BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Two weeks after enshrining the principle of "respect for and protection of human rights" in its Constitution, China published a 16,000-strong-word white paper Tuesday& nbsp;to detail the progress in its human rights cause last year.

    The white paper released by the State Council Information Office, titled "Progress in China's Human Rights Cause in 2003", came on the heels of a United States decision to table an anti-China motion in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

    "To help the international community toward a better understanding of the human rights situation in China, we hereby give an overview of the developments in the field of human rights in China in 2003," said the white paper.

    Calling 2003 "a year of great, landmark significance for progress in human rights in the country", the white paper said thenew leadership that took office last year has adopted the "people first" principle of government, and in practice has taken a seriesof distinctively epochal measures for respecting and safeguarding human rights.

    "The leadership has made great efforts to acquaint itself with the feelings of the people, to reflect such feelings, to reduce the people's burdens and practice democracy, which have markedly improved China's human rights conditions and won universal acknowledgment from the international community," it said.

    The white paper went on to elaborate on China's human rights conditions in 2003 in eight chapters:

    -- The rights to subsistence and development are key for the protection of all other basic human rights. With the country's per-capital GDP (gross domestic production) surpassing 1,000 US dollars for the first time, the general living standard of the people continued to rise, the consumption pattern of the society showed that it was gradually changing from one of basic living to one of modern living, and the size of the impoverished population without adequate food and clothing in rural China decreased from 250 million at the beginning of China's reform and opening-up program in 1978 to 29 million in 2003.

    China attaches great importance to protecting the health and safety of its citizens. Faced with the sudden outbreak of the SARS epidemic, the central and local governments earmarked more than 10 billion yuan to purchase medical equipment, medication and protective gear, to reconstruct hospitals and to provide free treatment to patients in financial difficulties. The death rate ofconfirmed SARS patients on the Chinese mainland has been 6.5 percent, lower than the world's average of 9 percent.

    -- China has endeavored to widen the scope of citizens' orderlypolitical participation, and to safeguard their civil and political rights in accordance with the law. The national legislature adopted 10 laws last year including the "Law on Residents' ID Cards," which all display the basic spirit of serving the people and benefiting the people, as well as respecting and safeguarding their human rights.

    Along with the full-scale democratic construction at the rural grass-roots level, the democratic rights of the masses there have been respected. Making village affairs known to the villagers, referred to as the "Sunlight Project" by the people, has been practiced across the country. So far, over 90 percent of villages have set up bulletin boards for such purposes, giving timely reports to villagers of village, financial and administrative affairs concerning their interests.

    The year 2003 also witnessed the setup of the press spokesperson system by people's governments at all levels, which enabled citizens to enjoy more rights to information, supervision and participation in public affairs.

    Chinese citizens enjoy the freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law and normal religious activities are protected. Chinese religious organizations have established relations with religious organizations and personnel in more than 70 countries and regions.

    -- In 2003, China further beefed up its judicial reform, claiming significant progress in judicial guarantee for human rights. The Chinese government has carried out a major reform in its social assistance program, replacing the "Measures for the Sheltering and Send-off of Urban Vagrants and Beggars" with the more humane and law-based "Measures for Assisting and Managing Urban Vagrants and Beggars with No Means of Livelihood."

    Cases of extended detention involving 25,736 people were corrected last year, basically rectifying such deviations. This was a clear-up of extended detention, the most extensive in scope,the biggest in scale and the largest in number of people involved in the nation's judicial experience. Thereby, the judicial guarantee for human rights was greatly strengthened.

    Legal aid has been implemented effectively, ensuring citizens' right to receive legal aid with the "Regulations on Legal Aid" formulated and promulgated in 2003. The statute has been the firstever national legislation in China that established a basic framework for China's legal aid system, and defined the scope of citizens' right to legal aid. (More)