Letter from Li Peng Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, To China Society for Human Rights Studies

China Society for Human Rights Studies, I would like to extend my warm greetings to the launch of your Human Rights magazine. Enjoying human rights fully is a lofty goal long pursued after by human race. Over the years when they carried out revolution, construction and reforms, the Chinese people have struggled indomitably and strived incessantly to achieve this goal. Progress made in this regard has caught worldwide attention. When struggling for, safeguarding, promoting and developing human rights, the Chinese people have always combined the universality prin-

The Transformation of Environmental Governance from the Point of the Interaction between Government and National People's Congress

Taking cadmium pollution in X River as an example, the interaction between National People＇s Congress and local government was de- scribed. How the local government transforms its role in environment protection with the help of several deputies to National People＇s Congress was expounded from the angle of social construction, which also enlightened the way to build an environment protection road with Chinese characteristics.

Since Reform and Opening the Change Course of People＇s Congress System

Since the reform and opening up, people＇ s congress system has gone through four stages of development, is to restore respectively, the initial development, further strengthen and improve, deepen the development stage. From four stages of development, we can draw the four laws since the reform and opening up people＇ s congress system changes that adhere to the party＇ s leadership, adapt to changes in the economic system, in theory and in practice, innovation in the legal, institutional design and constantly improve the standard. Four stages and the four laws draw people＇ s congress system experiences, the study of people＇ s congress system in future developments of great significance.

Tibet:14 Years of Brilliant, Extraor Achievements——An interview with Raidi, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Tremendous changes have takenplace in Tibet under the state policy of reform andopening up to the outside world, especially over thepast 14 years since the Fourth Plenary Session of the13th Central Committee of the Chinese CommunistParty. Unprecedented are the development of the localeconomy, and so are the changes in the outlook ofcities and countryside in the region, and life of ethnicTibetan has kept improving.Raidi, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee ofthe National People's Congress (NPC), is a mostqualified eyewitness to these changes. He was born intoa serf's family before the Democratic Reform in thelate 1950s, and had worked on various leading posts inTibet before he was elected to NPC, China's highestlegislature. In July 1990, Jiang Zemin, then generalsecretary of the CPC Central Committee, cited Raidi asan example when speaking on the question of humanrights during an inspection tour of Lhasa. Said he,'What do human rights mean? Comrade Raidi, aformer serf, now works as the second most seniormember of the Chinese Communist Party Committee ofTibet Autonomous Region, his experiences bring outthe meaning of human rights. Aren't we justified topublicize that?'Following is a slightly abridged text of an interviewgiven by Raidi to our staff reporter on the eve of theNew Year's day, in which he talked about theachievements Tibet has made over the past 14 yearsand the Party's policy in Tibet.

Legislation has safeguarded the self-determination of Tibetan people——Interviewing Mr.Leque,the Chairman of the People’s Congress of TAR

My last interview of Mr.Leque was when he was the Chairman of the Government of Tibet Autonomous Region(TAR).As time went by,Mr.Leque became the Chairman of the People's Congress of TAR.Following the custom,I paid my respects by presenting a delicate Karta whereupon,he gracefully gifted me another in return.Talking and laughing between us put me at ease and then led naturally into my questions.

A Pioneer of Human Rights Protection——An interview with Professor Wu Qing,Deputy to Haidian District/Beijing Municipal People's Congresses

The first time I have learnt the name Wu Qing was in a host show, "Close-Up" on CCTV-4. She is a professor of Beijing Foreign Studies Univer-sity, and moreover she is the daughter of one of Chinese literary giants, Ms. Bing Xin. I was immediately fascinated not

On the Budgetary Supervision of Local People's Congress in China

Strengthening the budgetary supervision of the local People＇s Congress is essential not merely to the deepening of budgetary reform but also to the improvement of the People＇s Congress system and socialist democracy. Budgetary supervision by the People＇s Congress comprises three elements： information, dialogue and enforcement. A national questionnaire survey based on these three elements shows that with the deepening of budgetary reform, the budgetary supervision of the People＇s Congress has undergone a shift from procedural to substantive oversight. Nevertheless, it still faces a number of challenges at local level. In the forthcoming reforms, budgetary supervision by the People＇s Congress should be strengthened to make local governments more accountable to the people.

