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)