LI Changlin*

 

The sense of security is the primary psychological need of humans and serves as the guarantee for enjoying other rights. The right to security is both a representation of people’s well-being and a significant human right. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially since the 18^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, particularly the holistic approach to national security of Xi Jinping, China has adhered to the people-centered development ideology. It has vigorously protected and improved people’s livelihoods, enhanced the rule of law for human rights, coordinated internal and external security, national territorial security and national security, traditional and non-traditional security, self-security and common security, and safeguarded national security while shaping national security. By promoting human rights through development, safeguarding human rights through security, and advancing human rights through cooperation, China has continuously strengthened people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security, enriching China’s practices in enhancing people’s sense of security.

 

 

There is only one planet Earth, and all nations share this world. The international community is increasingly becoming an interdependent community of common destiny. China firmly believes that only by adhering to the historical trend of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit and jointly maintaining international peace and security can global development and prosperity be promoted.

 

China consciously dedicates itself to the historical mission of human progress and world harmony, and has made important contributions to international peace and security. China is the only country in the world that has incorporated the path of “peaceful development” into its Constitution. China adheres to the path of peaceful development, refrains from aggression or expansion, and does not seek spheres of influence. China is committed to developing friendly cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. At the same time, China firmly safeguards its national sovereignty and dignity, its legitimate rights and interests, and works to promote international fairness and justice. China coordinates national, regional, and global security efforts, promotes the building of a new type of international relations and is establishing a network of global partnerships. It is actively promoting the establishment of an Asian security architecture that is compatible with economic foundations, and creates a model of Asian security characterized by mutual respect and inclusiveness. China firmly upholds the authority and status of the United Nations, practices true multilateralism, and actively fosters an international security pattern of win-win cooperation. China plays a responsible major country role and actively promotes the resolution of major regional hotspot issues, such as the Ukraine crisis, the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, the Iranian nuclear issue, Afghanistan, Myanmar, the Middle East, Syria, and others, through dialogue and negotiations. China continuously explores and practices a Chinese-style approach to resolving international and regional hotspot issues. China has participated in over 30 peacekeeping operations, sending more than 40,000 peacekeepers. China currently has the largest number of peacekeeping personnel among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

 

 

National liberation and independence are fundamental guarantees of people’s security. Since the Opium War in 1840, China was subjected to repeated invasions by Western imperialist powers, leading to its semi-colonial and semi-feudal state. During that time, China experienced frequent warfare, social turmoil, economic decline, and widespread suffering. The majority of the population endured oppression under imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucratic capitalism, with no human rights or security. The Communist Party of China, leading the Chinese people through arduous struggles, achieved national liberation and independence, and established the socialist system, providing the fundamental political prerequisites and institutional foundation for people’s security.

 

The Chinese people cherish peace and regard it as the main theme of the times, appreciating the peaceful environment that has been hard-won. However, there have always been forces in the international arena attempting to disrupt China’s stability and unity. Faced with external provocations, the Chinese people were not afraid of war and engaged in the Korean War and the Sino-Vietnamese War to defend national security. Since entering the 21^st century, certain countries have deliberately created incidents to suppress and contain China’s rise, inciting anti-China and separatist forces seeking to undermine national unity, and engaging in activities such as infiltration, destruction, subversion, and separatism. China has timely formulated and amended national security laws, anti-secession laws, and criminal laws to combat crimes endangering national security, terrorism, and extremism, effectively safeguarding national security. In response to the Hong Kong situation, which at one point was highly challenging, China has promoted the establishment of a sound legal system and law enforcement mechanism in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to safeguard national security. China firmly supports the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region an end to the violence and restoring order under the rule of law, leading to the

Hong Kong situation turning from chaos to stability.

 

 

Maintaining public safety is essential to create a safe and stable environment in which individuals can lead normal lives, work, study, enjoy recreational activities, and interact. In China, a continuous campaign to eradicate organized crime and corruption has led to the prosecution of individuals such as “village bullies,” “street bullies,” and “mine bullies” that are responsible for crimes that have harmed local communities. Additionally, strict measures have been implemented to punish crimes that threaten the safety and dignity of medical personnel, such as violence, disturbance, and troubles against medical workers. China has also taken decisive actions against crimes endangering production safety and handed down severe penalties to individuals responsible for major production safety accidents. Crimes against law enforcement officers have been dealt with rigorously, ensuring that those resorting to violence against the law face consequences. Furthermore, China has implemented measures to tackle crimes that endanger public security to maintain social order.

