China hails human rights progress

China has achieved extraordinary progress during the past four years to implement its second action plan on human rights, including progress on religious freedom and social welfare in areas troubled by religious extremists and separatists, a government report revealed Tuesday. "The freedom of religious belief is fully guaranteed and the rights and interests of ethnic minorities were effectively protected in China," said a report reviewing China's work plan on human rights from 2012 to 2015, released by the State Council Information Office on Tuesday. China launched the National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-2015) in June 2012, the second of its kind, following a similar plan for 2009 to 2010. Experts said that progress in improving livelihood and satisfying spiritual needs of those in areas such as western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region was substantial, despite foreign accusations of "government suppression." Right to live and believe For a long time, people have criticized Tibet and Xinjiang for their religious freedom situation and also people's livelihood, but practical progress that has helped residents support their beliefs and living standards was unprecedented in scope, but often ignored, said experts. From 2011 to 2015, 200 million yuan ($30 million) was spent on renovating and expanding religious facilities in Tibet, and the Tibet College of Buddhism has so far trained nearly 2,000 monks and nuns and opened several branches, said the review. "The progress on facilities and staff are the basics to safeguarding religious freedom. Almost all Tibetans are religious, so monks are needed for many rituals like weddings and funerals," Penpa Lhamo, deputy head of the contemporary studies institute of the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times. For Muslims, the State Council established the mechanism of the inter-ministerial joint meeting on pilgrimages, said the report. Xinjiang will send an additional 352 Muslim pilgrims to join more than 3,000 others to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for this year's hajj. Local governments are working out measures to support the pilgrims' accommodations, meals and transportation, an official with Xinjiang's pilgrimage office told the Global Times. Separately, religious workers are now fully covered by social security programs in China. By 2013, 96.5 percent had medical insurance and 89.6 percent had pension schemes. China's financial and policy support in the two regions is not only in religious sites and activity, but also in improving people's livelihood, said local experts. In Tibet, social security efforts, including the issue of bank cards for farmers and herdsmen to receive over 80 kinds of government subsidiaries, are unprecedented, Tanor, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday. By the end of 2015, there were 405 projects to support education in Tibet, with funding totaling 938 million yuan. The projects provided training to 6,829 people and 3,585 people moved to Tibet to support them, the report said. Xinjiang's local government has made social development its first priority, with over 70 percent of government funds spent on education, employment, social security and the environment, Turgunjan Tursun, a research fellow at the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 'Underway' Apart from this progress, China is still "underway" in human rights development, as the country is still struggling with problems involving medical care, education, old age care, food and drug safety, income distribution and the environment, Jiang Jianguo, head of the State Council Information Office said Tuesday. China's work plans show the country attaches great importance to human rights, an issue that is closely related with its people's lives and China's national image, Zhang Xiaoling, director of the human rights research center of the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told the Global Times. More importantly, the document stressed that all members of society, including those in a weak position, should also enjoy the fruits of China's development amid the enlarging wealth gap, said Zhang. Human rights progress highlighted: Right to education: Between 2012 and 2015, the government budgeted 34.6 billion yuan to help nearly 90 percent of relocated children of migrant workers go to school in cities. Poverty relief: The number of rural dwellers in poverty dropped from 98.9 million in 2012 to 55.8 million in 2015. Re-education through labor: In December 2013, the re-education through labor system was abolished. Death penalty: In August 2015, a new amendment to the Criminal Law abolished the death penalty for nine crimes, reducing the number of crimes where the death penalty is applicable from 55 to 46. Rights of the person: The supervision against extortion of confession by torture and other illegal acts have been strengthened. Between 2012 and 2015, prosecutorial organs made 869,775 remedial proposals on illegal acts during criminal investigations.