Human Rights bimonthly, China's first professional magazine on
human rights issues, was launched in Beijing Sunday.
Correct path suits for Chinese conditions
Li
Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress (NPC), wrote to China Society for Human Rights Studies
(CSHRS), the publisher of the magazine, extending his
congratulations for the launch of the magazine.
In
the letter, Li Peng expounded China's basic standpoints on human
rights, saying that development of human rights is an important
aspect of social advancement of all countries, and is also a
never-ending historical process.
While universal, human rights have their peculiarities, Li said.
Espousal of the universality principle of human rights must be
combined with the national conditions of particular countries.
He
pointed out that China, on the basis of its national conditions,
has always prioritized the safeguarding and promoting of people's
rights to subsistence and development and, at the same time, kept
strengthening citizens' economic, social and cultural rights as
well as their political rights.
After long-term explorations and consistent efforts, China has
found a correct path for the promotion and development of human
rights that is suited for Chinese conditions. Human rights
conditions in China have kept improving and are now at their best,
Li said.
Li
expressed his hope that the Human Rights magazine would act as a
medium that reflects Chinese people's practice of safeguarding and
promoting human rights, a garden where human rights-related
theories are studied and explored, and a window through which
people in China could have dialogues and exchanges with foreign
academic circles. (Full text of Li's message)
Both academic and practical
Published by the CSHRS, the Human Rights magazine aims to open an
access for the international community to understand China's human
rights conditions by narrating stories, discussing theories and
initiating dialogues about human rights issues. It is also expected
that the magazine would provide an academic atmosphere for the
efforts of exploring ancient and modern, as well as foreign and
domestic human rights theories and practices, and set up a platform
for dialogues to promote the advancement of China's human rights
and the healthy development of human rights worldwide.
The bimonthly magazine has both Chinese and English versions. With
various columns like "news and features", "forum on human rights",
"investigation and research", the magazine is of readability in
terms of its academic level and abundant knowledge in the human
rights field.
Zhao Qizheng, director-general of the State Council Information
Office (SCIO), said in an interview with the magazine that in the
international human rights arena, the voice for dialogue and
against confrontation is mounting. China's exchange and dialogue
with the West on human rights tend to increase and progress has
been made in China's cooperation with the United Nations in
education in human rights, Zhao said.
The launch of the Human Rights magazine complies with the
development of human rights across the world, and is of immense
importance to human rights studies and education in China, Zhao
added.
He
said that human rights constitute an issue of both theoretical and
practical importance and he hoped that the Human Rights magazine
would devote itself not only to the theoretical or academic aspect
of the human rights issue, but also to practical problems in
China's human rights conditions.
Zhao also expected the magazine to play a major role in human
rights studies and education in China and contribute proposals to
the government on ways of improving China's human rights
conditions.
(
February 10, 2002)