I. Remarkable Progress in Human Rights in Xizang

Advances in human rights in Xizang are part of the development of contemporary China and a natural result of the progression of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Since the peaceful liberation of Xizang in 1951, the CPC has united the people of all ethnic groups in the region and led them in an unremitting fight to institutionalize, respect, protect and expand human rights. Their rights to subsistence and development and all other basic rights have been guaranteed and are being progressively improved.

- Peaceful liberation laid the foundations for human rights in Xizang.

Before its peaceful liberation in 1951, Xizang was one of the worst regions in the world for human rights violations. Serfs and slaves were afforded no human rights: no protection of life, no personal freedom, no property, and no freedom of thought. Theocratic feudal serfdom, imperialist invasion, and schemes and activities designed to enslave people and foment "Tibet independence" made the people's right to subsistence insecure and their right to development impossible.

Feudal serfdom under theocracy trampled on human dignity and stifled social vitality. Serfs and slaves, who made up more than 95 percent of the total population, possessed nothing. They were forced to be dependent on serf owners, and would be required to unconditionally obey their orders and satisfy their demands. Serf owners could trade, transfer, bestow and exchange serfs and slaves as they pleased, and would impose excruciating acts on them, including gouging out eyes, cutting out tongues, and cutting off hands or feet. Serfs and slaves were controlled by serf owners in all aspects of their lives, from marriage to movement. They were burdened with heavy taxes and usurious loans, and forced into unpaid labor, and in spite of their year-round toil they would not be provided with sufficient food or clothing. 

After the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century, the United Kingdom invaded Xizang on two occasions, posing a significant threat to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. This violated and damaged the rights of the local people, including their right to subsistence and their social and economic rights. Later, imperialist forces interfered in China's internal affairs by concocting the idea of "Tibet independence" and propped up local separatist forces who defied the central government. The history of the region demonstrates clearly that "Tibet independence" is a product of imperialist aggression against China.

On May 23, 1951, in Beijing, the plenipotentiaries of the Central People's Government and the local government of Xizang signed the Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Xizang on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Xizang, also referred to as the 17-Article Agreement. This agreement marked the peaceful liberation of the region, freeing Xizang from imperialist aggression and political and economic control. It effectively safeguarded the national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of China, and created the necessary conditions for Xizang to progress and develop along with the rest of the country, laying firm foundations for the region's human rights cause in the process.

- Democratic reform enabled the people of all ethnic groups in Xizang to become masters of their own destinies.

After the peaceful liberation, the central government provided Xizang with a huge input of fiscal, material and human resources that helped to propel the region's economic, social and cultural development. However, local upper-class reactionary forces opposed any reform in the region, in an attempt to preserve serfdom and sustain their vested interests and privileges. These forces plotted a series of activities to split Xizang from China, in blatant violation of the 17-Article Agreement, and their actions ultimately led to a full-scale insurrection on March 10, 1959. To safeguard China's national unity and the fundamental interests of the people of Xizang, the Central People's Government, together with the local people, took decisive measures to quell the insurrection and implemented democratic reform in the region, effectively eradicating feudal serfdom.

Reform in Xizang resulted in the annulment of theocracy and the separation of religion and government - a fundamental change in Xizang's social system. The right of feudal serf owners to own the means of production was abolished, and private ownership by farmers and herdsmen was established. Personal bondage of serfs and slaves to officials, nobles and upper-ranking monks was abolished, and they were instead awarded personal freedom and equal legal status. A general election was held across Xizang, in which agencies of state power and governments at various levels in the region were elected. For the first time, former serfs and slaves were no longer regarded as "talking tools", but instead as the masters of their own destiny and of the new Xizang.

In September 1965, the Xizang Autonomous Region was founded, signifying a historic shift from theocratic feudal serfdom to socialism characterized by people's democracy. The region began to exercise comprehensive regional ethnic autonomy, and a large number of liberated serfs and slaves earned leading posts in agencies of state power at various levels of the region. This democratic reform was an epoch-making event shaping Xizang's social development and human rights cause and a significant advance in human civilization and global human rights.

- Reform and opening up has provided a powerful driving force for human rights development in Xizang.

Reform and opening up has helped not only unleash and develop productive forces across Xizang, but also provide a powerful driving force for human rights in the region. As a result, Xizang has achieved synchronous development with the rest of the country, while at the same time making rapid progress in all aspects of its human rights.

The CPC Central Committee held five national meetings on Xizang in the period between the launch of reform and opening up in 1978 and the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012. These meetings played a crucial role in defining the guiding principles, major tasks and development plans for Xizang during that period, ultimately leading to the formation of the strategic goals that allowed the region to develop rapidly in stages - picking up speed, advancing in leaps and bounds, and following a sustainable path, and to achieve lasting peace after securing basic stability.

During these meetings, a series of special favorable policies and measures for speeding up the development of Xizang were formulated. This led to the birth of a mechanism for all-round aid for Xizang in which the central government would directly invest in construction projects in the region and provide financial subsidies, while other parts of the country would provide paired-up aid. This mechanism provided a powerful impetus for economic development and social progress in Xizang that improved the lives of local people and ensured the realization of their rights to regional ethnic autonomy.

