Beginning this morning, at a three-day meeting in Beijing,
dozens of experts from home and abroad will compare notes on human
rights.
The high-profile symposium, sponsored by the China Society for
Human Rights Studies, parallels a well-publicized exhibition
showcasing the People's Republic's 57 years of achievement in human
rights, another event it co-sponsored with the State Council
Information Office and the China Human Rights Development
Foundation.
While critics fixate on the missing dark side they would prefer
to see on display, we feel inspired these events have taken place
at all, and in such a high-profile way.
China is no Utopia for human rights. We have no reason to be at
ease with dozens of millions of fellow Chinese bogged down in a
daily struggle for subsistence.
We cannot but feel ashamed if people continue to have to travel
all the way to Beijing to have their woes and injustices heard and
addressed.
Human rights will continue to be an embarrassing topic for us
while numerous compatriots of ours toil under life-threatening
conditions in mine pits or sweatshops without getting paid in a
fair and timely manner.
Nor will we be qualified to claim excellence as long as
schooling, housing and medical services remain life's unbearable
burdens for the majority.
It is enlightening to know how this country's performance is
measured with the human rights yardstick. But as criteria diverge,
the perception gap can be stunning.
That is why we believe the two human rights events in Beijing
should not only be about such judgements.
The blemishes on the country's human rights records must be kept
in mind if we truly want to improve. But there is much more to take
into account. Among which is the potential for positive change.
We see it from China's unprecedented willingness to share
perspectives with the outside world.
Since it issued the country's first white paper on human rights
in November 1991, the Chinese Government has published dozens of
government reports on human rights.
Its increasing comfort with international dialogue on the once
unwelcome topic itself is the fruit of progress.
There is a gap between what is promised and what is accessible
in real life. But that does not change the truth that this country
is becoming a more liveable place thanks to a constant accumulation
of positive change. Every Chinese has more or less benefited from
the continuously shrinking realm and latitude of public powers and
the steadily growing civic freedom.
The way the two human rights events are staged demonstrates a
constructive new approach to human rights.
We hope such face-to-face communication will help accelerate the
country's strides in the right direction.
(China Daily November 22, 2006)
