A Summary of the Seminar on “Construction of China's Human Rights Discourse System in the New Era”

A seminar on Construction of China’s human Rights discourse System in the new era was held in Central South University(CSU) on April 12, 2018. The event was sponsored by the China Society for human Rights Studies and the Publicity department of the hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, and hosted by the CSU Research Center for human Rights and the CSU School of law. nearly 70 experts and scholars in law, international relations, and communication from institutes of higher learning, research institutions, and practical work departments from around the country shared their opinions on three topics: Cultivation of a Chinese human Rights discourse System in the new era, Communication of the Chinese human Rights discourse in the new era, and Chinese human Rights discourse and International human Rights Governance in the new era. They conducted an in-depth discussion on enhancing human rights self-confidence, grasping the characteristics of the new era and the general development trend, consolidating consensus between domestic and overseas human rights discourses, and effectively carrying out international human rights exchanges. Fully reflecting the in-depth thinking and insights of attending experts and scholars on the matter, the seminar effectively promoted the development of research on Construction of China’s human rights discourse system in the new era.

The Logic of Change of the CPC’s Human Rights Discourse Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China70 years ago,the human rights discourse of the Communist Party of China has been constantly updated.In the early years of the founding of the People’s Republic of China,the CPC spontaneously formed a collective discourse on human rights with the right to subsistence and self-determination as its core;in the 1980 s,in the process of reflection and refutation,the CPC paid more attention to individual rights,and gradually increased the sense of a human rights discourse with Chinese characteristics;since the 1990s,the CPC has combined the specific national conditions and the international environment to form a human rights discourse.The system of human rights discourse has been constructed in terms of the order of priority of human rights protection,path of human rights development,relationship between human rights and sovereignty,and development of the world human rights cause.Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC,the CPC has put forward the idea that"living a happy life is the primary human right"at home and the idea of building a Community with a Shared Future for Human Beings for the world,and the discourse system of human rights with Chinese characteristics has gradually been improved.The independent variable of the change of human rights discourse of the CPC is the specific national conditions at different stages and the recognition of national identity formed on this basis.The other variable is the international environment and external relations that China is facing.

Recent Measures to Construct China's Human Rights Discourse

China must accomplish two tasks on human rights:domestically,it must continue its efforts for healthy development of human rights based past achievements;internationally,it must strengthen exchange and cooperation on human rights issues with the international community,contribute to the building of a reasonable international human

On Confucious Human Rights Discourse

As to the contents of Confucian discourse of human rights there are four topics which are being or not-being,history,relationship and constructivism on Confucian-human right.According to the different criteria of being or not being on Confucian-human right there are three points:not being in ancient times,being in ancient times,not being originally and being later.There are three points too on relationship of Confucian-human right:exclusion,integration and conversion.what is sometimes overlooked on the history of Confucian-human right is eastern studies introduced to the west.The traditional Chinese thoughts had an important effect on western human right idea and normative text.Du Gangjian,a well-known expert on Chaoshan new Confucianism in construction of Confucian-human right,constructs a theory system of Confucian human rights by Confucius’ideas.Taken together,Confucian discourse of human rights is at the cross-section when China mingled with the western countries and the modern replaced the ancient.The commensurability of human rights is just made at this point.

The Three-dimensional Model of “ConstructionTranslation-Communication” for the Construction of a Human Rights Discourse System with Chinese Characteristics in the Post-pandemic Era

Human rights have always been the focus of disputes between China and the West. To make a better China story about human rights and enhance China’s international discourse power in the field of human rights, we propose the text construction, translation and communication path of the construction of the human rights discourse system with Chinese characteristics from the cross-disciplinary perspective. Based on the examples of prevention and control of the CoVID-19 pandemic under the concept of putting people first, mainstream diplomatic linguistic data relevant to the fight against the novel coronavirus was collected through the internet. The human rights discourse with Chinese characteristics is constructed through a variety of texts focusing on putting the people first, the right to life, the right to health, the right to information, the right to privacy, the right to work and a sense of a community with a shared future for human beings. The core concepts of human rights have experienced the deepening process of decontextualization, abstraction and theorization to gradually conform to the expression habits of international audiences. The international communication effect is mainly positive in civil society. It shows that the construction of China’s human rights discourse system and the governance of international human rights discourse have achieved preliminary results. To enhance China’s discourse power on human rights, we need to add an interdisciplinary approach.

The Four Categories of Chinese Discourse on Human Rights and Their Interrelationships

In China,the main discourse on human rights can be classified into four categories:political discourse,policy discourse,institutional discourse,and academic discourse.These four categories show significant differences in terms of the context,content,mode of expression,characteristics,and functions of the discourse.They cannot be simply equated or interchangeable with one another.However,they also rely on,restrict,and promote each other,and under certain conditions,they can be transformed into one another.It is needed to prevent imbalances,mismatches in context,isolation,and inadequate translation among human rights discourses.Meanwhile,it is essential to promote balanced development among different discourses,where each discourse maintains its own boundaries,refers to one another,and undergoes accurate translation,in order to construct their healthy interrelationships.Exploring appropriate methods of translation between discourses is an important and worthwhile topic for research in Chinese human rights discourse.It holds significant practical significance and academic value in constructing the Chinese human rights discourse system.