 

Statistics reveal a sustained decrease in the number of criminal cases filed nationwide, as well as a reduction in eight categories of major criminal cases and cases related to public security. From 2001 to 2021, criminal cases registered by public security organs saw a decline in cases of murder, from 27,501 (0.62 percent of the total) to 6,522 (0.13 percent of the total); cases of assault decreased from 138,100 (3.10 percent of total) to 82,476 (1.64 percent of total); robbery cases decreased from 352,216 (7.90 percent of total) to 9,700 (0.19 percent of the total); cases of abduction and trafficking of women and children decreased from 7,008 (0.16 percent of the total) to 2,860 (0.06 percent of the total); theft cases decreased from 2,924,512 (65.61 percent of the total) to 1,602,450 (31.87 percent of the total). In 2020, the number of fatalities and significant accidents related to production safety in China significantly decreased compared to the peak levels at the beginning of the 21st century. Specifically, the annual death toll decreased from 140,000 people to 27,100 people, while the number of significant accidents declined from 140 cases to 16 cases. In 2022, China achieved a “double decrease” in the number of production safety accidents, including significant and major accidents, as well as a reduction in the number of fatalities. The year-on-year decrease was significant, with a 27.0 percent reduction in the overall number of accidents and a 23.6 percent decrease in the number of fatalities. In 2021, China also witnessed substantial declines in various categories of criminal cases, including eight major crimes such as homicides and rapes, drug-related crimes, robbery cases, and cases of theft, as well as significant decrease in the number of traffic accidents resulting in three or more fatalities. Compared to 2012, these categories saw declines of 64.4 percent, 56.8 percent, 96.1 percent, 62.6 percent, and 59.3 percent, respectively. China continued to see a decrease in the overall number of criminal cases filed in 2022, marking a seven-year consecutive decline. Additionally, both the number of cases in eight major criminal categories and cases related to public security continued to decrease, achieving an eight-year consecutive decline. For eleven consecutive years, China recorded a consistent reduction in the number of production safety accidents and fatalities. In 2021, China had one of the lowest homicide rates globally, with 0.5 homicides per 100,000 people. Furthermore, the rate of criminal cases per 100,000 people stood at 339 cases, making China one of the countries with the lowest crime rates. China also experienced a continuous decline in firearm and explosive-related incidents over several years, making it one of the countries with the lowest rates of gun and explosive crimes. Since 2001, the National Bureau of Statistics of China has conducted multiple nationwide surveys to assess the safety perception among the Chinese population. The survey results indicated that the overall sense of security among the Chinese people increased from 81.4 percent in 2001 to 98.62 percent in 2021. China is widely recognized as one of the safest countries globally.

 

 

Poverty is the greatest obstacle to realizing human rights. Without the production and supply of material resources, people find it difficult to gain a sense of security. The Chinese people deeply understand that being free from poverty and hunger is essential for survival. For many years, China has consistently prioritized the right to subsistance and the realization of the right to development for its people. It has continuously liberated and developed productivity, strived to eliminate poverty and improve its development level, thus creating the basic conditions to safeguard various human rights.

 

The Chinese government has reformed the rural land system, stabilized and improved rural land contracting relationships, and vigorously promoted the construction of irrigation facilities in farmlands, thereby continuously enhancing the comprehensive production capacity of agriculture and ensuring stable growth in the production of major agricultural products. China, with 6.6 percent of the world’s freshwater resources and 9 percent of its arable land, feeds nearly 20 percent of the global population, fundamentally eliminating hunger and continuously improving the nutrition level of the people.

 

China has been consistently engaged in poverty alleviation efforts, treating poverty eradication as the bottom-line task and a fundamental milestone for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. By the end of 2020, China had successfully completed the goal of poverty alleviation in the new era, lifting all 98.99 million people comprising the impoverished rural population under the current standards out of poverty. A total of 832 impoverished counties were removed from the poverty list, and 128,000 impoverished villages were also delisted. China became the country with the largest reduction in it poverty population in the world, contributing to over 70 percent of the global poverty reduction.

 

China has achieved the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. People’s living standards have significantly improved, and residents’ income continues to increase. The per capita disposable income of national residents has risen from RMB 171 in 1978 to RMB 32,189 in 2020. The employment situation has remained stable for a long time, and the quality of employment has significantly improved. The number of employed people has increased from 180 million in 1949 to 750 million in 2020. The field of education has flourished. China has been transformed from a country with a high rate of illiteracy and semi-literacy to an education giant and is progressing toward becoming a country with strong human resources. China has built the world’s largest education system, including preschool education, primary and secondary education, and higher education. The overall level of education modernization has reached the upper-middle level in the world.

