Lecture: The Ideal and Path of Human Rights

April 25, 2017--Professor Wei ZHANG, the Co-director of the Institute for Human Rights, invited the school alumni Tong Lihua to give a lecture for the students. Tong Lihua is the director of Beijing ZhiCheng Law Firm, the director of Beijing Youth Legal Aid and Research Center, the director of Beijing ZhiCheng Legal Aid and Research Center for Migrant Workers, the director of ZhongZhi Social Development Promotion Center. He also served as the director of the China National Bar Association Legal Aid Committee, the director of the Minors Protection Professional Committee, the director of the Law Society Minors Law Research Society. He was in the 18th CPC National Congress, and was served at the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, the Beijing Municipal People's Congress Law Committee, The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Federation of Trade Unions and other Associate group of experts. He was the visiting scholar of Yale University Law School and the Columbia University Law School as well.

The theme of the lecture was The Ideals and Path of Human Rights. Professor Tong stressed that the focus of this lecture was not on the ideal, but on the path. Professor Tong first introduced his personal experience. After graduating in 1995, he established his own law firm in 1998, and became the youngest law firm director at that time. The law firm was mainly engaged in three aspects: the first was that it became the first law firm which protected juveniles from 1999, and then it established the Beijing Youth Assistance Center. From 2004 to 2006, he took participate in the drafting of the draft law on minor protection and policy reform. The second, he entered the field of migrant workers in 2005, establishing migrant workers legal aid agencies. The third, he established the criminal legal aid center. These three organizations all help social organizations. Professor Tong believes that the three processes of social organization must be service - legislative reform - internationalization. ZhiCheng law firm was now about to enter the third stage and it was expected to set up an international children's alliance. Currently, China's social organizations’ participation in international affairs is limited. Hence, in such a big background, it is necessary for us to be internationalized.

At the second part of the lecture, Professor Tong talked about three aspects of the human rights path, namely philosophers, advocates and human rights defenders (or human rights fighters). Human rights focus on the most cutting-edge philosophical topics of human society, such as freedom and democracy. Professor Tong talked about his own views on democracy and freedom. Also did he analyze the current state situation and the background of human rights career twenty years ago. By comparing the differences, professor Tong showed his confidence in human rights. As for the advocate, Professor Tong considered that the most ideal job of human rights graduates is to understand the current international human rights activities and actively promote human rights activities so that people can better understand human rights. Last but not least, the concept of human rights defenders, from the Western point of view of human rights, was generally from a political point of view which equal to human rights fighters. However, human rights are more realistic from the perspective of protection of ordinary people. Older people, children and persons with disabilities are vulnerable groups and need protection even more. There is therefore a need for the promotion and development of human rights.

In the face of huge need of China's development of human rights, there is a huge space for development. The attitude of the Chinese government also changed from resistance to continue to support. Therefore, the future development of human rights needs the courage to overcome difficulties.

About the public welfare law funding sources, the biggest obstacles in human rights career, how to better protect themselves and other issues, students put forward their own views and problems, professor Tong also answered one by one.

At the end of the lecture, Professor Wei ZHANG made a final speech and thanked Professor Tong for his arrival. Students were also very much looking forward to Professor Tong coming again.

Written by Chen ZHAO