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HRIC Warns Dangers of “human rights with Chinese characteristics”

November 23, 2016

In the report “The China Challenge to International Human Rights: What's at Stake?” released earlier this month, HRIC examines the PRC government’s engagement with the international human rights system in recent years and concludes that its official declarations of practicing “socialist human rights with Chinese characteristics” and “integrating universal principles on human rights with China’s realities” threaten to undermine the cornerstone of the international human rights system: the principle that human rights are universal, not contingent upon “national conditions.”

HRIC urges international actors to hold firm the values on which the international human rights system is founded and reject the notion of “exceptionalism” advanced by China.

The “China Challenge” is HRIC’s assessment of the PRC government’s implementation progress since its UN Universal Periodic Review in 2013 and finds that despite the PRC government’s acceptance of more than 200 recommendations during its 2013 UPR review, the human rights situation in China has deteriorated significantly. The report focuses on the PRC government’s implementation of UPR recommendations relating to two key drivers for advancing human rights progress:

  • Promoting international cooperation and compliance with international standards
  • Ensuring that civil society can operate in a safe and enabling environment

We hope this assessment will be a useful resource in the international community’s working together to maintain principled pushback on China’s harmful impact on international human rights norms and to promote more effective and credible international human rights processes.

We welcome your feedback and comments.

Download or view HRIC’s report here.

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