In an apparent attempt to waylay a controversial anti-China resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission, China has admitted to having a poor record but pledged to improve protection of human rights.
Publication of a white paper on human rights came after Chinese police jailed three women whose videotaped testimony on their efforts to seek justice for loved ones killed in the 1989 Tiananmen massacre was to be put before the commission.
Ding Zilin, Zhang Xianling and Huang Jinping, whose teenage sons or husbands were shot during the bloody crushing of the democracy protests, were arrested Sunday after police found out their testimony would be brought before the commission, the New York-based group Human Rights in China said.
"Despite the fact that China has made great efforts to promote and safeguard human rights, there is still much room for improvement of the human rights conditions," said the white paper issued by the State Council, China's cabinet.
"The Chinese government ... will continue to take active and effective measures to steadily improve China's human rights conditions and earnestly raise the level of human rights."
It said that "the state protects the rights and interests of women and children," despite the arrests of the three women who for years have represented 124 relatives of victims of the Tiananmen crackdown.
The United States has vowed to table a resolution expressing concern over a degradation of the rights situation in China in recent years.
The 40-page paper countered that China had made progress namely in amendments added earlier this month to China's Marxist constitution including wording that "the state respects and safeguards human rights" and an amendment on protecting private property.
It said freedom of speech, religion and the press all witnessed improved protections during the past year but failed to detail exactly how, other than pointing to the recent legislation.
Chinese legal scholars and international rights groups have long pointed out that existing constitutional protections such as freedom of speech, press, religion and association have been widely ignored by the government.
There were also few signs police were ready to end a harsh crackdown on political dissent, groups expressing opposition to government policy on the Internet and non-registered religious and spiritual groups because of the new amendments, they said.
Last week, New York-based Human Rights Watch applauded the amendments on private property protections, but lamented that the legislation came after tens of thousands of private homes have already been razed and tenants forcefully evicted to make room for lucrative real estate projects.
The group lambasted the widespread collusion between government and developers throughout China that has enriched the ruling elite while evicted tenants are compensated at well below market rates.
Much of the white paper appeared written exclusively for foreign consumption with information selectively used and placed solidly within the context of rights improvements.
The paper maintained China has 29 million people in absolute poverty who are making less than 1,305 yuan (157 dollars) a year. But last week Liu Jian, a leading official on poverty reduction, told a UN meeting in Beijing there were 56 million Chinese earning less than 869 yuan a year.
"In 2003 China's economy observed a rapid and healthy growth, and the people's rights to subsistence and development were further improved," the paper said.
"The general living standard of the people continued to rise..., the net per-capita income (in 2003) for rural residents was 2,622 yuan (316 dollars) an increase of 4.3 percent in real terms."
However, the paper did not explain that the UN and World Bank benchmark for poverty is based on an income of one dollar per person per day and that on average China's 750 million rural residents live below the internationally accepted poverty line.