China releases white paper on human rights

Beijing, Sept 26 (ANI): China has released a white paper on human rights on Sunday, highlighting the role of Internet freedom and the country's efforts in safeguarding citizens' legitimate civil and political rights.

According to Xinhua, the white paper published by the State Council Information Office under the title "Progress in China's Human Rights in 2009," has claimed that "the overall cause of human rights has been promoted in an all-round way."

Chinese citizens' right to freedom of speech on the Internet was protected and the Internet has become a new channel for the Chinese government to gauge public opinion, and consequently improve its governance, the report reads.

It has become "common practice" for governments at all levels to consult the public via the Internet before formulating some policies. Therefore, government agencies have set up special websites to facilitate the public's reporting of corruption and dereliction of duty among officials, it says.

In 2009, the Chinese government promulgated and implemented its first national action plan with human rights as the theme.

The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010), which applies the Constitutional principle of respecting and protecting human rights to the various fields of politics, economy, culture, social construction, etc., has been "effectively implemented", according to the white paper, Xinhua reports.

The report further claimed that the living conditions of the country's citizens have "further improved on the basis of economic and social development" after the country put forward a 4-trillion-yuan (596.6 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package in the wake of the international financial crisis.

In 2009, the per capita net income of rural residents was 5,153 Yuan, and the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 17,175 Yuan, an increase of 8.5 percent and 9.8 percent respectively over the previous year.

From January 2009 to March 2010, the National People's Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee examined 25 laws and draft decisions concerning laws, and adopted 18 of them. (ANI)