COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION STARTS EXAMINATION OF CHINA’S REPORT

CERD
59th session
31 July 2001
Afternoon



The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this afternoon started its examination of a ninth periodic report of China and two Chinese special administrative regions on how they were giving effect to the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Introducing his country's report, Qiao Zonghuai, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that with the strong backing of the Central Government, the ethnic minority regions in China had achieved rapid progress in all their undertakings in recent years. However, due to such restraints as harsh natural conditions and a short history of development, the ethnic minority regions in the western part of China still lagged behind the eastern and coastal regions in terms of levels of development in some fields.

Luis Valencia Rodriguez, the Committee member who served as country rapporteur to the report of China, said that the Government of China had implemented a flexible policy of family planning for minority ethnic groups in accordance with the demographic situation of the country. However, there was a tendency to prefer boys and there was a practice of forced sterilization or cases of infanticide of female newborns; girls were abandoned or became victims of exclusion; and the rights of female children were not respected.

He said that in the pastoral and agricultural regions of Tibet, mothers were restricted from having more than three children; and asked what would happen if they had more; and about the sanctions applied against such situations. Mr. Valencia Rodriguez underlined that the application of such a policy restricting the number of children could amount to acts of torture, and cruel or inhuman treatment.

The Chinese delegation was also made up of Duan Jielong, Counsellor, Department of Treaty and Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Sheng Yongxiang, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of China in Geneva; Li Xingya, Deputy Director-General, Department of Foreign Affairs, State Ethnic
Affairs Commission; Zhang Jiansheng, Deputy Director-General, Office of Foreign Affairs Committee, National People's Congress; Tian Liangang, Deputy Director-General, Department of Politics and Law, State Ethnic Affairs Commission; Zhao Liping, Counsellor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

Sun Ang, Director, Department of Treaty and Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Gao Youdong, Secretary General, Training Centre for China's Minority Talent; Zhang Ruopu, Director, Department of Politics and Law, State Ethnic Affairs Commission; Xiao Hong, Director, Office of State Administration of Religious Affairs; Wang Ping, Deputy Director, Department of Politics and Law, State Ethnic Affairs Commission; Tian Lixiao, Second Secretary at the Permanent Mission of China in Geneva; Xu Yu, Third Secretary, Department of Treaty and Law; and Liu Xiaoyan and Zhang Yi, Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The delegation from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region included Stephen Wong, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice; John Dean, Principal Assistant Secretary, Home Affairs Bureau; Eriica Ng, Principal Assistant Secretary, Education and Manpower Bureau; Law Yiu-tung, Assistant Director of Immigration; Amy Chan, Senior Government Counsel, Department of Justice; Eva Wong, Senior Information Officer, Home Affairs Bureau; and Nadia Wong, Trainee.

Members of the delegation of the Macau Special Administrative Region were Jorge Oliveria, Coordinator, International Law Office; Tou Wai Fong, Deputy Commissioner and Director, Ombudsman Bureau, Commission Against Corruption; Sam Chan Io and Zhu Lin, Legal Advisors, Office of the Secretary for Administration and Justice; Diamantino Jose Dos Santos, General-Secretary, Security Coordination Office; Bento da Silva, Legal Advisor, Department of Labour and Employment Affairs; and Paulo Adriano Jose Dos Santos, Legal Advisor, Information Law Office.

The following Committee members participated in the discussion: Ion Diaconu, Patrick Thornberry, Regis de Gouttes, Gabriele Britz, Raghavan Vasudevan Pillai, Yuri A. Reshetov, Patricia Nozipho January-Bardill, Mario Jorge Yutzis and Marc Boussuyt.

As one of the 157 States parties to the Convention, China is obligated to file periodic summaries of its efforts on how it was implementing the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will continue its consideration of the report of China when it reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 1 August.

Summary of Report Submitted by China

The ninth periodic report of China (document CERD/C/37/Add.4) is submitted in three parts, with the first part dealing with the progress made by China in the implementation of the Convention during the period between 1996 and 1999; the second part is on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as of 1 July 1997, when China started exercising sovereignty over it; and the third part is on the Macau Special Administrative Region as of 20 December 1999 when it reverted to Chinese sovereignty.

The first part of the report says that since 1996, the Government of China has continued to implement a series of core policies on ethnic affairs which include promoting equality and unity among all ethnic groups, and practising regional autonomy in areas heavily inhabited by minority people. The report further says that China opposes and sternly condemns racial segregation and racial discrimination. It prohibits all laws and policies that are discriminatory in nature and bans all publicity for and acts of racial segregation or discrimination. China prohibits any organization or individual from propagating racial discrimination or inciting ethnic enmity. There is no organization in the country that propagates racial discrimination or the superiority of any people.

The second part of the report on Hong Kong says that equality before the law and equal protection under the law without any discrimination is fundamental to the protection of human rights. The framework of legal protection remains in place; and indeed, it has been strengthened by the constitutional protection in the Basic Law. Hong Kong is a tolerant and cosmopolitan society where persons of every race, colour and nationality live together in a remarkable degree of harmony; thus racial discrimination is not a significant problem. The Government is committed to eliminating all forms of discrimination in employment, including racial discrimination.

The third part of the Chinese report on Macau also says that legislation condemns and prohibits discriminatory attitudes, and it provides that all Macau residents shall be equal before the law, and shall be free from discrimination, irrespective of their nationality. No apartheid or other form of segregation or racial discrimination is practised in Macau.

