Promoting Development and Innovation of China’s Human Rights Theory

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the found- ing of the Communist Party of China （CPC）. As Party General Secretary Hu Jintao said, for the past 90 years, under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people have accomplished the three missions of New Democratic Revolution, the Socialist Revolution and reform and opening-up. During the process, the Party and the people have opened a new path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, formed the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics, as well as established a system of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The Change and Constancy of “Equality Issue” in Human Rights Theory Research During the 40 Years of Reform and Opening-up

In 1978, academia broke through the theoretical forbidden zone with the slogan of "equality before the law" and initiated a great discussion on some important legal issues including legal equality. During the past 40 years since the reform and opening-up, the relevant research has changed from the ideological contention deeply influenced by class discourse to the abstract theoretical research where class discourse has been fading away, and then turn to the technical and concrete practical research. This "change" is clearly visible and, to a certain extent, reveals the track of the development of human rights theory. However, there is "constancy" in "change". "Constancy" not only lies in the study of legislative equality throughout the past 40 years, but also embodies the inherent logic of theoretical research in response to social development and changes in the times.

Basic Categories of the Chinese Socialist Human Rights Theory

The basic categories of the Chinese socialist human rights theory consist of four elements, namely, human rights history, human rights concepts, human rights attributes and human rights protection. The category of the human rights history includes ancient notions of human rights, classical human rights theory, Marxist human rights theory and the sinicized Marxist human rights theory. The category of human rights concepts includes the subjects, contents, forms, classification, origin and essence of human rights. The category of human rights attributes includes universality and particularity of human rights, harmony and confrontation between human rights, politicalness and a-politicalness of human rights, indivisibility between rights and duties, and conditioning of state power by human rights. The category of human rights protection includes human rights and sovereignty, human rights and democracy, human rights and the rule of law, human rights and property, human rights duty holders, and human rights education.

On Dynamic Social Factors for Development of China’s Human Rights Theory

China＇s mainstream human rights theory has undergone tremendous changes since the reform-and-opening scheme was kicked off in the early 1980s. ＂Human rights,＂ which used to be seen as a concept of capitalist ideology, is now an important part of the Chinese system of socialist values.

Vigorously Boosting the Development of Chinese Human Rights Theory and Practice

We feel a great honor and heavy responsibil- ity upon the Human Rights Research Center at Shandong University being named one of China＇s national human rights education and training bases. In our view, national human rights education and training bases should keep up with the times, bring into full play their ad- vantages of uniqueness and openness, complement each other, make con- certed efforts to achieve innovation and vigorously boost the development of Chinese human rights theory and practice. The university center will continue to bring into play its tradi- tional strength in theoretical research and graduate education and work hard to fulfill all the tasks of the center. It will focus on the following work.

The Practical Basis and Theoretical Innovation of Human Rights in Contemporary China——Theory of Human Rights Structure Moving towards Developmentalism

The practice of human rights in contemporary China puts forward an urgent demand for the innovation in human rights theories.On the basis of summarizing the practice of human rights in contemporary China,the developmental theory of human rights holds that human rights are the value consensus and social norms fostered by the common crisis faced by all human beings under the background of globalization of market economy.The free,comprehensive and harmonious development of all people is the ultimate goal of human rights.Taking the right to human development"as a purposive right can provide more enlightening explanations for the relational structure of human rights.

Strive to Break New Ground In Human Rights Ideas And Theory

Human Rights, the first international journal specializing in human fights in China, has been officially launched. This is something new in the annals of Chinese publishing history and also a mater of importance in the building of human fights theory in China. The launch of the journal is an indicator of China’s steady opening up and social progress and the healthy development of China’s human fights. For a considerably long period of time after the founding of New China, due to the influence of the ultra-

The New Contribution to the Important Discourse on Human Rights by General Secretary xi Jinping

Under the background of the fact that human rights protection has become an important part of the socialist construction with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and with the international background of the strengthened trend of mainstreaming of human rights, Xi Jinping’s series of speeches and the 19 th CPC national Congress reports comprehensively explained the construction of human rights in China and the development of the international human rights. The important discourse on human rights by General Secretary Xi Jinping is people-centered: people’s yearning for a better life is our goal and reveals the source of human rights. Chinese dream is a dream of the country, of the nation, and of everyone in China. The close integration of individual and collective human rights points out that the state and people are important parts of collective human rights and it is an effective response to the "human rights over sovereignty" of Western countries. That there are not the best human rights, but the better ones; fighting for human rights is not always done, but always doing scientifically reveals the operational form of human rights. The right of survival and development is the primary human right; to attach importance to the right of peace conforms to the reality of our country and it has the support of the vast number of developing countries. Building a community with a shared future for human beings is a new vision for the development of the international human rights. only when the perfection and implementation of Constitution and law are paid attention to, and the democratization and legalization of the international human rights cause are promoted, can the guarantee be provided for the realization of human rights. The important discourse on human rights by General Secretary Xi Jinping is guided by Marxism, carries the communist party member’s original intention of serving people and is deeply rooted in the masses of the people. It inherits the theory of "benevolence" and "harmony" in Chinese culture,stands at the height of history and times, and points out the direction for the all-round development of Chinese people and the overall progress of society, and for the liberation of all mankind. This scientific theory is successfully guiding China’s human rights construction constantly towards new achievements and has had a profound and extensive impact on the international human rights cause.

The Gist of the Marxist view on Human Rights

Marx and engels’ great ideology contains rich thought on human rights. Based on the class structure and social development in their lifetimes, the two founders of Marxism profoundly revealed the essence of human rights. They revealed the historical process, class essence and hypocrisy of the bourgeois human rights, and expounded the important principle that human rights are always subject to economic and social development. The Marxist of human rights theory emphasizes that even in a capitalist society, the proletariat should not abandon its efforts to strive for human rights, and that the proletariat should use human rights well to improve their survival and development conditions as well as the advancement of the society as a whole. In the localization process of Marxism in China, the Marxist view on human rights has been further developed and innovated in China, and the socialist human rights theory with Chinese characteristics has been formed, which is used to guide the development of China’s human rights cause.

“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.

Contributions of the 18th CPC National Congress to Innovation and Development of Human Rights Theories

The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC） set ＂respecting and ensuring human rights＂ as an important goal of development and reform in China, thus siniciz ing the latest Marxist human rights theories and reflecting major in novations and developments made by the CPC in the field of human rights theory. I. Human Rights as a Core Idea and Important Goal of Social Development Human rights are integral to the pursuit of the core value of socialism and to the core idea of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The report of the 18th CPC National Congress summarized the new progress and experience of human rights advance ment in recent years in China by setting ＂respecting and ensuring hu man rights＂ as an important goal of China as it completes the building of a moderately prosperous society.