On the Establishment of Modern Medical System of Assimilating Advantages of Oriental Medicine and Western Medicine—A Speech by the Vice-Chairperson of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China,President of Chinese Medical Associatio

It is known to all that traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy, as the summary of Chinese people fighting against various kinds of disease for thousands of years, has a summate theoretical system possessing the essence of Chinese classical philosophy, intensively reflects deep thinking and pondering of Chinese culture on the human being himself and dialectical relation between human and culture, making indelible contribution to the offspring reproduction and prosperity.

Congratulations from Prof.Han Qi-de,Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,Chairman of China Association for Science and Technology

It is of my great pleasure to learn that the Third World Integrative Medicine Congress is about to be held in Guangzhou. rm writing to express my highest congratulations to the successful opening of the congress, as well as my cordial welcome to the experts and scholars around the world.

Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Regarding the Severe Punishment of Criminals Who Abduct and Traffic in or Kidnap Women or Children

With a view to severely punishing criminals who abduct and traffic in or kidnap women or children so as to protect the personal safety of women and children and maintain the public security order, the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law are supplemented or amended as follows: 1. Whoever abducts and traffics in a woman or a child shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and not more than ten years, and shall concurrently be punished with a

A State Leader,an Economist and a People's Representative——An exclusive interview with Mr. Cheng Siwei,former Vice-Chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) and President of the Central Committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association(CNDCA)

In the midst of a stock frenzy in China and tight monetary policy carried out by the Chinese government, what knowledge can we glean from a respected state leader, an economist and a people representative?

The Role of Consultative Democracy under the Constitutional Framework and the Associated Rule of Law

The logical sequence of China＇s state governance is ＂governing party--consultative conferences--people＇s congresses--the people.＂ The ＂governing party--consultative conferences＂ link in the chain involves political consultation through people＇s consultative conferences. The ＂governing party--consultative conferences--people＇s congresses＂ link involves a process of obtaining legitimacy for the Party＇s views based on political consultations which are then translated into the national will by the system of people＇s congresses. The ＂people＇s congresses--the people＂ link involves the two-pronged logic of elections and governing the country according to law. The ＂governing party--the people＂ link is an illustration of the party＇s mass line, which essentially involves social consultation. Consultative democracy usually includes the political consultation in the ＂governing party---consultative conferences＂ link and the social consultation in the ＂governing party-- the people＂ link in the chain, both of which are connected through the system of people＇s congresses. This logically determines the inner relations between the Party＇s leadership, consultative democracy and the people＇s congress form of representative democracy and shapes the institutionalization of consultative democracy. That is, in the process of democratic decision-making, a circular system consisting of ＂political consultation-- legislative consultation--social consultation＂ is created to guide development of the actual system.

The Role of Consultative Democracy in a Constitutional System and the Rule of Law in China

The rule of law in China should be advanced under a systems framework. The systems framework on which the Chinese rule of law relies is shaped by the socialist democratic system. Socialist consultative democracy, which responds to the core themes of the determinant of socialism, Party leadership, the democratic tradition of New China and native resources for constructing the rule of law, is an important resource for constructing the rule of law in China. In a constitutional system of＂ruling Party--political power--the people＂ that takes the sovereignty of the people as the logic of its starting point, consultative democracy plays the role of functional coupling. Popular sovereignty gains political legitimacy on the basis of multi- party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, thus translating the will of the ruling Party into the will of the state. Consultative democracy constitutes an essential process in national decision-making, affording a basis for the construction of the inherent logical sequence of ＂ruling Party--Consultative Conference--People＇s Congress.＂ The democratic supervision exercised by the Consultative Conference is an extension of political consultation; from it unfolds the systems framework of the rule of law in China.