development, they comprehensively introduce the past, present, and future human rights development and planning of Tibet and Xinjiang such as ethnic equality, democracy, religion, culture, counter-terrorism, labor, and employment. This can be regarded as both “addition” and “subtraction.” “Addition” because it enhances China’s ability to participate in equal dialogue in the international community through material achievements and spiritual self-confidence, and contribute historical and ideological resources to the development of human rights in the world. “Subtraction” because it responds to and counterattacks certain Western countries’ deliberate attacks on policies in the border areas driven by ulterior motives, clarifying the facts and explaining the truth to the world, fully demonstrating China’s determination and ability to respect and protect human rights in these areas.¹³

 

 

As a discourse practice, the white papers are an important carrier for disseminating human rights knowledge and promoting human rights philosophies. They have three main features: (1) Objective language focusing on China, facts, and publicity.¹⁴ They focus on clearly presenting the process of the development of human rights in China using data, charts, examples, etc. for historical comparison and description. (2) They use plain language, linking abstract rational thinking to concrete daily life. As soon as some concepts in the white papers are mentioned, there will be specific practical examples. For example, “the right to be free from poverty” is related to “poverty alleviation and poverty reduction actions” in daily life. (3) Systematization of China’s human rights discourse. Over the 30 years since the release of the first white paper, China’s human rights theory and practice has gradually become more systematic and scientific, forming a human rights discourse system with self-consistent logic from concept to daily practice, and then to abstract understanding. The white papers adopt different models in their compilation such as the hybrid model, “five-in-one” model, and list of rights.¹⁵ In terms of discourse description, they have “replaced an abstract and empty discourse with concrete and vivid one.”¹⁶ The main manifestations are their 

title setting and sequence, the repetition of specific words, focus on new issues concerning social needs, and highlighting the protection of human rights and the rule of law.

 

 

The rights to subsistence and development are always paramount in the white papers on human rights, which reflects China’s long-standing belief that “the right to subsistence and development is the primary basic human right.” However, there are some changes in their specific expressions: the expression in 1991 was that “the right to subsistence is the primary human right that the Chinese people have long fought for.” In 1995, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, and 2009, it changed to the “people’s right to subsistence and development.” In 2000, it was expressed as “the improvement of the people’s right to subsistence and development.” In 2012, it was not clearly stated in the catalog, but was included in the title “Protection of Human Rights in Economic Construction.” In 2013 and 2014, the “right to development” was listed first. In 2019, “the right to subsistence and the right to development are the primary basic human rights” was incorporated into the theoretical framework of human rights as the core proposition. In 2021, it was pointed out that a “password” for the continuous development and progress of China’s human rights cause has been formed. In addition, the “keywords” under the right to subsistence and development have also changed at different stages. In the beginning, it involved issues of food and clothing, life expectancy, and improvement of living conditions, and gradually added keywords such as poverty alleviation, consumption structure, housing conditions, the environment, medical care, social assistance, labor employment, environmental rights, and post and telecommunications. This particular discourse has gone through the process of expressing the right to subsistence alone, to juxtaposing the right to subsistence and the right to development, to listing the right to development separately, and finally to taking the right to subsistence and the right to development as the core of human rights theory, thus demonstrating the independent development and practice of China’s human rights cause. First of all, the order of the white paper texts is not strictly based on relevant Western theories, but based on the specific national conditions of the country. On the premise of respecting and referring to the general spirit of international human rights treaties, the right to subsistence and the right to development are put in first place. The Chinese people have fought arduously in pursuit of “salvaging the nation” and striving for “the right to a basic standard of living.” This is the best example and true portrayal of the right to subsistence.¹⁷ Second, the juxtaposition of the right to subsistence and the right to development also means that our country has realized leapfrog development from the basic requirement of the right to be free from poverty to the higher requirement of moderate prosperity in all respects, and then to the still higher requirement of pursuing a better life. “Subsistence” here is not only a “hard demand” for material and cultural improvement, but also includes subjective “soft needs” such as the sense of fulfillment, happiness, dignity, equality, and the rule of law around “subsistence.”¹⁸ Finally, the discourse on the right to development in the white papers is to incorporate the right to subsistence, the right to life, freedom, equality, and dignity into the essence of “human” development, emphasizing that the right to development in the new era is the all-round development of the person. “The right to subsistence is the premise and foundation of the right to development, and the right to development is an advanced form of the right to subsistence, meaning the two are unified in and dependent on development.”¹⁹

 

 

Social rights are the crystallization of equal values, fairness, and justice, and are interdependent and have the same value as civil and political rights.²⁰ Over the past 30 years, keywords such as “the right to education”, “the right to labor”, “the right to social security”, “the right to a healthy environment”, “the right of habitation” and “health care” which have repeatedly appeared in the text of white papers on human rights are not only the core of social rights but also showcase the wisdom of China’s human rights cause of “focusing on and protecting people’s livelihoods.”