Introduction of Chinese Report

QIAO ZONGHUAI, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that to promote equality, unity, mutual assistance and common prosperity among all ethnic groups was a basic principle of the Chinese Government in handling ethnic relationships. That principle was enshrined in and guaranteed under the Chinese Constitution. Thanks to the joint efforts by the people of all ethnic groups, the five autonomous regions and the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai, which had a high concentration of ethnic minority communities, had made all-round progress in all their undertakings.

Mr. Qiao said that in 2000, the ethnic minority regions' gross domestic product (GDP) had shown an increase of 50.9 per cent over that of 1993. Those regions, while maintaining a stable grain production, had worked to improve their structure of agricultural production. Their overall production capabilities had grown steadily. Village and township enterprises in the ethnic minority regions had developed rapidly and increased, up 46.5 per cent over 1995.

Mr. Qiao further said that with the strong backing of the Central Government, the ethnic minority regions had achieved rapid progress in all their undertakings in recent years. However, due to such restraints as harsh natural conditions and a short history of development, the ethnic minority regions in the western part of China still lagged behind the eastern and coastal regions in terms of levels of development in some fields.

In conclusion, Mr. Qiao said that the central Government of China was responsible for the foreign affairs relating to the two special administrative regions. The Government also assumed responsibility for the international rights and obligations arising from the conventions applicable to both regions.

STEPHEN WONG, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China), said that with regard to the former refugees and migrants from Viet Nam, the single remaining centre for them had been closed and they had been integrated into the Hong Kong society. Some 96 per cent of the roughly 1,400 eligible refugees had accepted to resettle in the region. The rest declined, clinging to the hope of resettlement elsewhere. But all were now living freely in the community. They were free to seek employment and their children attended local schools.

JORGE OLIVERA, Coordinator, International Law Office of the Macau Special Regional Administrative Region (China), said that the Government of Macau was committed to having domestic legislation complying with the Convention. Non-discrimination on the grounds of race was widely respected and followed since there was a general belief in Macau that the diversity of the cultures, races, religious beliefs and languages spoken represented one of the regions's greatest assets.

Consideration of Report

LUIS VALENCIA RODRIGUEZ, the Committee member who served as country rapporteur to the report of China, said that China was a unitary and multinational State, with a population representing one-fifth of the world's population. There were 55 distinct ethnic groups with the majority of the population being represented by the Han ethnic group. The minorities accounted for 8.04 per cent of the total population.

Mr. Valencia Rodriguez said that the Convention had been made part of domestic legislation and it prevailed over domestic law in case of contradiction between them, except in the cases where China had made reservations. The application of the provisions of the Convention required domestic legislation to be fully implemented, including in regional autonomous regions. In addition, China had also made reservations on article 22 of the Convention concerning the competence of the International Court of Justice with regard to the resolution of conflicts arising from the implementation of the Convention. The Committee would like to recommend that China withdraw its reservations.

Further, Mr. Valencia Rodriguez said that the Government of China had implemented a flexible policy of family planning concerning minority ethnic groups in accordance with the demographic situation of the country. However, there was in China a tendency to prefer boys and there was a practice of forced sterilization or cases of infanticide of female newborns; girls were abandoned or became victims of exclusion; and the rights of female children were not respected. In the pastoral and agricultural regions of Tibet, mothers were restricted from having more than three children. What would happen if they had more? What sanctions were applied against such situations? The application of such a policy restricting the number of children could amount to acts of torture, and cruel or inhuman treatment.

With regard to education, the Chinese Government had made important progress, particularly in the ethnic regions, Mr. Valencia Rodriguez said. However, the Committee on the Rights of the Child had expressed concern on the disparities existing between urban and rural areas and among the minorities and the majority in matters of education. Some non-governmental organizations had also reported that the level of education in Tibet was inferior to that offered to the majority Han. What additional measures had been taken to close the existing gaps?

He said that the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in its document A/54/38, had stated that rural women in China were living in poverty and 100 million of them were illiterate. The situation of minority women was more acute. The delegation was requested to provide further information on the development plans and the Government’s achievements aimed at alleviating poverty.

Mr. Valencia Rodriguez said that the Ethnic Affairs Commission of Wuhan had established 21 centres in order to resolve problems arising among ethnic minorities, and through these mechanisms 3,000 cases had been settled, which was a commendable measure. Such mechanisms were recommended to be extended to other ethnic regions.

According to a non-governmental organization, the right to freedom of religion in Tibet had been violated through repression and detention of monks, Mr. Valencia Rodriguez said. The Government had to respect the right of freedom of religion in its autonomous regions. Another organization had also reported that 80 per cent of Tibetans were illiterate compared to 25 per cent of the total population at the national level.

Mr. Valencia Rodriguez said that Amnesty International had reported that in March 2000, 5,000 persons from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, who sought asylum in China, had been sent back by the authorities, thus endangering their lives. Clarification was asked from the delegation.

With regard to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Valencia Rodriguez said that a high number of foreign domestic workers were "imported" into the region and there was a need to strengthen anti-discriminatory legislation. There was also a phenomenon of discrimination against Chinese arriving from the hinterland.

Concerning the Macau Special Administrative Region, the Experts said that Portugal had extended the ratification of the Convention without any reservations; however, China had made a reservation and because of that there was a lack of a mechanism to resolve controversies arising from the implementation of some provisions of the Convention.

Other Committee members also made a number of comments on the report of China focusing, among other things, on acts of discrimination in Tibet; disparities in the level of development among the various regions; discrimination between men and women; and lack of specific legislation in the country.

An Expert said that there were no legal provisions which explicitly prohibited all acts of violence or acts of provocation directed against races or groups of persons of different colour.



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