Human rights, in a certain sense, are the confirmation of the value of human freedom, equality, dignity, worth, personality and subject status. Human rights are the rights that people are born with, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, race, sex, language, religion, identity or status. This is the universal principle of human rights. It is also the right of everyone to continuously realize their interests because of the different realistic conditions of the country, nation, society and environment, which develops and progresses with the development and progress of economic and social development, which is the realistic particularity principle of the realization of human rights.A scientific understanding and grasp of human rights requires an organic unification of the two, which cannot be separated from each other.

 

Since modern times, the Western view of human rights has suited the needs of the development of the capitalist commodity economy, impacted on oppression, privilege, partiality and superstition, had a greater impact on the whole world, and deserves recognition for its positive historical role in advancing the progress of human rights. However, the West has used their so-called human rights “advantage” to set their own “human rights standards” and use them to tailor the human rights situation in the non-Western world. They then wield the “human rights stick” to exercise the free will of the property owners, to defend their interests, and thus to suppress the non-Western world. One of the fundamental reasons why this is so has to do with the philosophical paradigm of the Western view of human rights. This philosophical paradigm is based on the “dichotomy of subject and object”, where the Western world is seen as the “master” and the non-Western world as the guest, where the guest follows the master and the master rules the guest. The Western world holds the right to set “human rights standards” and to speak about “human rights rulings”, and the non-Western world should obey the domination of the Western world, or being imposed sanctions if it does not obey.

 

The Western view of human rights has revealed various historical limitations. As socialism with Chinese characteristics enters a new era, the Chinese nation has made a great leap from standing up, getting rich to becoming strong; scientific socialism has emerged with great vitality in China in the 21st century, raising the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics high in the world; the continuous development of the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics has expanded new ways for developing countries to modernize and and provided new options for those countries and nations that wish to accelerate their development while maintaining their independence, contributing Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions to the problems of mankind; Chinese style modernization has also provided new options for mankind to achieve modernization. Against this background, it is imperative for China to construct a new Chinese view of human rights that is based on China, looks at the world and faces the future, and to establish a new philosophical paradigm for a new Chinese view of human rights.

 

 

This is from the philosophical root.

 

The Western view of human rights is, first and foremost, a “monistically dominant” view of human rights. It emphasizes that the Western world is at the high point of the historical development and progress of the whole world, and that it is most concerned with human rights, and that it should have the right to speak about “human rights standards” and demand that the whole world should be on a par with the Western “human rights standards”, and that the Western view of human rights should dominate the world. The fundamental limitation of this view of human rights is that all people do not enjoy equal human rights and some people use their so-called human rights to trample on the human rights of others. The history of Western capital expansion and colonial plunder shows that the West has often safeguarded its own so-called human rights at the expense of the human rights of other people.

 

China's view of human rights in the new era fundamentally emphasizes that all people are equal subjects and that equal people should have equal human rights, which can be called the “equal human rights view” in which all people are equal. This is the philosophical foundation of China's view of human rights in the new era. This view of human rights emphasizes that: everyone is a subject of human rights; everyone is an equal subject in the enjoyment of human rights; some people should not sacrifice or trample on the human rights of others in exchange for their own human rights interests, but should actively promote and protect the human rights of others. This is how the CPC has gradually improved and safeguarded people's livelihoods in the new era, and this is also true on the issue of enabling all people to share the fruits of development and thus achieve common prosperity for all people, and even more so in Xi Jinping's emphasis on enabling the people to feel fairness and justice in every judicial case. This is a true “equal human rights concept” in which all people are equal, and it is an advanced human rights concept in the history of the world.

 

 

This is in terms of value orientation.

 

The Western view of human rights is a "capitalist view of human rights" which focuses relatively on the human rights of capital and the special interests of capitalists. This view of human rights is nominally focused on the human rights of each individual, but in essence it is more focused on the rights of capital and the human rights of capitalists. As a result, we see many homeless people in the West, many people who have lost their jobs, many people whose livelihoods are not guaranteed, and many people who trample on the human rights of other people.

 

China's view of human rights in the new era is a “people-based view of human rights” that upholds the primacy of the people. This view of human rights emphasizes that “the right to survival is the basis for the enjoyment of all human rights, and that people's happiness is the greatest human right”. This concept reflects the people's nature of human rights, establishes the value orientation of China's view of human rights in the new era, clarifies the fundamental point of developing the cause of human rights, and gives a new meaning to the development of China's human rights cause in the new era.

 

Respecting and safeguarding human rights is the unremitting pursuit of the CPC party members. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people to unswervingly follow the path of socialist human rights development with Chinese characteristics, attached great importance to and safeguarded human rights, put forward the concept of adhering to the supremacy of the people and the people-centred concept of human rights, promoted the comprehensive development of the cause of human rights, and continuously promoted innovation in human rights theory and practice, thus making historic achievements in the cause of human rights in the new era and making a significant contribution to the development of the cause of human rights in the world. For this reason, President Xi Jinping stressed the need to make steady progress in ensuring people’s access to childcare, education, employment, medical services, elderly care, housing, and social assistance, so as to ensure a more complete and lasting sense of fulfillment, happiness and security for our people. This is the people's view of human rights in the history of the world.

 

 

This is in terms of the pursuit of goals.

 

The Western view of human rights is “polarized”. This view of human rights emphasizes that some people should possess the material means of production, the material means of living and the material wealth of society, while others should accept the economic domination and subjugation of others. Such a view of human rights denies some human rights the respect and protection they deserve. It is not a "universal human right", but an egoistic view of human rights, which is based on the trampling of the human rights of others. 