 

The “protection of workers’ rights” and “right to education” are separate sections in the white paper Progress in China’s Human Rights in 1996. The subsequent white papers combine the “the right to education” and “the right to labor” in one section under the title of “economic, social and cultural rights.” As an important part of the rights system, it expressed the state’s guarantee and affirmation of making a living through work and realizing free development through education. The white paper Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2013 lists “social security rights” as a separate title in the catalog, which is not only a crystallization of the improvement of the Chinese people’s livelihoods in the field of human rights protection but also an important achievement in the institutionalization of human rights protection. In addition, “housing and living conditions,” “healthcare,” and “environmental rights” are also keywords mentioned in these white papers. For example, in the white papers on human rights in 2003, 2004, and 2020, due to the impact of epidemics, “life safety and physical health” became their core content. In addition, the word “culture” has appeared in every white paper, and the word “social security” has increased in frequency. It can be seen that the white papers’ expression of social rights is specific and open, and their content and focus have changed with different emphases every year. These facts and data show that China’s socialist system has political advantages in safeguarding social rights, and further refines economic, social, and cultural rights according to the actual needs of the “people,” thereby incorporating the universal concept of human rights into the human rights concept with Chinese characteristics and improving China’s discourse on guaranteeing livelihoods in practice. This also strongly challenges the traditional theories of Western countries and provides valuable solutions to help other countries make up for their theoretical and institutional shortcomings.

 

 

As an important carrier for disseminating human rights knowledge, the white papers feature a dynamic expression of their discourse, and pay attention to and respond to new issues of human rights protection in line with the development of the times and the needs of society. These new issues accord with the social background and people’s needs at that time and were transformed into rights discourse under certain conditions.

 

The white paper Human Rights in China in 1991 mentioned “poverty” many times, and the term “poverty alleviation” was mentioned in the chapter “Right to Subsistence and Development” of the white paper Progress in China’s Human Rights in 1995. Since then, the annual white papers have dedicated much of their content to poverty alleviation, reflecting the government’s key actions and practical explorations of the people’s “right to subsistence and development” and “right to be free from poverty.” The white paper China’s Progress in Poverty Reduction and Human Rights released in 2016 reiterated that “poverty reduction is an issue involving the construction of a social order based on the value of human dignity.”²¹ The white paper on Poverty Alleviation: China’s Experience and Contribution in 2021 stated: implement the strategy of targeted poverty alleviation addressing “Five Questions in Poverty Alleviation” (This refers to these questions: who should help, who should be helped, how to help, how to evaluate whether someone has emerged from poverty, and how to ensure those people stay free from poverty). Based on eliminating the root causes of poverty through development, it outlines the transition from indiscriminate assistance to targeted assistance and from “given” relief to “self-reliance” assistance and taking “common prosperity” and “moderate prosperity in all respects” as the guiding principles and takes as the national goal shifting from “granting rights” to “realizing rights” in safeguarding the people’s right to subsistence and development.²² For example, in the white paper Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2013, “environmental rights” and “the right to freedom of speech” are listed in a separate section for the first time: as far as “environmental rights” are concerned, environmental protection and ecological conservation have not only received the same attention, but also strengthened the environmental protection responsibilities of the government and enterprises, and clarified the environmental rights and environmental protection obligations of citizens; and with regard to the “right to freedom of speech,” it clearly states that “freedom of speech is a basic right of citizens stipulated in the Constitution,” which not only highlights that “freedom of speech” is an important part of China’s human rights system in the context of the internet development, but also the protection of rights such as personal information and personal privacy. The white paper Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2014 first mentioned the “right to a fair trial,” and lists its core meanings such as judicial impartiality, judicial transparency, the exclusion of illegal evidence, judicial system reform, state compensation, and judicial assistance. The term “right to a fair trial” was also extended in the white paper of 2017 New Progress in the Legal Protection of Human Rights in China. These two white papers imply that the concept of human rights should be protected in judicial work and that human rights protection should be brought into the track of the rule of law. The white paper Seeking Happiness for People: 70 Years of Progress on Human Rights in China released in 2019 once again clarified that “living a happy life is the primary human right” and made it the goal of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the white paper Fighting COVID-19: China in Action in 2020 stated that the Chinese government always puts the people’s right to life and health first, and that it seeks to balance public health, law-based epidemic prevention, and human rights protection. It clearly set out China’s ideas on how to fight the pandemic.²³ Therefore, the new issues put forward by white papers in response to social needs mean that the concept of human rights should be interpreted and judged from a developmental perspective, which can not only effectively adapt to the development of the times, but also relate to international audiences of different cultures and reduce negative comments from Western scholars.