- The new era has opened a new chapter of all-round human rights development in Xizang.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee, with Xi Jinping at its core, has attached great importance to the wellbeing of the people of all ethnic groups in Xizang. They have formulated major policies for Xizang's development and stability in line with the overall goals of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, achieving the Two Centenary Goals, and realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has set the direction and made overall plans for the work in Xizang. At the sixth and seventh national meetings on Xizang, the CPC Central Committee defined the guiding principles, objectives and tasks under the new circumstances, and outlined the CPC guidelines for governing Xizang in the new era. It was decided at these meetings that the central government would support a large number of key construction projects in Xizang, and a series of special preferential policies were enacted to benefit all ethnic groups in the region. These decisions opened a new chapter of all-round human rights development in Xizang.

Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, officials and people of all ethnic groups in Xizang have worked hard as one and achieved all-round progress and historic success in advancing human rights across the region. In the new era, significant progress has been made in stabilizing the social environment and achieving rapid economic growth, which has led to a better life for the local people, amity among all ethnic groups and religions, cultural prosperity, sound systems for safeguarding the eco-environmental security, and comprehensive progress in law-based governance. Together with the rest of the country, the people of Xizang have witnessed the tremendous transformation of the Chinese nation, from standing up and becoming better off to growing in strength, and now embarking on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in all respects.

In promoting human rights in Xizang, the CPC and the Chinese government have integrated the Marxist perspective on human rights with China's actual conditions and the best of traditional culture. In reviewing successful experience in leading all ethnic groups of Xizang in respecting and protecting human rights, the CPC and the Chinese government have accumulated the following basic experience:

Upholding the leadership of the CPC. The fundamental purpose of the CPC is to serve the people wholeheartedly. The Party has always represented the fundamental interests of all Chinese people; it stands with them in the best and the hardest of times and shares a common destiny with them. Respecting and protecting human rights is an ongoing quest of China's Communists, and the strong leadership of the CPC is the fundamental source of the all-round progress and historic achievements in human rights in Xizang. Only by upholding this leadership can the people of Xizang become and remain the masters of their own affairs, can their fundamental interests be safeguarded and advanced, and can there be long-term stability and high-quality development in the region. 

Respecting and ensuring the principal status of the people. "For the people" is the distinguishing feature of the Chinese path of human rights protection. Human rights are not exclusive privileges reserved for a single group of people, but rather universal rights for all. By taking a people-centered approach to human rights, the CPC and the Chinese government have boosted local people's enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, and have enabled them to become the dominant participants in, contributors to, and beneficiaries of human rights progress in the region. 

Basing our work on Xizang's realities. Based on the real conditions in the region, the CPC and the Chinese government have adopted a development model with Chinese characteristics that respects Xizang's regional features. This approach allows them to fulfill four main tasks in the region - ensuring stability, facilitating development, protecting the eco-environment, and strengthening the borders - while focusing on improving people's lives and strengthening unity in social and economic development. The Party and the Chinese government uphold that the region's development serves to benefit ethnic unity and progress, safeguard national unity and oppose separatism, improve people's lives, and build social consensus. This will give all the people in Xizang a greater sense of gain, fulfillment and security.

Focusing on basic human rights, primarily the rights to subsistence and development. Subsistence is the foundation of all human rights, and living a life of contentment is the ultimate human right. The CPC and the Chinese government adhere to a people-centered development philosophy by which they prioritize protecting the rights of the people of Xizang to subsistence and realizing their rights to development. Committed to the principle that development is for the people and by the people and the people share the benefits, they focus on addressing the most pressing and immediate issues that concern the local people the most, and on resolving the problem of imbalanced and insufficient development, so as to achieve higher-quality development that is more efficient, equitable, sustainable and secure.

Protecting human rights through maintaining security. Xizang plays an important role in protecting national and eco-environmental security, and is a key region in the country's efforts to safeguard national unity and combat separatist forces. Focusing on safeguarding national unity and strengthening solidarity among all ethnic groups, the CPC and the Chinese government consider that countering separatist activities and preserving national security are essential to the people's wellbeing. This approach has ensured sustained and steady social development for Xizang and stable and secure border areas. A safe and stable environment creates favorable conditions and serves as a solid foundation for the development of human rights in the region.

Protecting human rights in accordance with the law. The rule of law is the most effective guarantee for human rights. By upholding law-based governance, the autonomous region ensures that the authority of the Constitution and the law is maintained. By these means, it has upheld and improved the system of regional ethnic autonomy, and ensured that the people of all ethnic groups in the region exercise the right as masters of the region and enjoy the rights to participate in the administration of state affairs equally and to administer their own regional and ethnic affairs. Predicated on the principle that everyone is equal before the law, the Xizang government has strengthened human rights protection throughout the process of legislation, law enforcement, judicature, and the observance of the law, as part of its effort to provide legal protection for human rights and defend social fairness and justice in the region.