The Three Aspects of “Human Existence” from the Human Rights Perspective

At present,the West overrides the east in international human rights discourse.In order to break through the shackles,it is imperative to provide legal support for China’s human rights discourse.taking the concept of“human existence”as the fulcrum and comparing it with nature,otherness,and community as the reference,the human being showcases triple facets:“individual person”,“person in relations”,and“person with rights”,which correspond to the three personal perspectives and progressively deduce the subjectivity of human beings,the world history of human rights,and the comprehensive and free development of human rights discourse.the concept of“individual person”is the starting point of human rights,and the harmonious,moral concept of subjectivity provides an orderly basis for the importance of the“right to subsistence and right to development”.“person in relations”represents the externality of human rights,and the world-historical view of time and space has laid the value foundation for the unity of“universality and particularity of human rights”.“person with rights”is the goal of human rights,and the concept of cooperation for the well-rounded and free development of human rights paves the conceptual way for the realization of people’s well-being.

A Brief Review of Discourse Changes in China's Human Rights White Papers

Comparative analysis of China’s human rights white papers provides a valuable perspective on changes in the official human rights discourse. In terms of their structures, the white papers can be divided into three types: the mixed model, the five-in-one model and the rights-list model. The rights-list model has a consistent style, standard terminology, and an arrangement of rights in line with China’s reality. In terms of contents, the right to subsistence has been gradually reduced and the right to development is increasing. In the 2013 white paper, there was a whole chapter on social security rights, which highlights China’s social development and the priority placed on the people’s wellbeing. The right to development and social security will become a new focus of human rights discourse in China.

“The 10th Anniversary of the Blue Book on Human Rights and the Concepts,Discourses and Theories of Human Rights in China” Symposium Summary

The China Society of Human Rights Studies and the Human Rights Research Center at Nankai University jointly hosted a seminar on"The 10th Anniversary of the Blue Book on Human Rights and the Chinese Human Rights Concept,Discourse and Theory"on December 19th,2020.Experts at the meeting expressed their views and discussed the organization,style,and system of the Blue Book on Human Rights;the concept,expression,and dissemination of the Chinese human rights discourse;the paradigm,principle,and structure of the Chinese human rights theory;and the objectives,paths,and development of the Chinese human rights enterprise.

Establish an International Communication Platform for Human Rights and Promote China's Discourse Power on Human Rights——A Review on Ten Years of Beijing Forum on Human Rights

The beijing forum on Human Rights is a global human rights forum founded by the china Society for Human Rights Studies in 2008? it has been successfully held for nine times? in the past 10 years, the forum has kept up with the trend of the times and carefully set up issues; seeking common ground while reserving differences,seeking the greatest consensus on human rights; being open and inclusive, and building a model of international human rights exchange and cooperation? The forum has become a high-level academic platform for human rights exchanges and cooperation on the basis of equality,harmony, tolerance, openness and mutual respect, and has played an important role in promoting the healthy development of the international human rights cause? With the socialism with chinese characteristics entering a new era, the beijing forum on Human Rights needs to position new roles in the new era, seek more clear development momentum and direction, and promote the vitality, cohesiveness and international influence of the forum in a deep and all-round way and contribute to the development of world human rights cause and global human rights governance?

Summary of the Seminar Commemorating the 30^(th) Anniversary of the Release of the White Paper Entitled Human Rights in China

On November 1,1991,the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China issued its first white paper entitled Human Rights in China.In the past 30 years,China’s human rights cause has developed rapidly,and relevant theoretical research has been continuously improved.On October 15,2021,the Seminar Commemorating the 30;Anniversary of the Release of the White Paper Entitled Human Rights in China was held in Beijing.It focused on three topics:the theoretical significance of the white paper,its discourse building and its practice.The meeting held that the Chinese human rights philosophy emphasized in the white paper is in line with China’s national conditions and development path philosophy,and is a typical achievement of adapting Marxism to Chinese conditions.Over the past 30 years since the release of this white paper,China’s human rights cause has completed the basic work of theoretical building and path exploration,and meanwhile,China has established a human rights discourse system and human rights protection system in line with China’s history and development stage,participated in global human rights cooperation,and contributed Chinese wisdom to the advancement of the world’s human rights cause.

Practical Logic and Discourse Interpretation of China’s Efforts to Safeguard the Right to Subsistence

The Communist Party of China has led the Chinese people to write a brilliant chapter of national development over the past century,wherein the nation has sounded a clarion call for safeguarding the right to subsistence and made fruitful achievements in this regard.However,there is still room for improvement in its systematic discourse of the right to subsistence.To accurately understand the Chinese theory on the right to subsistence,we must base it on China’s historical background and social reality.Through mining the white papers on human rights progress in China over the years and analyzing Chinese practices recorded thereby,we can figure out the practical logic for the country’s efforts in the protection of the right to subsistence,and with this as a clue,we can further interpret its discourse on the right to subsistence.Issues related to the right to subsistence can be divided into two levels:“basically solved”and“truly solved”.The former involves the settlement of the most fundamental issues closely related to the right to subsistence in fields like food,education,medical care,housing,and drinking water,and the latter corresponds to“improvement”in the right to subsistence.While consolidating and upgrading the existing basic rights,China works to enable its people to truly gain a foothold in society and achieve their aspiration for a better life through combining assistance and support from the government and society and the efforts of individuals.Understanding the right to subsistence in a dynamic and developmental manner is instrumental in better understanding the alignment between the right to subsistence and other human rights.

Adhering to Correct Political Orientation, Building the Chinese Human Right Discourse System

The Human Rights Research Academy of Wuhan University being named a national human rights education and training base is an affirmation and sign of trust in the university as well as a glorious re- sponsibility. We are going to work hard to build the academy into a world-recognized education and research platform with Chinese characteristics, making its necessary contribution to human rights devel- opment in China.