 

 

In 2004, “respecting and protecting human rights” was written into the Constitution. The report of the 19th National Congress of the CPC proposed to “strengthen the legal protection of human rights.” The rule of law spirit of human rights has long been embraced by state governance and administration, which is undoubtedly the strongest value foundation and value orientation of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law,²⁴ and this value is particularly prominent in the white papers. “Legal protection for human rights” includes the relationship between human rights and laws, regulations, and policies. Human rights, as an important spiritual value expressed and conveyed in these white papers, are universal. However, human rights should also be aligned with domestic public and private laws, and their protection continuously integrated within the legal system so that they can be realized.²⁵ The expression of “strengthening the legal protection of human rights” in previous white papers comes from the shaping of the legal relationship by incorporating human rights into the Constitution, and human rights being the unity of political discourse and normative institutional discourse.²⁶ This not only expands the relationship between human rights and the rule of law, that is to say, “human rights are the fundamental value of the rule of law, and the rule of law is the way to realize human rights,”²⁷ but also promotes the rational allocation of rights among people through laws before trying to build a law-based society with human rights as the core.²⁸ Among them, the “legal protection of human rights” is given importance in the white papers. The relationship between human rights and the judiciary is expressed in the white papers from the initial “protection of human rights in judicial activities” to “judicial protection of human rights.” This change in discourse has two implications: (1) It not only incorporates abstract human rights into specific provisions of laws and regulations but also makes it an empirical right that conforms to constitutional principles and can be guaranteed by judicial means. (2) Human rights have been gradually transformed into substantive rights and procedural rights in civil, criminal, administrative, and other fields, which shows that “the legal governance of human rights builds the most reliable system of norms, confirmation, operation, and relief for the effective realization of human rights.”²⁹ One of the keywords of “judicial protection of human rights” is “protection,” which means that not only should we ensure the judicial protection of the substantive rights, but also “ensure fairness and justice in every case handled”³⁰; we must also protect procedural rights in the administration of justice and respect citizens’ right to request due process. Another keyword, “justice,” is not limited to litigation procedures, but also includes judicial systems, judicial rules, judicial techniques, and judicial concepts.³¹

 

 

Over the past 30 years, China’s white papers on human rights have not only effectively responded to the misrepresentation and doubts of the international community, but more importantly, their objective truth, as well as their correct understanding and interpretation, has provided the government with a document base for the “self-shaping” of China’s human rights discourse system. As the international human rights exchanges, dialogue, and cooperation increase, white papers on human rights can play a role in knowledge transmission. As a result, they perform social and cultural functions on the three dimensions of subject, content, and means, thus unleashing the potential of multicultural innovation. 

 

 

The 30-year history of the release of white papers on human rights shows that no matter whether the pressure from the international community is increasing or decreasing, the internal force driving the development of China’s human rights cause has always been strong. The key to this lies in the affirming of the main appeal that “everyone is equal” and showing that “everyone is participating in the cause of human rights,” thereby turning the abstract “person” into concrete people.

