Strengthen Human Rights Education, Promote Human Rights Development

Speech at the Opening Ceremony of A National Base for Human Rights Education and Training （extract）

By Professor HUANG Jin, Chancellor of China University of Political Science and Law

China University of Political Science and Law is a multidisciplinary university that features a strong tradition in law. Since the founding of the University sixty years ago, we have always been dedicated to promote the rule of law in the country, forging ahead with political democracy, economic development, cultural prosperity, and social harmony. In this process we have made many great contributions to the development of China's legal education, legal theory, and the promotion of the rule of law.

In the past ten years, with the rapid development in the field of Human Rights in China, our university has also made encouraging progress in education, research, social services, foreign exchanges and cooperation jn this area. For example, among all the colleges and universities in China, we were the first university to establish a Human Rights research institution, the first to create a secondary discipline in Human Rights Jurisprudence, the first to set up master and doctoral degree programs in Human Rights, the first to train and graduate master and doctoral students in Human Rights, the first to publish a textbook in International Human Rights Law, and the first to open a summer program on Human Rights law for domestic and international students and teachers. In addition, the university not only has given support in various forms to the other national colleges and universities in teaching Human Rights Law, but also collaborated with foreign Human Rights educational and research institutions and other international organizations. We have hosted many training seminars in Human Rights Law, initiated scholarly conferences, supported annual Human Rights Education Meeting of Universities, and contributed to the donation of teaching materials. The humanistic spirit is particularly worth mentioning. After long-term joint efforts by all staffs and students, the school gradually accumulated a spirit of "building on people, respecting Human Rights," which is a vivid manifestation of our school motto, "Hou De, Ming Fa, Ge Wu and Zhi Gong" (Chinese Pinyin), and is a distinctive feature in this new period of development at our university.

In the future, we will effectively and efficiently utilize the various resources available at our school to comprehensively improve the sense of responsibility in developing and accepting Human Rights education from the government party leaders, staffs, and students. We will gradually integrate Human Rights education for into all academic curriculums, and will begin substantive Human Rights education and training in the school system as soon as possible. We will train more professionals with systematic knowledge of Human Rights, skills in basic Human Rights, a high degree of awareness and respect of human rights for the nation and the society. We will also provide high-quality advice and services in the field of human rights for the legislative, administrative, judicial, and foreign cooperation. We are earnest in giving our support to advance the comprehensive development of Human Rights education in universities across nation, to promote Human Rights awareness in the society, to popularize the knowledge of Human Rights, to advance the studies of Human Rights theory, to solidify the soundness of activities in Human Rights diplomacy, and to establish a culture in Human Rights, all in the mission of improving the overall Human Rights situation.