 

China has implemented the rural drinking water safety project, completing the goal set by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to reduce the number of people without safe drinking water by half six years ahead of schedule in 2009. As of 2018, there were more than 11 million rural water supply projects nationwide, with a relatively complete rural water supply system established, serving a total population of 940 million, and effectively ensuring the safety of people’s drinking water.

 

China has carried out urban housing system reforms, launched large-scale urban affordable housing projects, and conducted rural dangerous house transformations to improve the living environment in both urban and rural areas. China has also promoted ecological restoration, urban renewal, energy-efficient and green building practices, and the retrofitting of existing buildings. It has advanced rural domestic sewage treatment and the construction of rural domestic garbage collection and disposal systems, significantly improving people’s basic living conditions. Housing security efforts have been continuously intensified, with over 80 million sets of various types of affordable housing and shantytown redevelopment homes built. This has helped over 200 million disadvantaged people improve their housing conditions, ensuring basic housing guarantees for families receiving subsistence allowances and low-income families and effectively improving the housing conditions of middle-to-lower-income families.

 

China has established and continuously improved its healthcare system, increased investment in public health, elevated the level of medical technology, and promoted the construction of a Healthy China. Efforts have been made to provide comprehensive health and medical services throughout people’s lifecycle. China’s average life expectancy has increased from 35 years at the inception of the People’s Republic of China to 78.2 years in 2021, attaining the target set by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule. Overall, the health level of residents is better than the average level in high-income countries. The healthcare system has gradually improved, resource allocation has been further optimized, and the issues of difficulty and high cost of medical care have been gradually alleviated, effectively safeguarding people’s lives and health.

 

China has established the world’s largest social security system, encompassing social insurance, social assistance, social welfare, and social support for special groups, moving toward the goal of full coverage, basic protection, multi-tiered support, and sustainability. As of the end of 2022, the number of participants in basic oldage, unemployment, and work-related injury insurance had reached 1.05 billion, 240 million, and 290 million, respectively. Basic medical insurance covered 1,345.92 million people. Maternity insurance legally covers all employers and employees.

 

China has continuously improved its social assistance system, forming a system primarily based on minimum subsistence allowances, assistance and support for extremely disadvantaged individuals, disaster relief, medical assistance, educational assistance, housing assistance, employment assistance, and temporary assistance, supplemented by social forces’ participation.

 

China has comprehensively managed illegal and criminal activities that affect the sense of security of the people. It takes a two-pronged approach of prevention and crackdown and has established a comprehensive security governance system covering all aspects and stages. China lawfully punishes cybercrimes to safeguard network information security. It constructs a monitoring and food safety assessment system for food pollution and harmful factors, lawfully punishes crimes that harm food and drug safety, as well as other crimes that harm the basic interests of the people, and safeguards the people’s “food safety” on their plates. In response to general safety concerns such as high-altitude object throwing, theft and sale of manhole covers, and

obstruction of safe driving, China promotes comprehensive governance to effectively protect the safety of the people “above their heads,” “under their feet,” and during their travel.

 

China has improved its system and mechanisms for resolving social contradictions, established a linkage system for people’s mediation, administrative mediation, and judicial mediation, and developed a comprehensive social psychological service system and crisis intervention mechanism. The overall volume of social contradictions has reached a historical turning point, and China has charted its own path to modernize social governance. China continuously develops and improves its grassroots governance system. The governance system in towns and townships (streets) led by the Party, coordinated by the Party and government, and characterized by simplicity and efficiency has been significantly optimized. The governance capacity at the grassroots level has noticeably increased, the social governance system has been improved, the vitality of social organizations has increased significantly, and pilot projects for city-level social governance have been solidly promoted.

 

 

The sense of security of the Chinese people has been achieved through the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the collective efforts of the Chinese people. It is the result of adhering to the development philosophy centered on the people, which emphasizes development relying on the people, development for the people, and sharing the fruits of development with the people. China understands that global security forms the foundation of national security, national security ensures the safety of the people, public safety is a prerequisite for people’s security, and individual safety is where people’s security ultimately rests. In the face of the complex and ever-changing international situation, China has timely put forward a global security initiative. We call on all parties to actively respond to this initiative, work together to build a community with a shared future for mankind, and contribute to the noble cause of security, which is “closely related to the well-being of people in all countries, to world peace and development, and to the future and destiny of mankind.”

 

 

* LI Changlin ( 李昌林 ), Professor, Human Rights Institute School, Southwest University of Political Science and Law.

 

 

(Translated by LI Donglin)