Analyzing Concepts of Human Rights with an Asian Accent

Let＇s suppose we were in the early Twentieth Century, trying to answer the ques- tion： What will be the mostimportant things that will happen in this century？ You may think about the ＂rise of the United States,＂ or the long-lived British Empire. The development of new energy might have come to mind as well. However, you may neither have imagined the invention of nuclear weapons, nor the development of space technol- ogy. Few may have anticipated the establishment of communist regimes and the rise of democracy later.

Human Rights and Development:China's Contributions Based on a Larger Concept of Human Rights

The Western liberal view of global governance can no longer effectively address the challenges facing the world today or respond to the demands of developing countries in the fields of human rights and development.Meanwhile,the United Nations human rights and development agenda also has its limitations.Against such a backdrop,China's path of human rights development has avoided the trap of human rights confrontation and the clash of civilizations.It has set an example of complementarity and positive interaction between human rights and development by unifying collective human rights with individual human rights and integrating the universality and particularity of human rights.Xi Jinping,general secretary of the Communist Party of China(CPC)Central Committee,delivered a speech at the 37th group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on China's Path of Human Rights Development.This elevated China's human rights development to a new historical height.Practice has proved that China's concept and path of human rights in the new era have not only effectively promoted the development of its human rights cause,but also contributed Chinese wisdom to the global cause of human rights and development with a larger concept of human rights.Under the framework of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind,the Belt and Road Initiative,and the Global Development Initiative,China has contributed to enhancing the discourse power of developing countries in human rights and building a fairer,more just,more reasonable and more inclusive system for global human rights governance.

An Evaluation of the Core Controversies in Contemporary Western Human Rights Theory——A Study Based on the Examination of the Criterion of Fidelity to Practice

The development of theories on human rights with Chinese characteristics and China’s engagement in global human rights governance cannot be separated from attention to contemporary Western human rights theory.The debate between naturalistic and political conceptions of human rights has a long history,but discussions on the basic criteria for evaluating human rights theories have been insufficient.This article,focusing on the criterion of fidelity to practice,attempts to identify the development trajectory and direction of human rights theory.The universal claims of naturalistic human rights perspectives and the human rights catalog they propose have been criticized for deviating from practice.On the other hand,political conceptions of human rights,while emphasizing domestic human rights practices,have been criticized for their occasional nature and perceived loss of criticality.The broad-way practice theory seeks a third way that goes beyond the divide between these two perspectives.On the one hand,the theory itself faces limitations and the need for reshaping,while on the other hand,the traditional singular practice theory is also undergoing self-renewal.It can be said that the“internal critique”of contemporary Western human rights theory is already underway and will continue.

Build Asian Consensus on Human Rights,Promote-Overview of Academic Viewpoints at the Asian Forum on Human Rights 2022

The Asian Forum on Human Rights was held at the Renmin University of China(RUC)from November 26 to 27,2022.With the theme“Environment,Climate Change and Human Rights,”the event consisted of 12 sub-forums.The forum was hosted by RUC and jointly organized by the RUC Law School,RUC School of Global Governance,Human Rights Center of RUC,RUC Asia-Pacific Institute of Law,and RUC Center for Coordination and Innovation of Food Safety Governance.The forum focused on discussing topics related to climate change and the environment and responded to common concerns of the international community.It built an international exchange platform to facilitate Asian scholars to build consensus on human rights.Covering a wide range of topics,the event promoted academic exchange in various fields.Experts and scholars from both home and abroad built an extensive consensus on topics such as climate change,environmental conservation,and human rights protection through open exchanges and in-depth discussions,contributing their ideas and wisdom to improving the common well-being of Asian people.

The International Communication of Chinese Concept of Human Rights in the New Era

The Chinese concept of human rights serves as the core value of China’s path of human rights development,guiding the comprehensive advancement of China’s human rights cause and providing Chinese wisdom for the development of human rights cause worldwide.Throughout the development process of China’s human rights cause in the new era,the international communication of the Chinese concept of human rights has achieved positive results and played an essential role in the international human rights discourse struggle,external exchanges on human rights,and the transformation of international human rights mechanisms.However,it also faces challenges such as the dominance of Western human rights concepts,the marginalization of the Chinese concept of human rights,the incomplete establishment of China’s external discourse system on human rights,and constraints on international communication channels.Therefore,in the new era,it is crucial to address the weaknesses in the international communication of the Chinese concept of human rights,optimize communication channels,and enhance its international influence.

