A major human rights exhibition kicked off in China's capital
Beijing on Friday, showcasing the country's efforts to protect
human rights.
The ten-day exhibition, the largest of its kind ever held in
Beijing, features more than 700 pictures, 250 legal documents, 330
books on human rights and 24 diagrams.
Organizers said the exhibition "truthfully records China's
efforts to promote and safeguard the people's right to life and
right to develop and, more broadly, their political, economic,
social and cultural rights."
The exhibition, inside the Museum of Culture Palace of the
Nationalities in downtown Beijing, has three sections: China's
general human rights progress in the past century, the freedom of
speech and press, the rights protection for the women, children,
and the ethnic minorities.
"We hope the exhibition will give people a more comprehensive
and objective understanding of human rights in China, a clearer
picture of how human rights have developed in the Chinese context,
and more confidence in China's commitment to human rights as it
builds a socialist harmonious society," said Cai Wu, director of
the Information Office of the State Council, at the opening
ceremony of the exhibition.
The exhibition focuses on rags-to-riches stories, backed by
statistics, of Chinese people under the governance of the Chinese
Communist Party, and elaborates on increased protection of people's
political rights and freedom of speech.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the UN International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is also 15
years since China issued its first white paper on human rights.
Organizers hope to use the exhibition to showcase China's human
rights protection and to refute overseas criticism of its human
rights record.
"The exhibition reflects China's recognition of and respect for
the UN bill on human rights and basic international human rights
principles," Cai said.
Li Dechang, a worker in his 50s from eastern Jiangsu Province, said he was on business trip
to Beijing and happened to pass by. "I would never have thought so
many things were on the show. I'm going to jot them down and try to
learn what human rights are exactly," he said.
"I read some of these in books and newspapers in the past, but
did not try to understand them in the perspective of human rights
protection," said Fan Bin, a sophomore student of China University
of Political Science and Law, when browsing through the
exhibits.
Dong Yunhu, vice chairman of the China Society for Human Rights
Studies, said he believed the exhibition would help promote human
rights in China and meanwhile boost exchanges between China and the
outside world.
"It's a window, through which both domestic and foreign
audiences can view China's human rights progress," Dong said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2006)