Interpretation of the Right to Development

Development is the eternal theme of human society. As a basic human right, the right to development is generally regarded as a consensus formed in the process of anti-colonialism struggle and economic globalization in the middle of the 20th century. It’s stated in the first article of the Declaration on the Right to Development unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 4, 1986, that “the right to development is an inalienable human right”, and "every person and all peoples have the right to participate in, promote and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development in which all human rights and basic freedoms can be fully realized", which has established the important position of the right to development in basic human rights.

China is a developing country with the largest population in the world. The CPC (The Communist Party of China) has always taken development as its top priority in governing and rejuvenating the country, and the rights to survival and development as its top human rights priority to steadily promoting the all-round development of China's human rights cause. President Xi Jinping pointed out that solving the development problem of 1.4 billion people is the key to solving all problems. Based on the remarkable achievements in China’s development since the 18th National Congress of CPC, President Xi Jinping further put forward the new concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development to lead the people of all ethnic groups in China to achieve a comprehensive victory in poverty alleviation, and complete the arduous task of eliminating absolute poverty on Chinese territory at an average rate of lifting 10 million people out of poverty every year. Under the current standards, 98.99 million of rural impoverished people have been lifted out of poverty, which has created another magnificent human miracle in history, made great contributions and accumulated successful experience to the cause of poverty alleviation for all humanity and the protection of basic human rights for human survival and development. On the issue of the right to development, the 20th CPC National Congress put forward the concept of "high-quality development". In view of the current complex and grave international situation, President Xi Jinping clearly proposed the "Global Development Initiative", "Global Security Initiative" and "Global Civilization Initiative" to the international community. These new concepts and practices have greatly enriched the connotation of human rights and the right to development. This article attempts to make a preliminary analysis to continuously deepen the rational understanding of human rights and the right to development.

I. The right to survival is the basis and prerequisite of the right to development

It's stated in the Declaration on the Right to Development that "all human rights are indivisible and interdependent with basic freedoms". The survival and existence of human life are the prerequisite of all human rights and the right to development. Everyone enjoys an inherent right to life. Human beings need to eat and metabolize to meet the basic survival needs of an organism first, which is not only the prerequisite for human beings as a living entity, but also a prerequisite for the existence of a group of people and human society. Marx once said that "the first prerequisite of any history is undoubtedly the existence of living individuals.","We should establish the first prerequisite for the survival of all human, and also the first prerequisite of all history. This prerequisite is that men must be able to live in order to 'create history'. First, they need clothing, food, housing and other things to live. Therefore, the first historical activity is the production of materials to meet the above needs, that is, the production of material life." As the ancient Chinese said that "food is the top priority for the people”, which means that dietary life is an innate human nature possessed by everyone, and is an inalienable right that cannot be deprived.

The concept of "development", in its general sense, refers to economic, social, cultural and political processes.  However, development should first of all focus on maintaining or continuing human life and survival if analyzing from the initial significance of social history. Life, as a metabolic organism, must maintain the energy of a living body and continue its existence through daily absorption of food and exhalation of old and new ideas. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously provide the food needed for life extension through collection, capture, storage, planting and breeding, thus forming the productive labor to obtain the means of subsistence. “The first need that has already been met, the activity to satisfy the need and the tools that have been acquired to meet the need give rise to new need, and the creation of this new need constitute the first historical activity.” The practical activities to improve the scale and efficiency of productive labor are production development and economic development. This is the initial and most basic form of human development and human social development.

From this perspective, the development of productive labor to obtain the means of livelihood is for better continuation of life. The right to development is a natural extension of the right to survival, conscious understanding and rational grasp of the way of life, and essentially the respect, continuation and expansion of life. Safeguarding and realizing the right to development is to maintain the survival of life and enrich its connotation in a conscious way and long-term perspective. Therefore, the right to development is accompanied by the right to survival, and it maintains, safeguards, expands and continues the right to survival. In this sense, the right to development and the right to survival are basically consistent, and should be considered as the basic human rights that everyone enjoys, everyone is born with, coexist with life, and are necessary for survival.

Taking the right to survival as the basis and premise of the right to development indicates that we shall take respecting life, protecting survival and guaranteeing life safety as the primary task of safeguarding the right to development, and always adhere to the principle of putting life first and people at the center. In view of this, we should, first of all, exert great efforts to solve and eliminate various problems that endanger lives, including eliminating hunger, reducing poverty, providing adequate food and clothing, combating violent terrorism and drug-related crimes, preventing and treating major infectious diseases, addressing nuclear security challenges, major disaster relief and humanitarian aid, struggling against war, genocide, chemical and biological weapons and prohibiting torture, to protect every life.