Human Rights in Civil Judicial Documents:Conception and Function

Traditional human rights theory tends to hold that human rights should be aimed at defending public authority and that the legal issue of human rights is a matter of public law.However,the development of human rights concepts and practices is not just confined to this.A textual search shows that the term“human rights”exists widely in China’s civil judicial documents.Among the 3,412 civil judicial documents we researched,the concept of“human rights”penetrates all kinds of disputes in lawsuits,ranging from property rights,contracts,labor,and torts to marital property,which is embedded in both the claims of the parties concerned and the reasoning of judges.Human rights have become the discourse and yardstick for understanding and evaluating social behavior.The widespread use of the term“human rights”in civil judicial documents reflects at least three concepts related to human rights:first,the rights to subsistence and development are the primary basic human rights;second,the judicial protection of human rights is a bottom-line guarantee;third,the protection of human rights aims to achieve equal rights.Today,judges quote the theory of human rights in judicial judgments from time to time,evidencing that human rights have a practical function in judicial adjudication activities,and in practice this is mainly manifested in declaring righteous values and strengthening arguments with the values and ideas related to human rights,using the provisions concerning human rights in the Constitution to interpret the constitutionality,and using the principles of human rights to interpret blurred rules and rank the importance of different rights.

On the Human Rights Implications of the Whole-process People’s Democracy

The whole-process people’s democracy is a prerequisite for the people’s democracy.It is the organic unity of process and outcome democracy,procedural and substantive democracy,direct and indirect democracy,as well as the people’s democracy and the will of the state.The whole-process people’s democracy is the latest theoretical expression of the concept of socialist human rights with Chinese characteristics,a new achievement in the practice of socialist human rights with Chinese characteristics,a new development of the system of the socialist human rights with Chinese characteristics,and a new contribution to the development path of human rights in the world.

A Pluralistic Approach to Human Rights in a Community of Shared Future for Mankind

'A community of shared destiny for all mankind' has its own inherent logic, structure and development path, and a pluralistic concept of human rights is a key factor to achieve its four core goals: equality, cooperation, security and inclusiveness. A pluralistic concept of human rights and the ideal of a community of shared future for all mankind overlap on certain values and interests, as well as power and cultural attributes. It means that a pluralistic approach to human rights is indispensable to the establishment of a community of shared future for all mankind. Meanwhile, this new view of human rights embodies mutual respect and support for the inherent inevitability among different countries, shared responsibility, and pursuit of common development.

The Development of the Concept of Human Rights in the United Nations

Introductory Remarks Nobody denies that the West was the cradle of the concept of human rights. Since the American and French revolutions of the end of the eigh- teenth century, the human rights were centered on the individual. Human rights were considered to be individual rights. However, within the expression ＂human rights,＂ the word ＂human,＂ meaning individual human beings, was during a rather long time understood in a rather narrow sense.

Individual Human Rights and Obligations Towards Communities

Tensions and oppositions between the individual and community have accompanied the discourse on human rights from the beginning. I want to first recall how in the UDHR （1948） and in the major human rights treaties, the rights and obligations of individuals are regulated towards communities. I then want to investigate whether the talk of ＂collective human rights＂, understood as ＂third- generation＂ rights, are of equal value to be set with individual human rights. Against communitarian arguments for the primacy of community-related duties one can stress an expansion of a liberal concept of human rights by the inclusion of justice demands and social human rights. To show that special community needs can be protected and promoted through individual human rights and national col- lective rights, I used the example of the protection of minorities. Finally, I will explain why human rights are not a comprehensive theory of the good and illustrate with this the limits, and also the original strength of human rights. We should not overestimate human rights, but also we should be aware that a sober understanding of human rights is philosophically reasonable, legally possible and politically of great importance.