Plural Rights: A New Pattern of Chinese Human Rights Civilization in Dialogue with the West

Human rights are international because enjoying human rights is the common pursuit of human society. Human rights are also local because they cannot be achieved in separation from the realities of the country itself. The UN Charter of Human Rights provides a list of generally accepted rights, while making it open for all countries and districts to understand and realize human rights. China has continued to promote the cause of human rights, found a path of human rights development that suits the reality and the era, enriched and developed the pattern of human rights civilization, and conducted in-depth dialogue with the world on human rights. The western concept of human rights is based on natural law and natural rights, and develops into the product of individualism and maintaining tension with power, which, however, has been questioned in theory and faced with problems in practice. Proceeding from its own cultural traditions and specific national conditions, China has formed a people-centered view of human rights. The people-focused human rights, multiple content of human rights, and the progressive realization of human rights in China, have formed a distinct new form of human rights civilization characterized by "plural rights". "Plural rights" fits a great community, sets an example for developing countries and is increasingly becoming an important cornerstone of global human rights governance.

I. Origin of Human Rights

Human rights are said to derive from the West and is based on theories such as natural law,rationalism and contract theory, from which a complicated system is derived and occupies animportant place in the history of philosophy, politics, ethics and laws. In the long evolution of human rights, the uncertainty of its name, concept and theory is one of its most distinctive characteristics.

(I) From Right by Nature to Natural Rights: the Origin and Transition of Human Rights

In the western classical period, the term "human rights" was first called "natural rights", embodied as "right by nature", which looks, based on today's standard of rights, more like a "big package" with mixed rights and obligations and stressing more in the latter. It contains the requirements of goodness, reason, divine righteousness and desire, and has been transformed into an ideological weapon with individualism, universalism and radicalism over modern times. In the second half of the 18th century, it got rid of the "natural" state and transformed into the principle of political reality through the bourgeois revolution.

(II) The World after the World War II: Mainstream-Focused Human Rights

After the Second World War, human rights gradually became the moral basis and action creed for the reconstruction of new international order. The Charter of the United Nations was issued in 1945. In this basic law for this most important universal international organization, it is clearly stated that, one of the purposes of the United Nations is to "promote universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion". To fulfill this purpose, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948. Nearly two decades later, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were adopted to make the protection of fundamental rights legally binding. In order to further promote the Charter of Human Rights, the United Nations has continuously developed international covenants on human rights and established relevant international human rights monitoring and implementation mechanisms, including nine core international human rights conventions adopted for the protection of women, children, persons with disabilities, migrant workers, cruelty and enforced disappearances, which constitute the main framework of international human rights law, and provide a legal basis for the establishment of United Nations human rights mechanisms worldwide. As human rights become mainstream-focused, the human rights language is use in a wider range, and most political and social demands and counter-demands are expressed in it. Human rights have spread across the globe, embedded in social institutions and orders, and become the universal moral code and ideology of the age.

II. Introspection and Questioning

(I) Certainty after Uncertainty: Necessary Summary

Although there are many uncertainties in the evolution of human rights, the concept of human rights is still universal and common. First, the essence of human rights is to protect human's conditions. That is, human rights exist to protect people's qualifications as human and to preserve the dignity of human. Second, human rights is actually a modern concept. In the modern world, human rights equal human in meaning. Modern person is where rights are granted, and rights are how human exists. Third, rights and laws are isomorphic. Rights need to be legalized, and only legalized rights are real and practicable rights. Rights have profound moral foundation and ideological origin, but they is endowed by national positive law from the perspective of actual access. Human rights should be to the extent as embodied in positive law. In the international community, human rights are promoted through the norms and mechanisms of international law. In countries, the constitution should contain the universal spirit and principles of human rights, while ordinary law should be the normative vehicle for specific human rights. Fourth, the advent of the era of human rights has provided the justification and space for governments to act, and has also become the driving force for the establishment of international relations.

(II) Introspection on Natural Rights: Questioning Value

However, these general conclusions do not mean that the understanding of human rights has been completed, and alone are not enough to dispel doubts about the concept of human rights, especially the theory of natural rights and the view of individualistic human rights. Human rights must be a public concept that allows for dialogue, debate and reinterpretation. As early as the 1920s, Luo Longji wrote "We Do not Claim Natural Rights", arguing that the doctrine was "indeed a thing of the past". Jurists have also reflected and denied that human rights "constitute a sole and fundamental moral concern". The theory of natural rights seems to leave behind the necessary and sufficient condition for rights - obligation. In fact, in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the terms "inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family", "fundamental human rights, dignity and value of the human person" and "rights and freedoms" are prudently used , avoiding the uncertain and highly controversial term "natural rights".