II. The principles of equality and freedom running through the right to development

(1) The right to development is based on the principle of equality. When establishing the right to development as "an inalienable human right", the Declaration on the Right to Development also established the principle of equality in the right to development. Human rights are derived from the inherent dignity of human, and everyone enjoys and is equal in human rights. It’s stated in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It’s stated in Article 2 that “there shall be no distinction of any kind, including race, skin color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Therefore, as an inalienable basic human right, everyone enjoys the right to development, and has the right to improvement themselves, make development and progress, and pursue happiness. This is the principle of equality in the right to development.

The equality of the right to development also implies that no one can interfere with the right to development of others. We both enjoy the right to development, so you cannot disallow others to pursue development and self-improvement because of your own development and advancement. The same applies to ethnic groups or countries. A developed country cannot disallow other countries to become developed countries through their own efforts and struggles just because it has already become a developed country, otherwise, regarding them as the "challenges" and "threats" that must be contained, suppressed and sanctioned to reach an ending in which you lose and I win. This is not only a zero-sum way of thinking of the Cold War, but also an act of hegemonic bullying, an act of inequality in the issue of development, and a failure to grant the right to development as a basic human right to every person, nation and country, in which racial discrimination, the inequality between nations, and the sense of superiority are obvious and self-evident. This kind of behavior that only allows the development and prosperity of one's own country but not that of other countries and tries all means to suppresses other countries' pursuit of development and prosperity, that only allows oneself to live a good life but not that of others, upholds and strains to widen the gap between the rich and the poor, is a violation of human rights, and an act that violates and undermines international human rights laws and regulations, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration on the Right to Development adopted by UN.

（2）The principle of freedom in the right to development is reflected in the right to independent self-determination on development path. A person's right to freedom is first manifested as the subject’s right to make independent choice. The principle of equality in all rights to development makes the subjects of rights to development have the right to freely choose and determine in the process of realizing the right to development, that is, the right to selfdetermination. It’s clearly stated in the Clause 2 under Article 1 of the Declaration on the Right to Development that human’s right to development implies the full realization of the right to national self-determination, including the exercise of inalienable full sovereignty over all natural resources and wealth subject to the relevant provisions of the two international conventions on human rights". It’s clearly stated in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that “all peoples have the right to self-determination, and they freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social, and cultural development on the basis of this right”, which closely combines the right to development with the right to free choice of individuals and the right to self-determination of nation states in choosing their own economic, social and cultural development paths, thus creating conditions for the real realization of the right to development.

The combination of the right to development and the right to self-determination determines the diversity and specificity of the human rights development paths of various national states. Different countries have different starting points, their own unique historical and cultural traditions, economic, social and cultural conditions. Different civilizations hold together the wisdom and contributions of different nations, the development of free pursuit and selfdetermination is bound to form its own unique development path for human rights.

Therefore, we cannot ask all countries and nations in the world to achieve development according to one model, and cannot simply evaluate whether development has been achieved or whether the right to development has been realized solely based on the model of US and the West. China’s successful experience in sustainable and rapid development has fully demonstrated that only by choosing a unique development path applicable to its own national conditions can a country and nation truly achieve prosperity and progress. The development goal of "Chinese-style modernization" put forward by the 20th Congress of CPC also shows that western social model is not the only modernization model, and China will provide a new modern civilization form different from the western society through its own practical exploration, pioneering and innovation for human society.

III. The right to development is in harmony with nature and society

Human self-development should be a positive development of self-perfection and selfimprovement, rather than a reverse process of self-denial and self-destruction. Development is human's practical transformation of objective environment, but this practical transformation should be beneficial to human beings themselves. As stated in the Declaration on the Right to Development that "human beings are the central subject of development" and the basic value measure for development. All activities or behaviors that are detrimental to the survival and development of human beings should be stopped and eliminated in a timely manner. Therefore, as a basic human right, the right to development should be the right to positive and sustainable development. The so-called positive and sustainable right to development should be realized on the condition of not damaging nature, harming others and hindering social development. Otherwise, it will inevitably lead to increasing resistance to development and even block the process of sustainable development, which will ultimately hurt mankind itself. To realize man's right to positive development, we must wisely handle three relations: first, the relation between man and nature; second, the relation between personal development, others’ development and social development; third, the relation between the results of human development and further development.

(1) The right to development should be realized in harmony with nature. President Xi Jinping pointed out that "human development activities must respect, conform to, and protect nature, otherwise they will be retaliated by nature". He also pointed out that "man is born out of nature, and there is a symbiotic relationship between human and nature. The harm to nature will ultimately hurt mankind itself." The history of human society has showed that overexploitation has accelerated the grab of natural resources and broken the balance of the earth's ecosystem when creating huge material wealth despite the continuous improvement of human ability to use nature since entering the era of industrial civilization, and the deep contradictions between man and nature are becoming increasingly apparent, including climate change, biodiversity reduction, drastic desertification, frequent extreme weather events and environmental pollution, which poses serious challenges to human survival and development. Since the beginning of the new century, from SARS to avian influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Ebola virus, and the recent COVID-19 epidemic, the frequency of new infectious diseases in the world has increased significantly, which is also an important aspect of the serious threat to human life caused by breaking the balance of natural ecosystem. Therefore, only by balancing the harmonious relation between human and nature and maintaining the natural ecosystem, the economic and social development can be seen as positive and beneficial to human development.

