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The Chinese Approach to Human Rights
German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 64 (2021), Iss. 1 : pp. 147–178
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Professor Sarah Biddulph is the Director of the Asian Law Centre at Melbourne Law School, and Assistant Deputy Vice Chancellor International China at the University of Melbourne.
Abstract
This essay explores meanings and implications of China’s approach to human rights through an examination of China’s discourse and action at the international and domestic levels. First it considers China’s engagement with multilateral human rights norms, processes to shape human rights norms and practice in line with its own priorities and China’s increasingly assertive resistance of criticism of its domestic human rights performance. Second it examines the domestic context within which human rights are given effect. The essay examines the ways in which domestic institutional and ideological frameworks and key concepts such as constitutional governance, development, stability and security shape the domestic governance of human rights. It argues that these concepts have been institutionalised in a way that sits in tension with and even displaces a human rights approach to governance.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Biddulph\nThe Chinese Approach to Human Rights | 147 | ||
| I. Introduction | 147 | ||
| II. International Engagement on Human Rights | 150 | ||
| A. History of Engagement – Defensive and Positive Strategies to Avoid Censure | 150 | ||
| B. Norm Entrepreneurship – ‘Building a Community of Shared Future for Human Beings’ | 152 | ||
| C. Engagement With Human Rights Council Processes and Compliance | 155 | ||
| D. Contests Over Information and Characterisation in Xinjiang | 158 | ||
| III. Domestic Implementation of Human Rights | 162 | ||
| A. Human Rights in China’s System of Constitutional Governance | 162 | ||
| 1. Giving Legislative Form to Rights in the Constitution | 163 | ||
| 2. Legality and Equality of Treatment Before the Law | 164 | ||
| 3. The People’s Democratic Dictatorship, the People and the Enemy | 166 | ||
| B. Development and Stability | 171 | ||
| 1. Development and Human Rights Approaches | 171 | ||
| 2. Development, Stability and Labour Rights | 172 | ||
| IV. Conclusion | 177 |