 

 

The white papers over the years have specifically described the abstract concept of “person” as: “people,” “workers,” “special groups,” etc. They have made progress and development in politics, economy, culture, society, etc., and have shaken off the constraints of their traditional identities and social biases. It is these figurative words that make the abstract concept of “person” no longer empty, general, and vague, and truly affirm the subject’s appeal of “everyone is equal.” The repeated appearance of the word “people” in the white papers is a response to the “people-centered” concept of human rights and the core proposition that “living a happy life is the primary human right.” In particular, China’s poverty reduction practice shows that the “people-centered approach” is the fundamental driving force for poverty reduction. First of all, state power comes from the people, and we must ensure the people’s principal position. Everything is done for the people, by the people, to benefit the people. This not only confirms the subject status and people’s values of personality but also aims to achieve fairness and justice through the protection of special groups.³² To maintain and consolidate the collective feature of “people,” it is not only necessary for people to coordinate and cooperate, but also for their needs to be based on their interests, reflecting their aspirations, safeguarding their rights and interests, and enhancing their well-being. Second, “people” is the aggregate of individuals, and the basis for its maintenance is the relationship between people formed by production and communication which has truly become the basis and premise of the all-round development of people.³³ Therefore, the word “people” has the dual attributes of “individual human rights” and “collective human rights,” that is, people can determine their subject status and subject demands, and the free development of individuals still needs the help and support of national power.

 

In addition, the white papers elaborate more on “workers.” The protection of labor rights and interests has always been an important content of the white papers. The white paper Progress in China’s Human Rights in 2012 mentioned for the first time that “the basic rights of workers are guaranteed.” The white paper Employment and Labor Rights in Xinjiang released in 2020 states: “To protect the right to work is to safeguard human dignity and human rights.” The white papers have repeatedly emphasized the protection of workers’ rights and interests, which not only affirms that individuals can subsist by “creating wealth through work,” but also affirms that the state should help workers to maintain their right to subsistence, so as to continuously enhance the people’s sense of fulfillment, happiness, and security. In addition, the white papers also highlight the achievements made by the Chinese government in promoting the protection of human rights of special groups such as “women, children, the elderly, and the disabled.” The transition from “given” relief to “self-reliance” assistance, etc., not only reflects the “help, aid, and assistance” to special groups which ensures that they can access proper food, housing, medical care, education, and other basic needs, but also emphasizes the equality and social construction featuring “empowerment, inclusion, development, and justice” under the “human rights” model.³⁴ This promotes the maximum utilization of people’s potential and spirit, eliminates the neglect or rights violation caused by physiological or social factors, and affirms the main appeal of “equality for all” and the implementation of this human rights principle.

 

 

The discourse of white papers on human rights not only puts every specific “person” under the scope of human rights but also shows the identity of all the people as “participants in the cause of human rights” to a certain extent, that is, the people’s human rights awareness and concept of human rights have been greatly heightened. The abilities and qualities of “participants in the cause of human rights” are shown at different levels and from different perspectives. With the continuous introduction and publicity of these white papers, China has now formed a human rights participation model in which the government, academia, and the private sector work together.³⁵ In this sense, all the people are “participants in the cause of human rights.” First, the preface of each white paper introduced the efforts and contributions made by the leadership of the CPC to the cause of human rights, and emphasize the need to strengthen the Party’s leadership in the protection of human rights and the rule of law. This shows that the official discourse of Party and government leaders is authoritative, and its primary role is to extract concepts from practice, lead human rights discourse, and give full play to the greatest advantage of leadership by the Party. Second, since the term “human rights education” was proposed in the white paper in 2000, human rights education has been rapidly developed in major universities, primary and secondary schools with a focus on three aspects: “human rights common sense,” “human rights theory” and “human rights values.”³⁶ Through the study of human rights common sense, human rights theories, and institutional norms, intellectual discourse with university scientific research institutions as the main force is finally formed. It not only improves the theoretical knowledge and discourse system of human rights but also provides knowledge and inspiration for the Party and government organs. Third, the content of white papers on human rights is closely related to people’s daily life, making it easy to form an easy-to-understand public discourse among the people. Through the white papers’ objective and true descriptions of the human rights situation in the country, people can express their opinions on contemporary human rights phenomena and human rights practices based on their feelings and experience, and gradually build up their discourse based on common facts, so as to form a multi-dimensional perspective and “three-dimensional” relationship with official and academic discourse where they recognize and consolidate each other³⁷ .

 

 

Different from a philosophy, the function of a white paper is mainly how the text constructs the discourse system of human rights and how the public understands and perceives human rights. “The concept of human rights is the carrier of human rights discourse, and human rights discourse is the interpretation of the concept of human rights.”³⁸ The white papers on human rights released over the past 30 years are not only the process of interpreting the concept of human rights but also an important part of the formation of the human rights discourse system. They not only affirm the main appeal of “everyone is equal” and establish new social relations, but also provide a path for the people to “view themselves and understand human rights.”