III. China's Concept of Human Rights

Human rights are not a native concept in Chinese culture, but China also has its own understanding of human rights. China's political, cultural and historical experience has greatly influenced its understanding of human rights, that is, the search for human rights starts from "concrete human" rather than "abstract human", not from "individuals" but from "groups" as the subject.

(I) Characteristics of China's Concept of Human Rights

In view of the practices of human rights development in China, the characteristics of Chinese concept of human rights are summarized as follows: First, uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The leadership of the CPC is the essential feature of the socialist system. Under the leadership of the CPC, contemporary China has developed a people-centered concept of human rights. Second, China respects the principal position of the people. The people-focused nature is the most prominent feature of China's human rights development path, and the people are the main participants, promoters and beneficiaries of human rights. Third, put human rights into practice based on China's actual conditions. China has independently opened a path of human rights development that conforms to China's actual conditions and development trend, and created a new pattern of human rights civilization. Fourth, give priority to the rights to subsistence and development as the primary basic human rights. As the largest developing country, China has incorporated human rights protection into the process of national development and made systematic plans to give top priority to the rights to subsistence and development. Fifth, to ultimately realize all-round human development. The Chinese concept of human rights organically links the protection of people's rights with the realization of the "Chinese Dream", and realizes the common progress of both the people and the country, which reflects the distinctive features of the Chinese concept of human rights. Sixth, take an active part in global human rights governance. China takes an active part in UN human rights affairs, fulfills its international human rights obligations, carries out international human rights cooperation and dialogue, and takes concrete actions to make global human rights governance more just, equitable and inclusive.

(II) "Rights of the People"

The Chinese Concept of human rights combines the Marxist concept of human rights with China's actual conditions and fine traditional Chinese culture. Marx's criticism of human rights and Chinese traditional people-oriented thought of civil rights have provided profound ideological resources for the formation and establishment of contemporary Chinese concept of human rights.

In Chinese political and ideological history, importance has been traditionally attached to "groups", and groups are especially "people-oriented". In Shang Shu, known as "the ancestor of political books and the source of historical books", it is stated that, "the people are the foundation of state, and a solid foundation is the guarantee of a stable state". Mencius, a Confucianist, was the greatest concentrator of the people's thought, who believed that the core of governance was to protect, care for, teach, support, and share well-being with the people, and that those who worry about the people's worries, the people also worry about their worries". At the turn of Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huang Zongxi again upheld people-focused political philosophy, believing that the common responsibility of both emperor and ministers was to "care for people's happiness and concerns in governance".

Attention must be paid to civil rights in governance. The dignity of the people is what freedom depends on. The concept of civil rights has been successfully integrated with the concept of "imported" human rights in the transition from traditional society to modern society in the early 20th century, and constitutes a part of the concept of human rights in contemporary China. In his translation of Mill's On Freedom, Yan Fu translated the title of the book On Liberty into On Definition of Public and Personal Rights, projecting the concept of group-oneself balancing into individual freedom. Rousseau's Social Contract was first introduced to China, also under the title of On Covenant Agreed by People. To some extent, the "theory of civil rights" and the "westernized Chinese style" thought provided a logical starting point for the emergence of modern Chinese concept of human rights.

Furthermore, Zhang Pengchun, a Chinese delegate, brought the traditional concept of benevolence into the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, injecting Oriental wisdom into the world human rights cause. The term "everyone" is used in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 30 times. In 1993, the Second World Conference on Human Rights adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, recognizing that all human rights must be for everyone. The White Paper on human rights issued by the Chinese government for the first time states China's basic position and policies on human rights issues. In international law, the metaphysical and abstract "everyone" is transformed into the concrete "people" in China.

IV. China's Path to Human Rights Development

The Chinese concept of human rights draws on the essence of Marxism and traditional Chinese culture, comes from China, and guides human rights practices, which is a combination of knowledge and practices in China's human rights cause.

The development of human rights in China is the development of people's rights to act as the masters of the country. The founding of the People's Republic of China eradicated imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, achieved national independence and reunification, and opened a new page in the construction and development of global human rights. For the first time, the Chinese people, as the masters of the country, have really enjoyed human dignity, proving an important basic issue in the theory of human rights, that is, the relationship between human rights and sovereignty.

