Prof. Chang Jian

2024 China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights

Leading Chinese and European experts met in Berlin on October 22 for the 2024 China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights, where views from China and Europe were shared on the protection of new and emerging rights. The participating experts held in-depth discussions on topics such as social rights and economic inequality, the intersection of digital technologies and human rights sustainability — covering the balancing of the rights of individuals, society and nature.

This year's seminar was hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, based in Beijing, and Central South University, based in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province. Event organizers include Central South University's Human Rights Center and the Berlin-based German and the Chinese Culture Foundation, with the support of Germany's University of Munster and the Paris-based International Institute of Philosophy.

Launched by the China Society for Human Rights Studies in 2015, the China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights has become a platform for human rights dialogue and communication between China and Europe.

Since 2015, the seminar has been held in various European and Chinese cities, including Strasbourg in France, Bruges in Belgium, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Vienna in Austria, Rome in Italy, and Chongqing in southwest China.

Recently, Chang Jian, director of the Human Rights Research Center at Nankai University in Tianjin, participated in an interview with China News Release on issues concerning the relationship between human rights and traditional Chinese and European cultures.

"China and Europe have gone through a process of mutual inspiration and reference in the development of human rights ideology," he explained, adding that both sides have learned from each other with open attitudes and broad minds of mutual tolerance, which has not only set a model for global human rights exchanges but also contributed to the harmony and development of the world's human rights cause.

China News Release: Could you please talk about the origin of human rights in traditional Chinese culture? What important schools of thought or representative figures have contributed to this?

Chang Jian: Traditional Chinese culture contains excellent concepts related to the respect, care for, and protection of people. These ideas serve as cultural resources that can be adapted into human rights concepts. Such ideas are reflected in Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Mohism and Buddhism, with Confucianism having the most profound influence.