 

 

Through discourse expression of the white papers on human rights over the past 30 years, China has extracted core discourse propositions with Chinese characteristics such as “the right to subsistence and the right to development are the primary human rights,” “living a happy life is the primary human right,” and “people-centered approach.” The white paper Seeking Happiness for People: 70 Years of Progress on Human Rights in China released in 2019 introduces in detail in its preface and the first part of the development stage and actual national conditions of the human rights cause in the People’s Republic of China in the past 70 years with seven core basic points which are the discourse of the “people-centered” human rights concept. Of course, only the abstract expression of these seven basic points does not suffice, so the white paper breaks down these seven basic goals, and follows the path of a “strategic plan for human rights development, regulations for setting specific rights, human rights implementation mechanisms and international human rights participation and cooperation.” The white paper The Communist Party of China and Human Rights Protection — A 100-Year Quest released in 2021 states that under the leadership of the CPC, China has made new achievements in respecting and protecting human rights, secured a complete victory in the fight against poverty, and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects. The basic rights of the people, including the right to life and health, the right to work, and the right to education, have been better protected. As a result, a new concept of respecting and protecting human rights has been established, thereby ushering in a new human rights civilization. At the same time, it also shows that the CPC and the Chinese government, proactively and interactively, contribute to the development of the international human rights cause and promote the global human rights governance towards a more just, reasonable, and inclusive direction. The human rights discourse system shaped by the expression of the white papers on human rights contains the process of changing from passive response to active struggle, from conceptual elaboration to concept construction, and from abstract principles to concrete practice, making China’s human rights discourse system transform from a one-dimension and awkward expression to a three-dimensional and creative one.³⁹ From the discourse on human rights to the human rights discourse system, the theory of human rights is extended from two paradigms of transcendental human rights view and transcendent human rights view to three paradigms of transcendental human rights view, transcendent human rights view and empirical human rights view,⁴⁰ which enriches the connotation and extension of human rights theory, and pays more attention to the full protection of human dignity and freedom.

 

 

The keywords displayed in the white papers on human rights in the past three decades show that China’s material achievements and spiritual self-confidence have made China more in a position to participate in equal dialogues in the international community, and its rich historical and ideological resources have contributed theories and guidelines to the development of the global human rights cause. “The progress of human rights is a matter of self-emancipation, not a matter of external pressure.”⁴¹ This practical wisdom comes from daily life, complements international human rights norms, has the legitimacy of social values, presents the social evolution and localized development of human rights, and shapes the subject consciousness of human rights concepts in the new era. 

 

White papers on human rights are an effective way for the government to disseminate human rights knowledge and conducive to cross-cultural human rights exchanges. Generally speaking, the knowledge related to the world outlook, outlook on life, and values in people’s ideological and cultural concepts is reflected in the lifestyle and is deeply entrenched after being cultivated in a social environment, which makes it difficult to spread in a short period.⁴² But white papers on human rights present the opportunity to disseminate human rights knowledge, enabling people to learn about their birthright and cultivating their awareness and ability to live a dignified life. As a result, the release of white papers on human rights for 30 consecutive years has provided an effective way to transmit human rights knowledge and generate human rights concepts, that is how “everyone” who is both an individual and part of a collective perceives himself, defines his scope of interests, and balances the relationship between the individual and the state. At the same time, it also reflects that the state, as the main body of international relations, has the internal power and autonomy to actively speak out about human rights and develop the cause of human rights: in terms of the value of human rights, China upholds the “people-centered” approach based on the nature of the Chinese society and specific conditions with solving the most prominent practical problems in China as the basic goal; in terms of the implementation of human rights, it advocates combining government leadership, social promotion and individual actions and integrating exploiting local resources and absorbing the excellent experience of the United Nations; in terms of the approach of safeguarding human rights, China always promotes the rule of law to ensure that people live and work in peace and contentment while paying attention to both interactive balance and targeted policy implementation, thereby blazing a trail of independent human rights development in the special context of China.⁴³ In particular, in the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, China’s human rights cause has achieved major innovations in human rights path, human rights content, human rights theoretical innovation mechanisms, and human rights governance.⁴⁴

 

 

Political, economic, social, and cultural rights are the basic rights necessary for the subsistence and development of individuals, and their guarantee falls on the shoulders of the state and society. Therefore, white papers can promote two-way interaction between individuals and countries and cooperation between countries.

