CHINA> Human Rights Progress
White paper on political democracy
(china.org.cn)
Updated: 2005-10-19 11:01

- The legitimate rights and interests of the special groups of people, such as women, the aged and minors, and the underprivileged groups, such as the disabled, are guaranteed. China has enacted the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women, the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Aged, the Law on the Protection of Minors and the Law on the Protection of the Disabled to provide special stipulations for the protection of special social groups, such as women, the aged and minors, and the underprivileged groups, such as the disabled. Women's right to participate in the management of state affairs is protected in China. Among the deputies to the Fourth NPC in 1975 to the Tenth NPC in 2003, women made up more than 20 percent of the total. At present, the scope of employment, pay for work and educational level for women are basically the same as for men. As China is becoming an aging society, aged people receive special care from the government and society. In 2004, basic pensions issued to retirees from enterprises throughout the country totaled 303.1 billion yuan, including 52.2 billion yuan in subsidies from the central treasury. There are 376 million people below the age of 18 in China, more than a quarter of the total population. The Chinese government formulated the "Outline Plan for the Development of Chinese Children in the 1990s" in 1992 and the "Outline for the Development of Chinese Children, 2001-2010" in 2001, to promote the development of children in the aspects of health, education, legal protection and environment. There are 60 million disabled people in China, almost the population of an average medium-sized country. In 2004, the employment rate of the disabled reached 80 percent, and over 3.3 million disabled people overcame their disabilities to varying degrees.

- The rights of the ethnic minorities are guaranteed. In China, people of all ethnic minorities, like citizens of the Han ethnic group, enjoy all equal civil rights specified in the Constitution and laws, and participate in the management of state and local affairs on an equal basis. Meanwhile, their rights are offered special protection by the law and related policies. In accordance with the Constitution and the Election Law, every ethnic minority group is represented by appropriate numbers of deputies, in the highest organ of the state power, the NPC, and there should be at least one deputy for an ethnic group with a very small population. Starting from the First NPC, the proportion of deputies of ethnic minorities in the total number of deputies has remained around 14 percent, much higher than their population proportion of about 8 percent in the nation's total population. All ethnic minorities living in compact communities or in a scattered manner are represented in the local people's congress at all levels, and a deputy of an ethnic minority group can speak for a smaller number of people than the required number represented by a deputy to the local people's congress. People of all ethnic minority groups are eligible to hold any position in any state organs and government departments. Each ethnic group has the freedom to use and develop its own spoken and written languages. The state respects and protects the folk ways, customs and freedom of religious belief of ethnic minority groups.

The Chinese government pays serious attention to the positive role played by international conventions on human rights in promoting human rights. To date, China has joined 21 international conventions on human rights, and has adopted a series of measures to fulfill its obligations as specified in those conventions. In October 1997, the Chinese government signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which was approved by the Standing Committee of the NPC in February 2001. The Chinese government submitted its first report on the implementation of the Covenant to the United Nations in 2003 as scheduled, and accepted the consideration and examination of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations in April 2005. The Chinese government also signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in October 1998. At present, the Chinese government departments concerned are pressing on with their research and preparations, and when conditions are ripe, the State Council will submit a request to the Standing Committee of the NPC for examination and approval.

VIII. The Democratic Rule by the Communist Party of China

In its practice of ruling the country over the past five decades and more, the CPC has developed a series of important theories on, and established an institutional system of, democratic rule, and is actively exploring new ways and new methods of democratic rule. The sense of democracy among the CPC members has been continuously enhanced, and notable progress has been made to improve the democratic work style of Party officials at all levels.

Democratic rule means that the CPC sticks to the principle of ruling the country for the people and relying on the people in its rule, guarantees that the people are the masters of the state, upholds and improves the people's democratic dictatorship and the democratic centralism of the Party and the state, and promotes people's democracy by enhancing inner-Party democracy. In September 2004, the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on the Enhancement of the Party's Governance Capability was adopted at the Fourth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee. The document made democratic rule, scientific rule and rule in accordance with the law the three basic pillars of the Party in ruling the country, thus marking a new stage in strengthening the building of the Party's capability of democratic rule and enhancing the level of its democratic rule.