Yang Chengming

China

As the charter of mankind's rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists all rights and basic freedoms to be enjoyed by mankind, and encompasses the human rights objectives to be realized via the joint efforts of mankind. Thirty years after its publication, the right to development has become a new generation of human rights. Proposition of the right to development coincides with China's efforts in meditating and exploring an appropriate development path. Its determination happens at about the same time while China implements the policy of reform and open-up, and sets out on its characteristic socialist road. Its world-wide promotion and protection coincides with China's fast economic growth and all-around social progress. On the occasion when Universal Declaration of Human Rights celebrates its 60th anniversary and when China celebrates its 30th anniversary for reform and open-up, it is all the more necessary to summarize the progress made by China in promoting and protecting the right to development, and to analyze the challenges and countermeasure for further efforts, for China to improve protection on the right to development both domestically and internationally.

Section 1     Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the germination and protection of the right to development

Right to development stems from Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose preamble announces the determination to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. In the declaration, article 2 forbids discrimination; article 21 regulates that every has the equal right to participate in public affairs; article 25 regulates that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and other necessary social services.”; article 28 rules “Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. ” To ensure that all rights set down in the declaration, the United Nations enacted International Covenant On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on December 16th, 1966. The two covenants both emphasized in their preambles that the ideal of free human beings enjoying civil and political freedom and freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his civil and political rights, as well as his economic, social and cultural rights. In the meanwhile, both regulates in article 2 of part I that all peoples have the right of self-determination, and that by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

Approval of the two international covenants on human rights shows that the international community has begun to pay attention to human rights in the real sense of the word after the Second World War, and has acknowledged that civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights are interrelated and interdependent, and that both are essential human rights. Meanwhile, the right of self-determination is an important precondition for realizing the above rights. However, the outburst of Cold War quickly damaged agreements reached between Western Countries on human rights. Since 1970s, the international community has been trying to bridge biases on human rights, to which the proposition and determination of right to development is an illustration.

In 1997, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights put forward the issue of right to development during its 23rd session. The conference passed No.4 Resolution, which requests U.N. Secretary General, United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization and other relevant organizations “On the basis of international cooperation, to take the right to development as human rights, combine it with other human rights (including the right to peace) and study its international aspects. During the study, the new international economic order and mankind's basic needs should be taken into consideration. ”

On November 23rd, 1979, the 34th UN General Assembly passed No.34/46 Resolutions on the right to development, reiterating that it is a basic human right. In March 1981, UN Human Rights Commission passed No.36 Resolution on its 37th session, and decided to establish a governmental specialist panel on development right, whose specific responsibilities include deliberating the scope and content of the right to development, and the most effective means to ensure its implementation. In the same year, it began to prepare the draft of Declaration on the Right to Development.

On December 4th, 1986, UN General Assembly No.41/128 Resolution approved Declaration on the Right to Development, enunciating that the right to development is an inalienable human right. Declaration on the Right to Development is a very important document to be approved by the United Nations 38 years after the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

In 1993, the World Human Rights Conference approved Vienna Declaration and Program of Action, further reiterating that “the right to development determined in Declaration on the Right to Development is a universal and inalienable human right, and part of essential human rights.” Therefore, promoting and protecting the right to development is an important means to further integrate civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights and push forward their realization, as well as the internal need and reincarnation of implementing Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the international community.