 

 

“There is a constructive interaction between the individual and the state formed through the practice of human rights.”⁴⁵ From the release of the first white paper on human rights in 1991 to the enshrinement of “respect and protection of human rights” in the Constitution in 2004 to the decision of “the legal protection of human rights,” a new concept of “people-centered” human rights development was finally formed. This process has somewhat expanded the human rights theory in the traditional sense of the West. The state has shifted from a “predatory hand” to a “helping hand” for the people, making human rights theory and practice show “people-centered” characteristics. The key is to protect the people and guard against the consequences of certain actions or inaction by the government.⁴⁶

 

The state’s protection of citizens’ human rights can be embodied in three kinds of obligations which are reflected in the white papers on human rights: the first is the state’s passive obligation of respect for citizens, whereby citizens obtain a passive status free from state violations. The white papers contain many expressions about prohibitive norms, such as “prohibit illegal searches of citizens’ bodies,” “prohibit illegal searches or illegal trespassing of citizens’ houses,” “prohibit any power not provided for by law, or any illegal use of power,” etc., which are also guarantees of liberty in the traditional sense. The second is the state’s obligation to actively create necessary and favorable conditions so that individuals can more fully enjoy and exercise their rights. This obligation has been highlighted in the white papers over the years in terms of education, medical care, workers’ rights and interests, social security, social assistance, employment, and other people’s livelihood-related terms, thus changing the country’s role as a guardian who never disturbs individual rights to a servant responding to citizens’ requests.⁴⁷ The third type is the state’s positive obligation to protect citizens. Compared with the passive obligation to respect, the proactive obligation to protect mainly refers to the violation of rights by non-state acts or “third parties.” For example, the white papers on gender equality and women’s development released in 2005 and 2015 comprehensively introduced China’s unremitting efforts to promote gender equality and women’s development. It can be seen from the white papers over the years that the relationship between citizens and the state has gradually evolved from the traditional prevention of human rights violations by the state to the state directly providing individuals with convenient conditions for the realization of their human rights, thereby actively removing obstacles in this regard. The right to subsistence and the right to development, to which the white papers have dedicated much content, ultimately points to the proactive role of the state in the three aspects of legislation, administration, and justice, thus urging citizens to maintain a stable two-way interactive relationship with the state.

 

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights profoundly changed the international vision and international relations. The spirit built by it can be seen in human rights conventions, treaties, agreements, and other declarations, which link almost all countries, cultures, and nations with human rights. As scholars put it: “It is not a universal value standard full of Western natural law theory and Christian tradition. Its realization depends on the people all over the world taking on the obligations of freedom, dignity, and equality of rights based on reason and conscience and empirical interpretations based on their social and historical environment.⁴⁸ Judging from the content of the white papers over the years, each white paper has shown at its end the relationship between China’s human rights development and the international human rights cause, from “actively participating in international human rights activities” in 1991 to “full participation in the global governance of human rights” in 2019, and then to “international development cooperation in the new era and a global community of shared future” in 2021. Their content not only reflects the social development and progress of the times in contemporary China but more importantly, they actively share and exchange China’s experience in the development of human rights with the international 

community, thereby enhancing China’s international say. This development trajectory has four characteristics. 

 

First, the white papers on human rights, as a bridge for communication, do not follow the footsteps of Western human rights issues, nor are they propaganda for policy. Instead, they share Chinese solutions through practices such as “behavioral demonstration, rule development, and concept guidance”⁴⁹ featuring authenticity and perceptibility.

 

Second, the white papers are not only based on the actual national conditions, but also take into account the habits and culture of readers, and flexibly convey information conducive to understanding, which has greatly optimized the content and efficiency of human rights exchanges.

 

Third, the changes in data and cases, the increase of content, and the independent discussions in white papers on human rights are essentially the result of two-way interaction between the country and its people, and between countries. The Chinese people will also respect and learn from the excellent experience of the international community and expand the content and process of China’s human rights cause.

