Full text: New Progress in the Legal Protection of Human Rights in China (10)

Scrutiny and checks on the exercise of power have been strengthened. Since the 18th National Congress, the CPC has continued to develop its institutions, strengthening scrutiny and checks on the exercise of power, granting powers of scrutiny to the public, and providing an institutional framework to manage power, personnel and activities. At the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee, the CPC adopted the "Regulations for Political Activities Within the Party in the New Era." It states that mechanisms for controlling the exercise of power must be improved, so as to establish institutions which ensure that power comes with responsibility, that the use of power comes with accountability, and that those who abuse power are held to account. It stipulates that powers must be delineated, that the process and results of the exercise of power must be made public, that accountability mechanisms for inappropriate use of power must be reinforced, and that scrutiny over officials must be strengthened. To ensure that the power granted by the people will always be exercised in their interests, it requires that Party organizations and officials at every level must act within the scope of the Constitution and other laws, that they must act within the line of authority, rules and procedures prescribed by law, and must not treat their own word as law, place their own authority above the law, break the law in pursuit of personal interests, or bend the law for favoritism. "The Regulations of the Communist Party of China on Internal Scrutiny" expressly stipulate that internal scrutiny is primarily targeted at the leading organs and officials of the Party, particularly top leaders. The document also states that a sound system of internal scrutiny under the unified leadership of the Central Committee should be established, comprising overall supervision by Party committees or Party leadership groups, specialized supervision by commissions for discipline inspection, functional supervision by Party organs, routine supervision by primary-level Party organizations, and democratic scrutiny by Party members. As stated in the report to the 19th CPC National Congress, we will improve the supervision systems applying to the Party and the state, further reform the national supervision system, and conduct nationwide trials. We will establish supervisory commissions at national, provincial, prefectural, and county levels, ensuring that supervision covers all public servants who exercise public power. We will formulate the National Supervision Law, which will define duties and powers of these supervisory commissions, and their means of investigation. The practice of shuanggui [ A form of intra-Party disciplinary action of the CPC that requires a Party member under investigation to cooperate with questioning at a designated place and a designated time.] will be replaced by detention.

We have fought resolutely against corruption in order to guarantee people's interests. The CPC has shown zero tolerance in the fight against corruption. It has revised codes about clean conduct, and regulations on disciplinary punishment, accountability, intra-Party scrutiny, and inspection tours, creating a framework for systematically preventing and combating corruption. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has investigated more than 440 Party-member officials at or above the provincial level and other officials registered at and supervised by the CPC Central Committee. Commissions for discipline inspection and departments of supervision around the country have dealt with 1,537,000 people, including 8,900 at bureau level and 63,000 at county level, and 58,000 cases of suspected criminal activity have been transferred to the judiciary. This strong enforcement has acted as a powerful deterrent. In 2016, 57,000 Party-member officials took the initiative to confess their violations of Party discipline. From the beginning of 2014 to August 2017, more than 6,100 Party committees or Party leadership groups, general branches and branches, more than 300 discipline inspection commissions or teams, and more than 60,000 Party-member officials were held accountable throughout the country. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has organized 12 rounds of inspection tours, including inspection of Party organizations in 277 local governments, departments and entities, "return inspections" of 16 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, and "flexible inspections" of four entities. For the first time in its history, the CPC achieved full coverage of central inspection tours during a single term of office of central leadership. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection set up 47 dispatched resident teams, covering all the 139 central-level departments of the Party and the government. According to a 2016 survey of the National Bureau of Statistics, the CPC effort to improve Party conduct, uphold integrity, and combat corruption saw the index of public satisfaction with this initiative rise from 81 percent in 2013 to 92.9 percent in 2016.

VI. Actively Promoting the Development of Global Human Rights Under the Rule of Law

China has always safeguarded world peace and contributed to global development, and upholds the international order. The Chinese government advocates building a community of shared future for humanity. China actively participates in building a legal system of international human rights, earnestly fulfills international human rights obligations, conducts in-depth international exchanges and cooperation in judicial field, and champions the healthy development of global human rights.

Building a community of shared future for humanity. In March 2013 Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the idea of "a community of shared future" for the first time in a speech at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In September 2015, at the summits commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, he expanded this vision. In January 2017, he attended a high-level meeting on "discussing and building a community of shared future for humanity" at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, and delivered a keynote speech, entitled "Work Together to Build a Community of Shared Future for Humanity". In his speech, Xi elaborated on the concept of a community of shared future for humanity in a profound, comprehensive and systematic way and called on the peoples of all countries to work together to push forward the great process. Xi advocates an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity through dialogue and consultation, joint efforts, win-win cooperation, and exchanges and mutual learning, and by pursuing green and low-carbon development. President Xi Jinping's speech indicates the fundamental means of addressing current global challenges, and has important implications in improving international human rights governance. The concept of "building a community of shared future for humanity" has been written into relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the Security Council and the Human Rights Council, signifying that it has become an important part of international human rights discourse. It broadens the perspective of international human rights protection and plays an important role in advancing global human rights governance in an equitable and rational way. (more)