"China enshrines human, property rights
Last Updated Mon, 15 Mar 2004 14:56:27
BEIJING - China made historic changes to its constitution on Sunday, amending it to protect human and property rights for the first time since the country's Communist revolution in 1949.
The two amendments are among 14 revisions to the constitution that were dealt with during the closing meeting of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.
The decision to enshrine property rights is a reversal of one of the main principles of Mao Zedong's revolution, which viewed private property as one of the evils of capitalism.
The Chinese words for communism – "gongchan zhuyi" – translates to "ideology of sharing property."
The vote to amend the 1982 constitution was passed with 2,863 in favour to 10 against, with 17 abstentions
The amendment, which declares "private property obtained legally shall not be violated," reflects commercial realities.
In 1999, the constitution was amended to declare private business an "important component" of the economy and millions of Chinese own businesses and apartments
But entrepreneurs had lobbied the government for constitutional protection.
Human rights groups cautious
The government also voted to enshrine human rights for the first time with an amendment saying: "The state respects and preserves human rights."
But many analysts say the wording is vague and ambiguous. They question what protections the amendment will offer.
Human rights group Amnesty International said they welcomed the amendment but cautioned that it must be backed up by "concrete action."
Amnesty said China has signed on to many international human rights declarations but has an "extremely poor" record on implementing its obligations.
"Ratification of human rights standards is an important first step, but it must be accompanied by practical measures to implement their provisions at the domestic level," Amnesty International said."
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/15/world/china040315Whoohoo!