 

Fourth, previous white papers have focused on special issues while the current ones actively participate in global human rights governance both extensively and in an in-depth manner, and not only focus on “representative influence,” but also strive to attain “substantial influence.” The facts and experiences conveyed through the white papers can enable China to proactively raise issues in the international community, propose a draft resolution on a certain issue for discussion, or express the government’s position on the theme of the meeting. ⁵⁰

 

Although state behavior is influenced by international norms, political realities, and power factors,⁵¹ the white papers on human rights, as a bridge to enhance international dialogue and collaboration, are both general in perspectives and specific in content. Their goals are to disseminate human rights concepts, develop international human rights rules, and change the attitude of Western countries to suppress, ignore, or even deny the autonomy of non-Western countries in human rights theory and practice under the basic UN principles of upholding sovereign equality and independent development. Cultural differences between countries are not huge enough to impact the entire human rights cause. As the Philosophical Committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights put it: “The absence of religious and philosophical consensus will not build a human rights consensus. On the contrary, the ideas on which the human rights consensus relies are not the abstract results of inference, but the results of practice and agreement on a set of beliefs that guide behavior.”⁵²

 

 

General Secretary Xi Jinping said in his New Year’s Message in 2016: “The world is so big, and the problems are so many. The international community expects to hear China’s voice and see China’s plans. China cannot be absent.”⁵³ At the same time, “we must be good at extracting iconic concepts,create new concepts, new categories, and new expressions that are easily understood and accepted by the international community, and guide the international academic community to conduct research and discussions.”⁵⁴ The release of white papers on human rights over the past 30 years demonstrates the development and progress of China’s human rights cause, transforms the traditional theory of Western society into a practical Chinese theory based on local factors such as practical needs, history, national conditions, and culture, and challenges the hegemonic Western human rights discourse. However, in the face of profound changes unseen in a century and the fierce and complex situation of international human rights struggles, we must speed up the construction of China’s human rights discourse system in the new era through white papers on human rights, so as to make the voice of China’s human rights heard in the international community. On the one hand, the white papers on human rights should be based on China’s national conditions and reality and should be constructed from the perspectives of institutional advantages, cultural characteristics, and development strategies. On the other hand, it is necessary to continuously absorb the reasonable resources in the human rights concept of various countries through dialogue and refutation, improve the value consensus and commensurability of white papers on human rights, and promote it to continue to perform the functions of behavior demonstration, rule development, and concept guidance in the international order in order to enhance our international say.

 

(Translated by TIAN Tong)

 

* ZHANG Han ( 张晗 ), Doctoral Candidate majoring in legal theory at Southwest University of Political Science and Law. This article is an achievement of the China Society for Human Rights Studies’ short-term project in 2021 “The Communist Party of China and Human Rights Protection,” “Human Rights Theory and Practice of the Communist Party of China in Yan’an Period.” and the 2021 Chongqing Graduate Research Innovation Project “Evolution of the Rights of Members of the Communist Party of China in the Past 100 Years”(CYB21164).

 

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2. “The White Paper The Communist Party of China and Human Rights Protection — A 100-Year Quest,” the State Council Information Office website.

 

3. In a narrow sense, a white paper on human rights refers to a white paper with “human rights” in its title. They mainly include annual and multi-annual white papers with “human rights” in their titles, and also include the ones on specific topics , such as Human Rights in Xinjiang — Development and Progress. In a broad sense, white papers on human rights involve discussions on “human rights” and “rights,” such as Equality, Development and Sharing: Progress of Women’s Cause in 70 Years Since New China’s Founding and Equality, Participation and Sharing: 70 Years of Protecting the Rights and Interests of Persons with Disabilities in the PRC, Freedom of Religious Belief in Xinjiang and Gender Equality and Women’s Development in China. Therefore, this article lists them as “white papers on human rights” which mainly refer to white papers with “human rights” and “rights” in their titles, or with “human rights,” “rights” and “rights and interests” as their main content. The two collectively constitute the scope of white papers on human rights in a broad sense, which is the main subject for discussion in this article. In fact, on the surface, these white papers involve five categories: foreign affairs, national defense, national conditions, human rights, and local issues. But in essence, most categories are related to human rights issues or revolve around the cause of human rights protection. However, because the white papers on national defense and military, energy and minerals, aerospace, and the internet are not human rights issues, and only some of their contents involve human rights or rights issues, this article considers them to be “non-white papers on human rights.” Zhang Yonghe, “The Door To Human Rights,” (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 2015), 279; Liu Peng, “Current Situation, Functions and Countermeasures of China’s Human Rights Publicity: Taking 41 Human Rights-related Chinese Government White Papers as Examples,” Human Rights 6 (2012): 49. 

 

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