Rule Of Law In China: Progress And Problems. Lin Li

never indiscriminately copy foreign ideas about or models of the rule of law.

       3.3.Attach Great Importance to the Strategic Position and Role of the Rule of Law in Modernization of the Country

      As the crystallization of political civilization created by mankind, the rule of law has played an indispensable and increasingly important role in our economic and social development. In the 30 years since the founding of the new China, the rule of law in China might have been well developed. However, it experienced setbacks. The basic reason for such setbacks and losses is the failure to correctly understand the important position of the rule of law in the construction of the nation. After the reform and openingup, the Party and the state have attached great importance to the construction of the rule of law. The 15th National Congress of the CPC defined for the first time in Chinese history the principle of governing the country according to law as the basic policy for the Party to lead the people in governing the country and put forward the historical mission of “governing the country according to law and building a socialist country ruled by law”. Governing the country by law is not only a fundamental task of socialist modernization, but also an important part of building a socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics. It is an important guarantee for realizing the goal of socialist modernization.

       3.4.Strengthen the Rule-of-Law Culture and Strive to Improve the Awareness about Socialist Rule of Law across the Nation

      Due to the influence by feudal legal remnants and the ultra-leftist trend after the founding of new China, the Chinese people’s awareness about the rule of law and their concept of the rule of law still need to be enhanced and improved. “Law cannot act on its own”. People are the main body of social activities. Establishing a sound socialist rule of law cannot be done without the improvement of legal awareness of the people across the country. Therefore, we must change our concept: change from the concept of rule of man to that of the rule of law, from the concept of privilege to that of equality, from the notion of legal nothingness to belief in law and order, and from obligation-based concept to that combining rights and obligations. We must further popularize legal knowledge, carry forward the spirit of socialist rule of law, establish the socialist concept of the rule of law, and enhance awareness of studying, respecting, abiding by, and applying the law; we should improve leaders’ ability to apply thinking based on the rule of law and methods to deepening reforms, promoting social development, resolving social conflicts, and maintaining social stability. We’ll work hard to promote the formation of a good legal environment in which people handle affairs in accordance with the law, look to the law if they meet with difficulties, find solutions according to law, resolve conflicts by using law, and do all the work following the track of the rule of law. It is necessary to strengthen the implementation of the Constitution and laws and safeguard the unification, dignity, and authority of the socialist legal system and create a legal environment where people are unwilling to break the law, and will not violate the law or dare not violate the law.

      3.5.Adhere to the Coordinated Development of the Rule of Law and Economic and Social Development, and Ensure the Smooth Progress of Reforms Guided and Guaranteed by the Rule of Law

      The rule of law is a regulator of social relations and a distributor of social interests. The construction of the rule of law should be coordinated with the economic and social development. To meet the demand of the economic and social development, it’s necessary to promulgate, amend, abolish, and interpret laws in a timely manner to reform and improve the socialist rule of law; on the other hand, the economic and social developments also need to be guided, standardized, and promoted in order to provide a sound legal environment for economic, political, social, cultural, and ecological construction, and to lay a solid foundation for the rule of law in resolving conflicts, settling disputes, cracking down crimes, maintaining stability, and realizing social fairness and justice.

      A well-developed relationship between reform and the rule of law is both an essential requirement of reform and opening-up and an important mission of promoting the rule of law. In the early 1990s, China put forward the basic policy that “we must coordinate our decisions on reform with our legislative work” and also the legislative principle that “we must coordinate our legislative work with our decisions on reform” so as to provide good legal protection for reform and opening-up and economic and social development. Under the new background of advancing the rule of law in China, Xi Jinping emphasized: “All major reforms must be based on law. In the entire reform process, we must attach great importance to using the rule-of-law thinking and methods, give full play to the leading and promoting effects of the rule of law, promote the coordination of relevant legislative work, and ensure the promotion of reform on the track of the rule of law”. Adhering to the principle that “major reform should be based on law” is not only a concept in the reform of socialist legal civilization, but also the guiding notion of and basic principle for properly handling the relationship between the reform and the rule of law.

      3.6.Adhere to the People-Oriented Principle, and Respect and Protect Human Rights

      The essence of the socialist democracy of the people determines that safeguarding the people’s long-term and fundamental interests is the historical mission of the socialist rule of law. Respecting and guaranteeing human rights is an essential requirement for the people being masters of the country and for protecting the interest of the people. Upholding people-oriented development is an internal requirement of developing a socialist democracy and building a socialist country under the rule of law. The work report of the 17th National Congress of the CPC states that we: “Respect and guarantee human rights and ensure equal participation and development of all social members according to law”. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee emphasized that “China respects and safeguards human rights, and works hard to improve the judicial guarantee system for human rights. It takes effective measures to standardize the judicial procedures of seizing, sequestrating, freezing, and handling assets involved in cases. It also improves the mechanism for effectively preventing and immediately acting to redress cases in which people have been falsely accused, or unjust or erroneous rulings have been made, makes great efforts to prevent at the source the practices of extorting a confession by torture or illegally obtaining evidence, and reduces gradually the number of crimes subject to the death penalty”. All these declarations and provisions not only set the direction for the development of the rule of law and the reform of the judicial system in China, but also provided guidelines for the building of human rights in China. Only by adhering to the people-oriented principle and effectively respecting and protecting human rights can the enthusiasm of the people for development be mobilized to the maximum, and social harmony can be achieved on the basis of giving full play to social creativity.

      3.7.Uphold the Organic Unity of the Party’s Leadership, the People Being Masters of the Country, and Governing the Country According to Law

      The very foundation of developing a socialist democracy, deepening the reform of the political system, improving the socialist legal system, comprehensively promoting the rule-of-law governance of the country, and accelerating the building of a socialist rule-of-law country is to uphold the organic unity of the Party’s leadership, the people being masters of the country, and the principle of governing the country according to law. Upholding the Party’s leadership is fundamental to the socialist rule of law; it’s the foundation and lifeblood of both the Party and the country, affects the interests and well-being of the people of China across all ethnic groups, and is integral to China’s efforts to comprehensively advance the law-based governance of the country. Leadership by the Party is consistent with socialist rule of law: Socialist rule of law must uphold the Party’s leadership, while the Party’s leadership must rely on the socialist rule of law. Only through the law-based governance of China and the rule of law under the leadership of the Party can China ensure that the people fully act as masters of the country, and can it steadily increase the rule of law in the affairs of the country and the lives of the people. The leadership of the Party, the people being masters of the country, and governing the country according to law are a closely integrated whole. To uphold the organic unity of the three is a basic guideline that must be followed in strengthening the democratic rule of law with Chinese