 

China's view of human rights in the new era is a "universal human rights view" in which everyone benefits. This view of human rights emphasizes the need to continuously promote people's well-being, to make the fruits of development benefit all people in a greater and more equitable manner, to strive to make benefits universally available to the people, to achieve common prosperity for all people, and to enable the people of the world to lead a good and happy life. This is the goal of the pursuit of China's view of human rights in the new era. President Xi Jinping pointed out that the people should be placed in the highest position in our hearts, and that the people's aspiration for a better life is our goal of struggle. This is not only the goal that the CPC party members are striving for, but also a practical action to be steadily promoted. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, our Party has set the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and a great modern socialist country, and has not only achieved a comprehensive victory in the fight against poverty, but also started a new journey to build a modern socialist country; we have also actively participated in international cooperation and global human rights governance. This “inclusive view of human rights” is supreme and morally superior to any other view of human rights, and is a progressive view of human rights in the history of the world.

 

 

This is a general approach.

 

The Western view of human rights is a “one-way development” view of human rights. This view of human rights focuses on the supremacy of capital, profit, money and material things, and advocates material omnipotence; the focus is on possessive personality, everything for the purpose of owning or possessing.. Such a view of human rights makes the goal of "possession" in the world at large and "I have" at home, a materialistic and money-worshiping view of human rights. 

 

The Chinese view of human rights in the new era is one of “harmony and coexistence”. This view of human rights emphasizes the coordination of material and human development, high-quality economic development and comprehensive social progress, human development and the protection of nature, and the physical and mental development of human beings; it focuses on achieving common prosperity for all people and comprehensive human development, on the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations, on the harmonious coexistence of human beings and nature, and on the path of peaceful development. The essence is “harmony and co-existence”. This is the overall strategy of China's view of human rights in the new era. The Communist Party of China emphasizes that “no one will be left behind” in precision poverty alleviation and “no one will be left behind” in achieving common prosperity, and that more than 1.4 billion people will be brought into a modern society as a whole. Even though it is difficult, the Communist Party of China still strives to achieve it step by step. This is the most popular view of human rights in the history of the world.

 

 

This is from the lofty realm.

 

The Western view of human rights is a “singular view of human rights” that focuses relatively on the human rights of the special interests of capitalists. This view of human rights fails to address the relationship between the class rights of human beings as a class, the special rights of human beings as members of society and the specific rights of human beings as individuals, and focuses more on the human rights of some special interest groups, such as capitalist interest groups, rather than the human rights of human beings as a whole, the human rights of different classes and groups, and the human rights of each individual.

 

The Chinese view of human rights in the new era is a plural “systematic view of human rights”. It is understood in terms of class, sociality and individuality, emphasising the emancipation of all mankind and the development and progress of mankind as a whole and peaceful development; it also emphasizes the social and class nature of human rights, the right to development of different classes and strata, and opposes the development of human rights of some groups at the expense of the human rights of others; it also emphasizes the right to life, the right to survival, the right to security and the right to development of every individual. The Communist Party of China emphasizes that the Chinese dream is to benefit all people, that is, that everyone has a common opportunity to excel in life, a common opportunity to make their dreams come true, and a common opportunity to grow with the motherland and the times. Such a view of human rights overcomes the limitations of the singular view of human rights, focuses on the universality of human rights, and gives everyone the opportunity to share the fruits of the development of human rights. Therefore, it has a lofty realm and is the most lofty view of human rights in the history of the world.

 

 

This is based on reality.

 

The Western view of human rights is “abstract view of human rights”.based on abstract human rights standards. It does not start from concrete and objective reality, does not pay much attention to the realistic social and material basis and socio-economic roots of the realization of human rights, does not analyze specific problems, denies the class nature of human rights, and uses their so-called human rights as an ideological tool to cut the reality of other countries and attack human rights in other countries with the abstract human rights standards they set.

 

China's view of human rights in the new era is a “developmental view of human rights” that is based on the material living conditions of society and the gradual advancement of the cause of human rights and the realization of the goals of human rights. This view of human rights not only focuses on the actual social basis for the realization of human rights, and proposes corresponding human rights standards and goals for the realization of human rights in accordance with the actual social process, but also focuses on the development and progress of the cause of human rights, constantly advancing the overall progress of society and the comprehensive development of human beings, constantly creating the material living conditions of society, and laying the material, political, cultural and social foundations for raising the level of human rights development and protection. Thus, this is a “developmental view of human rights” that is based on a realistic social foundation while focusing on continuous development. This is the basis of China's view of human rights in the new era, and it is a basic, realistic and developmental view of human rights. At the beginning of reform and opening up, in accordance with the realistic social conditions at that time, the Communist Party of China placed more emphasis on the right to survival as the most basic right of citizens and “the basis for the enjoyment of all human rights”. The Chinese nation has made a great leap from getting rich to becoming strong. Based on the level of China's economic and social development in the new era, the Communist Party of China has further stated that “the people's happiness is the greatest human right”. This is a superior view of human rights in the history of the world.

 

The above-mentioned concepts of “equal human rights”, “people-based human rights”, “inclusive human rights”, “symbiotic human rights”, “systemic human rights" and “developmental human rights” constitute a new philosophical paradigm for China's view of human rights in the new era, which is realistic, true, scientific, practical, concrete, objective and comprehensive. It should be stressed that this new paradigm is on the way from “what it should be” to “what it is”, and is in the process of being constructed.

 

 (The author is a first-class professor at CPC Party School)