The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China published a white paper titled "New Progress in the Legal Protection of Human Rights in China" on Dec. 15.
Following is the full text of the white paper:
New Progress in the Legal Protection of Human Rights in China
The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China
December 2017
First Edition 2017
Contents
I. Improving the Legal Framework to Ensure Human Rights
II. Promoting Law-based Administration to Protect the Citizens' Lawful Rights and Interests
III. Effectively Enhancing Judicial Protection of Human Rights
IV. Consolidating Social Mechanisms for Legal Protection of Human Rights
V. Strengthening the CPC Leadership over Legal Protection of Human Rights
VI. Actively Promoting the Development of Global Human Rights Under the Rule of Law
Preamble
The rule of law is a symbol of human progress, and serves as the guarantee for ensuring human rights. It is the determination and ultimate goal of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government to fully implement law-based governance of the country, strengthen legal protection of human rights in all areas, ensure that the Chinese people fully enjoy their rights and freedoms, achieve social fairness and justice, and promote overall human development and social progress.
Over the years China has upheld the law-based governance of the country as a basic guideline, striving to put the rule of law in a socialist context and making new progress in legal protection of human rights. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party's Central Committee with Xi Jinping as its core has maintained people-oriented development. As an integral part of its effort to modernize the state governance system and capacity, it has created a strategy of fully enforcing the law-based governance of the country, giving more weight to respecting and ensuring human rights in building socialism under the rule of law, and opening a new era of legal protection of human rights in China.
In implementing the law-based governance of the country, China has upheld human rights in every link of the process, from legislation through law enforcement and judicial justice to a law-abiding society. Respecting and ensuring human rights has become an important principle in legislation, and the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, with the Constitution at its core, has been steadily improved. Law-based governance has been further implemented, and the exercise of administrative power has been regulated to a fuller extent. Judicial reform has been extended, with the goal of ensuring fairness and justice in every case handled. Further progress has been made in ensuring the rule of law for society, with a significant improvement in elevating public awareness in law and human rights, and the CPC, upholding law-based governance, has laid a solid foundation for legal protection of human rights.
After five years of strenuous effort in reform and development, China has made remarkable progress in law-based human rights protection. People's basic rights and freedoms are now better protected under Chinese socialism. The undertaking of human rights protection in China has made much headway. Committed to a great and unprecedented cause, China is contributing to the diversity of human civilization and providing Chinese wisdom and solutions to promote social progress.