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Especially as China celebrates the 30th anniversary of its reform and opening, this is welcome news to the Chinese people. However, the Communist Party and government have more than once stirred the people’s passions, only to disappoint them later. Thus, the Chinese people and the world had better remain cautious and clear-minded over this announcement.
Putting aside its lack of concrete content, there are several questionable points regarding this action plan touted by the authorities.
Firstly, the main bodies responsible for formulating the action plan are the external propaganda department and the diplomatic service rather than the legal sector, which is supposed to be responsible for human rights issues.
According to the state-owned Xinhua News Agency, the State Council Information Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will take the lead, inviting input from other governmental organs like the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the National Development and Reform Commission, along with other relevant groups and non-governmental organizations.
Does it make sense that the country’s “National Human Rights Action Plan” will be mainly handled by the Information Office and Foreign Ministry, institutions directly under the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee? Does it imply that the human rights of the Chinese people are to be put on display for foreigners, rather than entrusted to the legal authorities to implement?
Meanwhile, among more than 50 organizations reportedly participating in drafting this critical document, the National People’s Congress, which is the highest organ of state power, the court and the procuratorate have only minor supporting roles, while it’s unsure whether the Public Safety Department and the National Security Department will even be involved.
Secondly, without any public consultations, both the procedure of formulating this action plan and its content will lack legitimacy.
In recent years, the NPC and the State Council made an effort to consult public opinion ahead of drawing up the country’s Property Law and Food Hygiene Law, which has embodied the progress of rule of law in the country.
Why, when it comes to this critical document that touches on every citizen’s human rights, is there to be no consultation? Does it imply that the more significant a document is, the more secret it should be? Also, why didn’t the news release clarify the names of the groups and non-governmental organizations to be included in the project?
Protection of human rights includes things a government should and should not do. The items on this “can do” and “cannot do” list should be determined by the citizenship rather than by officials in private. Therefore, this action plan for human rights drawn up by the government certainly would not be recognized by the citizens.
Thirdly, action plans carry no legal weight or power of enforcement in China, and therefore can restrain neither the citizens nor the authorities.
Documents termed “action plans” in China have been nothing but decorative, and cannot be viewed as laws, regulations or rules based on China’s legislative tradition. This is easily proved by the numerous existing action plans on education, environment and health made by the Chinese government.
In fact, hundreds and thousands of institutions in China have the authority to issue this kind of document, which lacks force. At best, it can only affect the members of a given organization and its subordinates. Other institutions or individuals are certainly unrestricted by a specific action plan. Public Safety and National Security officials often ignore this kind of document. Therefore an action plan will not be as effective as it sounds in protecting people’s human rights.
Fourthly, the real purpose in making this action plan is just to put on a show on the international political stage.
If the Chinese government were truly willing to protect its people’s human rights, it should have issued a fundamental law on the matter. And if they were pressed for time, at least the authorities should have announced their intention to make such a law.
Then why did the authorities release this information now? It is because next year China will face high political pressure.
In February, 2009, the U.N. Human Rights Council will conduct its regular periodic review of China’s human rights situation. Next year also marks the 20th anniversary of the June Fourth Student Movement, which ended in the massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The poor handling of human rights issues within the country may bring more attention from the world community. China doesn’t have many bargaining chips left over its issues of democracy and human rights.
But haven’t the Communist Party and the government long insisted that the issue of human rights is China’s “internal affair,” and should not be subject to outside interference?
Perhaps the target of the Party’s and the government’s propaganda has shifted from an internal to an external audience, owing to the people’s psychological fatigue caused by long years of exposure to propaganda.
Nevertheless, in a real sense, human rights are not just nice words for foreigners; they are for citizens to experience and enjoy in person. And the protection of human rights cannot come about through an ordinary document issued by the diplomatic service; it requires the real practice of democracy backed up by the rule of law.
Otherwise, this action plan may turn out to be no more effective than the late Qing Dynasty’s failed attempt in 1908 to establish a constitutional monarchy.
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(William Schue is a freelance Chinese critic with a background in law and journalism. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia.com; the original can be found at williamschue007cn.spaces.live.com. ©Copyright William Schue.)