The development of human rights in China is that of human rights that the people actually enjoy. Only on this basis can the people enjoy basic livelihood security, and the right to subsistence can be truly accessed. Since the founding of the new China, great importance has been attached to the people's rights to subsistence and development, which is in alignment with China's national conditions and reality. In addition, in China, human rights have never been the prerogatives of a part of or a minority of persons, but universal and enjoyed by the majority of the people.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the cause of human rights has entered a "remarkable decade" under the guidance of the "people-centered" development concept. China has achieved the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and historically solved the problem of absolute poverty, laying a solid material foundation for further development of human rights and achieving the poverty reduction target set by the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule, setting an example for other developing countries. China has promoted to realize more adequate and high-quality employment, built the world's largest education, social security and medical and healthcare systems, and greatly improved the quality of the people's living environment. China has fully implemented the Party's ethnic and religious policies, upheld equality among all ethnic groups, respected people's religious beliefs, and protected their legitimate rights and interests. China has deepened the reform of the judicial system and the legal protection of human rights, and promoted the legal protection of human rights to effectively protect the safety of people's lives and property. China has continued to formulate and implement the fourth National Human Rights Action Plan. These are the embodiment of the CPC's fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people and its people-centered development philosophy in human rights.

The development of human rights in China is that of human rights in the whole-process people's democracy. The whole-process people's democracy is the concentrated embodiment of the people's exercise of political rights in China, and it surpassed the classical Western model of democratic rights and opened a new path of democracy with Chinese characteristics. The whole-process people's democracy has always followed a people-centered development philosophy, and has derived from the masses and serve the masses, doing everything for the people and closely relying on them. Since its birth, the Communist Party of China has been engaged in a great revolutionary struggle to make the people masters of the country and to establish a people's democratic system. Since the birth of New China, people's democracy has had a wider space for practice and a more stable political guarantee. The Constitution of China stipulates that all power of the state belongs to the people, who, in accordance with the laws, manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings and social affairs in various ways and manners. In accordance with the Constitution, China's state institutions practice the principle of democratic centralism, the fundamental political system of the people's congress system, the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, the system of regional ethnic autonomy and the system of grassroots self-governance. The implementation of the Constitution has put in place a comprehensive, extensive and coherent system of institutions for the people to act as masters of the country, established orderly, diverse and unimpeded channels for democracy, and fully stimulated all the people to manage state and social affairs in an orderly manner in accordance with the laws.

Electoral democracy and consultative democracy are two important patterns of democracy, which are integrated with each other and incorporated into the great practice of socialism in China. The System of People's Congress is an important carrier of electoral democracy in China. The Political Consultation System is a typical arrangement of deliberative democracy with Chinese characteristics. Since reform and opening-up, China has conducted twelve direct elections of representatives to People's Congresses at the township level and eleven at the county level, with the voter participation rate up to around 90%. In 2021, more than two million representatives to People's Congresses were elected at the county and township levels, successfully completing the world's largest community-level election. During the first conference of the 14th session of NPC and the first conference of the 14th session of CPPCC National Committee, nearly 3,000 NPC representatives exercised their functions and powers in accordance with the laws, and nearly 2,000 CPPCC National Committee members maintained orderly contacts and exchanges to conduct in-depth consultation, deliberation and democratic oversight. In addition, during the two sessions, the public can put forward their opinions and suggestions through channels such as "I have a word with the premier" and "I have a word with the CPPCC".

Grassroots decision-making also ensures the participation of the people through various channels and in diverse forms. Under the system of self-governance at the grassroots level, village committees and neighborhood committees continue to make innovations and develop various forms, such as "neighborhood meeting" and "offline roundtables", to pool their wisdom and optimize their decisions on issues closely related to people's livelihood, such as comprehensive social governance, grassroots cultural services, ecological environmental protection, and the formulation of self-governance regulations, thus making "micro[1]governance" more dynamic and efficient. Democratic management has been integrated into all levels and areas of the country's political and social life, and the people's rights to be informed, to participate, to express themselves, and to supervise are effectively guaranteed.

Comprehensive and effective democratic supervision ensures that people's democratic rights do not "enter a dormant period after voting", but ensure the continuity and integrity of the democratic process, and ensure that the exercise of power is always effectively restricted. Accountability in China's political system is among the harshest in the world. The Constitution, the Legislation Law, the Budget Law, the Supervision Law and other laws have formed a complete chain of supervision over the government, CPC Committee and law enforcement agency as well as the implementation of laws. In addition, the Constitution gives citizens the right to criticize, suggest, appeal, accuse or report against state organs and functionaries. A network with scientific allocation, coordinated power and responsibility, and in efficient operation has formed in all-round democratic oversight, so as to ensure that the power entrusted by the people is always used to benefit the people.

It can be seen that the largest democracy in the world cannot depend on the exercise of individual rights, but can only be implemented by all the people acting through the "plural rights" as masters of the country in a concrete and practical way in the national and social life. China's human rights cause combines the universal principles of human rights with the actual conditions of China, on a people-centered basis and based on its national conditions and people's demands so as to ensure that the people enjoy extensive, actual, concrete and effective human rights in accordance with the laws, which has provided all developing countries with possibility of exploring a new path for the development of human rights civilization in the world.

(The author is associate professor at Law School of Minzu University of China)