China’s Participation In And Contributions To The International Human Rights System (1979-2005)

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights(hereafter "the Commission")and its successor--the United Nations Human Rights Council(hereafter "the Council")are not only the central institutions of the international human rights system,but also the most significant platforms for states to participate in the decision-making and management of global human rights affairs.In 1979,the People’s Republic of China(hereafter "China")for the first time took part in the annual session of the Commission and thenceforth its participation in global human rights affairs has been steadily and continuously growing.By adopting a perspective of pluralism and sorting out a large number of first-hand literature,this dissertation employs historical and empirical methodologies to thoroughly and systematically investigate the specific activities that China conducted at the Commission,so as to comprehensively present the historical process of China’s participation in the international human rights system from 1979 to 2005.Based on this,this dissertation will further elaborate on China’s contribution to the development of international human rights cause.To that end,this dissertation develops the analysis and argumentation in four chapters.The first chapter illustrates the evolution and multi-dimensional meanings of the concept of human rights,as well as the pluralistic characteristics of the global human rights cultures.The concept of human rights came into being during the Enlightenment era and therefore has an inherent connection with Western civilization.Today,it has developed multiple meanings,among which the moral attributes and political connotations play significant roles in international human rights protection.In the context of globalization,human rights assume a new mission of the times.It has redefined the "good life" for the human species,and indicates a new social structure in order to meet the common demands of all members of the human community.From the perspective of pluralism,the moral attributes of human rights indicates that human rights are not the sole asset of the Western civilization,instead,other regions and countries also possess human rights thoughts and institutions rooted in their own traditions,thus bringing into being pluralistic human rights cultures across the globe.Various human rights cultures are compatible with each other as they contain fundamental elements in common.They keep evolving dynamically and influence each other in the process of contact.Furthermore,there is no absolute superiority or inferiority between different human rights cultures and they all contain some elements which are universal in nature as well as the latent vitality to contribute to the progress of human civilization.As for China,its traditional philosophy and social institutions contained unique human rights elements.Though the concept of human rights was introduced from the West,China’s particular historical background and social and cultural environment gave birth to a concept and practical model of human rights of which the elements are in many ways different from those of the West.The second chapter focuses on the international human rights system.The United Nations Charter recognized the internationalization of human rights protection and authorized the set-up of the Commission for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights globally.Centering on the Commission,the United Nations gradually established a framework of international human rights mechanisms consisting of international human rights instruments,institutions and procedures and methods for the protection and promotion of human rights.Activities in this process virtually provided the opportunities for local human rights cultures to universalize and internationalize the values and norms of their own societies.The Western world,in particular,the United States of America,by virtue of its advantages of human rights discourse and leading role in designing the international order after world War II,played a dominating role in the course of creating and constructing the international human rights system.As a consequence,the West was able to embed Western human rights theories and institutions into the international human rights system,shaping an international human rights order centered on the West.Three main factors,the strong political elements contained in human rights issues,the dominant position and discourse of the West in the international human rights regime,as well as the policy of exporting ideology and social system implemented by the two camps respectively led by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War period,resulted in the fact that the western foreign human rights policies and actions,especially the United States of America,included certain elements of cultural export and the pursuit of political interests.In some cases,the West adopted the approach of exerting political pressure on other countries in the name of human rights or interfering in other countries’ internal affairs to achieve their political goals.The third chapter restores the activities and historical process of China’s participation in the international human rights system during the Commission period.It is identified that China had gone through three stages,from gradually being integrated into the international human rights system(1979-1989)to developing a preliminary human right discourse while responding to external criticism(1990-1996),and further to expanding the channels and space for participation so as to enhance its influence in the international human rights regime(1997-2005).In this process,it is notable that the human rights theory and practical approaches to human rights protection of China were characterized with core elements which were distinct from that of the West.Nonetheless,China almost all the time had faced criticism and accusations from the West.From a different perspective,the western human rights criticism and accusations,to a certain extent,were a manifestation of exporting western values and norms and the pursuit of political interests under the flag of human rights.Many other developing countries had also been the targets of the Western criticism and accusations as they were for China.As a result,the reasonable elements in western human rights culture and the unfavorable elements in other cultures were both over-emphasized.While resulting in the Western "human rights supremacy",it also put non-Western countries in a state of repression on human rights issues,thereby suppressing the growth and development of non-Western human rights cultures.The last chapter analyzes the contributions that China made to the progress of global human rights cause.By actively participating in numerous activities,China contributed to the international human rights system in various dimensions,ranging from the formulation and development of international human rights norms,as well as the practice of global human rights promotion and protection.China also promoted the improvement of international human rights mechanisms,and actively participated in negotiations on the reform of the Commission and the establishment of the Council.In the context of the Western dominance of the international human rights system,China contributed to enhancing the cultural character and universality of the international human rights system,by virtue of its distinctive theory and practical model of human rights and by providing distinct perspectives and viewpoints on a broad range of global human rights issues.What is more,China has always emphasized and been committed to safeguarding and promoting the interests of developing countries,and played an important role in enhancing the status and voice of developing countries,which essentially contributed to the adjustment and re-balancing of the power structure of the international human rights regime.In conclusion,this dissertation puts forward three arguments.Firstly,in the globalized world space,human rights have taken on a mission of the times,that is,how to coordinate among diverse societies and cultures and bring them under the framework of the common "good life" of mankind.It requires the current power structure of the international human rights regime to be changed as the Western dominance of the regime has deviated from the mission carried by today’s concept of human rights.Secondly,China has provided a feasible framework for rationalizing the international human rights regime.The concept of "Building a Community of Shared Future for Mankind" put forward by China,and the Chinese human rights philosophy which is rich in the spirit of inclusiveness and harmonious heterogenesis,has re-defined the relations of different human rights cultures,that is,the thoughts,institutions,and practical models of human rights in different cultures all contain the wisdom and elements that can contribute to the development of international human rights cause,and they equally bear the responsibility of realizing the mission of the era of human rights.Therefore,for pursuing the common goal,an relationship of compatibility and cooperation shall be established among the local human rights cultures on the basis of respecting each other’s particularities.Thirdly,China’s achievements in human rights cause may encourage countries in a similar situation to explore and develop their own human rights approaches,which may further bring into being a more balanced,inclusive and just international human rights regime characterized with "pluralism based on unity".However,pluralism has its boundary and must be based on the premise of "unity".On the one hand,the existing international human rights norms must be respected and observed,indicating the respect and recognition of the particularity of human rights contained in the concept of "pluralism" should on no account serve to justify any forms of human rights violations.On the other hand,dialogues based on equality shall be conducted between human rights subjects from different cultures for the purpose of exploring commonality and building consensus,so that they can jointly contribute to the realization of the common good life of mankind.