China Daily:
At the recently concluded Tokyo Paralympic Games, Chinese disabled athletes achieved excellent results, and people across the whole country are very proud of them. Can you please tell us about the new measures in the action plan regarding the protection of the rights and interests of people with disabilities? Thank you.
Li Xiaojun:
Let me answer this question. In 2019, the State Council Information Office published a white paper on the protection of the rights and interests of the disabled in China. This paper was called "Equality, Participation and Sharing: 70 Years of Protecting the Rights and Interests of Persons with Disabilities in the PRC." We compiled and wrote this white paper with deep feelings and respect for all the 85 million disabled people in China. We have participated in the writings of some white papers, but writing with such respect and having invested so much in emotions for the disabled, it was still a very prominent example.
People with disabilities are a valuable asset to our country, and General Secretary Xi Jinping has given special care and love to them. In 2014, he sent a congratulatory letter to the 30th anniversary of the founding of the China Foundation for Disabled Persons, proposing that the disabled are a group with special difficulties and need to be particularly cared for and paid attention to. In 2016, during his inspection tour in Tangshan city, Hebei province, he proposed the goal that not a single disabled person should be left behind while building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020. In 2017, he proposed that China should further develop the cause of the disabled and promote the comprehensive development and common prosperity of the disabled. As China has built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, many of these important instructions and requirements have been implemented.
In recent years, China's work for people with disabilities has made great progress, and the value of causes that can have equal participation and sharing by people with disabilities has continued to increase. Chinese disabled athletes have achieved impressive results in the Tokyo's Summer Paralympics, and their tenacious fighting spirit and the spirit of winning glory for the country have inspired all of us. This also vividly shows that China has made important achievements in the protection of the human rights of people with disabilities. This new edition of the action plan puts forward specific goals and tasks in terms of equal participation of disabled persons, welfare guarantees, rehabilitation services, education, employment, barrier-free construction, and the production of assistive devices. For example, the number of newly employed disabled persons in cities and towns shall reach 500,000, rehabilitation universities shall be built, and 100 welfare facilities specifically for mental health shall be built. Thank you.