To this end, President Xi Jinping specifically put forward the concept of "man and nature are a community of life", advocating that we should plan economic and social development from the height of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, take green development as an important part of the new development concept, and ecological civilization construction as an important part of the overall layout of "five in one" of Chinese society so as to effectively promote the construction of a beautiful China with pollution prevention and control, low-carbon cycle, clear mountains and green waters. At the same time, China has led the process of negotiation on global climate change in the international community, actively promoted the signing and implementation of the Paris Agreement, announced China's goal of achieving carbon dioxide emission peak by 2030 and realizing carbon neutrality by 2060, earnestly promoted the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and made positive contributions to the coordinated development of human and nature.

(2) The realization of the right to development should be conditional on not harming the development of others or society. Development should be coordinated and coexist in harmony with society, and should not be established on the basis of harming or disrupting others’ development, group development or social development, nor should it interfere or disrupt others’ development and social society in any way, including by force. This objectively poses two responsibility requirements for the subject of the right to development.

First, continuously improve the development environment of the international community, and promote the building of an international political and economic order that is fair, just, reasonable, inclusive and orderly to achieve common and shared development. 

President Xi Jinping pointed out that “every country should actively promote the common development of other countries when seeking its own development. The long-term development of the world cannot be built on the basis that one group of countries are getting richer and richer while another group of countries remain poor and backward for a long time." "The act of beggar-thy-neighbor, shifting crisis onto others and benefiting oneself at others' expense is neither immoral nor sustainable."

Second, maintain a secure and peaceful international environment. In launching the Global Security Initiative, President Xi Jinping clearly stated in the Global Security Initiative that "security is the prerequisite for development, and humanity is an indivisible security community". It’s stated in the Declaration on the Right to Development that "international peace and security are essential factors for the realization of the right to development." It’s stipulated in clause 7 of the Declaration that “all states shall promote the establishment, maintenance and strengthening of international peace and security, make every effort to achieve general disarmament under effective international control to this end, and guarantee that the resources freed up by effective disarmament measures are used for development, especially for the development of developing countries.”

(3) The issues and obstacles arising from self-development and may affect further development in the future should be wisely addressed to realize the right to development, which is also a solution for sustainable development. For example, many toxic products and wastes that are harmful to life are produced in the development of human society. For this reason, it’s stressed in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that the illegal dumping of toxic and hazardous substances and wastes may pose a serious threat to the enjoyment of the human right to life and health of every person. All countries are urged to adopt and vigorously implement existing conventions on the dumping of toxic and hazardous products and wastes, and make cooperations to preventing illegal dumping. The same is true of the perception of scientific progress and its practical benefits. It’s stated in Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that "everyone has the right to enjoy scientific progress and its practical benefits". However, "in the fields of biomedical and life sciences, and information technology, there may be potential negative consequences on the integrity and human rights of individuals". International cooperations are called on to ensure that human rights and integrity are fully respected in this area of universal concern". In this regard, the development documents adopted by UN General Assembly, the Declaration on the Use of Scientific and Technological Progress for Peace and for the Benefit of Mankind and the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, should also be implemented.

IV. Value orientation of the right to development

（1）Adhere to the principle of putting life first and people at the center. Uphold the value concepts that "the happiness of the people is the greatest human right", "there is no completion but only progress on the issue of human rights,” and “there is no best, only better". Take the people's longing for a better life as our goal of struggle, focus on meeting the people's evergrowing needs for a better life, continuously meet multi-level and diverse needs, and ceaselessly promote social fairness and justice and enhance people's well-being to realize the all-round development of human beings through comprehensive and continuous promotion in the coordinated development of material civilization, political civilization, spiritual civilization, social civilization and ecological civilization.

（2）Firmly believe that development is the fundamental way out to global challenges and problems. President Xin Jinping pointed out that “development is the key to people's happiness”; “we must hold the key to development in face of various challenges and difficulties”; "people's basic rights can only be safeguarded by development"; and "people's yearning for a better life can only be satisfied by development."8 Adhere to the principles that give top priority to development and pursue inclusive development; ensure and improve people's livelihood in development; promote development through cooperation and promote human rights through development; strive to achieve diversified, independent and sustainable development; share the fruits of development and build a development community where joys and sorrows are shared and the future is linked.

（3）Jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind. President Xi Jinping pointed out that "mankind is a whole and the earth is a home. In the face of common challenges, no one or country can stay immune. The only way out for mankind is to pull together and live together. 9 Only by adhering to the concept that "all under heaven are of one family",10 adhering to the common values of mankind, including peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom and working with the international community to address increasingly serious global challenges to jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind, can we safeguard human rights and integrity and provide correct conceptual guidance for building a better world. (End)

(The author is Executive Director of China Society for Human Rights Studies)