Chinese President Jiang Zemin stressed the importance of respecting and protecting human rights in his report to the just-concluded 16th CPC National Congress, demonstrating the importance attached by the Chinese leadership to the welfare of the Chinese people.

At meeting of the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS), Vice-President Yang Zhengquan said that human rights, as part of the superstructure, is decided by the corresponding economic base.

Efforts made by the CPC to meet the Chinese people's basic requirements for food and clothing, to build a well-off society, and to realize the common wealth of all Chinese people originate from the Party's fundamental goal of uplifting the living standards and quality of life of Chinese people, Yang told the CSHRS executive council meeting.

Human rights experts participating in meeting said that as China has begun building a well-off society in a comprehensive way, the country's human rights cause will embrace some changes.

CSHRS Vice-President Fan Guoxiang said not only the rights of the working class, which includes intellectuals, and farmers, but also those from the social strata that contribute to the country's development should be duly protected.

"All the legal incomes of people who play a role in building socialism with Chinese characteristics should be safeguarded according to law," said Fan.

Fan also said human rights should be viewed in the overall framework of society's development and could not be judged independent of specific social conditions.

Zhang Hongyi, a professor from Beijing Normal University, said China's concept that the rights to subsist, develop, vote and stand for election should be linked with national sovereignty when defining people's human rights was a more objective and scientific definition of human rights than that advocated by some Western countries.

CSHRS Vice-President Dong Yunhu said the fact that the CPC has given top priority to China's development would help better protect the rights of the Chinese people.

"Human beings are the most important productive forces. The protection and development of human rights will help to promote the development of productive forces," said Dong.

Other experts said development was not only a direction but also a measure of society's progress. Meanwhile, development was not only one of the basic human rights but also a precondition of human rights protection.

Liu Hainian, a law professor from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believed the rights of Chinese citizens being protected by laws and regulations would become a more important feature of Chinese society in the next two decades.

The participants also discussed the urgent need to launch a complete set of human rights theories catering to China's situation as soon as possible.

(People's Daily November 22, 2002)