Progress in China's Human Rights in 2013

IV. Rights to Freedom of Speech

The Chinese government endeavors to promote and protect the freedom of speech of Chinese nationals. Freedom of speech is a basic civil right stipulated in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. In China citizens can express their views and will and publish research and creative achievements freely within the range allowed by the Constitution and other laws. With social and economic development, the means of realizing freedom of speech has been diversified day by day, the public's information needs have been better satisfied, the space of freedom of speech has been increasingly expanded, and the people's rights to freedom of speech have steadily developed.

The channels and means for citizens to realize freedom of speech have been diversified day by day. In 2013 China printed 48.2 billion copies of newspapers, 3.3 billion copies of periodicals and 7.9 billion copies of books; some 229 million households had access to cable TV while 172 million households had access to cable DTV; radio programs covered 97.8 percent of the total population, and television programs covered 98.4 percent. In recent years China's news media have paid more attention to maintaining contact with the public, focusing on reporting real life, and playing their due role of press supervision. The public freely expresses its opinions through the news media, brings forward criticisms and proposals, and discusses state affairs and social concerns.

The Internet has become one of the most important channels for the public to express its opinion. Over the past two decades China has injected huge amounts of funds into Internet infrastructure construction covering the whole country and benefitting all people, and promoted Internet popularization and application. Internet development and popularization in China ranks top among developing countries. In 2013 the state continued to increase policy support for and funds in information infrastructure construction, popularized satellite communication, fiber optical communication, computer networks and other related technologies. The country implemented the "broadband China" strategy, and for the first time regarded broadband network as a strategic public infrastructure for national socioeconomic development in the new era. By the end of 2013 the number of netizens in China reached 618 million and the Internet coverage rate 45.8 percent; domain names totaled 18.44 million, websites 3.2 million and webpages 150 billion; Internet forum/bulletin board system (BBS) users numbered 120 million, blog and personal webpage users 437 million, social networking website users 278 million, network literature users 274 million, network video users 428 million, microblog users 281 million and instant messaging (IM) users 532 million. Cellphone IM users numbered 431 million and cellphone microblog users 196 million. By the end of 2013 there were 5,820 websites in China providing Internet education information services, 703 providing Internet news information services, 783 providing Internet cultural products, 282 providing Internet audio-visual programs, 292 providing Internet publishing services and 2,010 providing Internet BBS services.

Effective information acquisition is the premise for realizing freedom of speech. In China, people can obtain information through multiple channels. Open and procedure-based exercise of power, transparent legislation, government operations and judicature and other mechanisms have been further improved, which have continuously improved the effective provision of information about government work. The NPC and its Standing Committee solicit public opinion on major draft laws; local people's congresses allow people to listen to legislation deliberations, and provide timely authoritative interpretations of adopted laws through media, including their own official websites, so as to ensure that people of all walks of life accurately understand the legislation background and purpose, and the principles and contents of the laws. The State Council focuses on advancing information disclosure in administrative approval, financial budget and final accounts, government-subsidized housing, food and drug security, land expropriation and house demolition, and other fields. The press spokesperson system has been further improved. In 2013 the Information Office of the State Council organized more than 50 press conferences centered on the Party's and the state's major conferences, decisions and work. Meanwhile, departments under the State Council and information offices under local governments held over 2,100 press conferences and briefings. More and more chief responsible persons of departments under the State Council and local governments have appeared at press conferences to actively respond to social concerns and release related information in a timely fashion. (more)

The Supreme People's Court issued the Several Opinions on Advancing the Building of Three Major Platforms of Judicial Openness and the Regulations for the People's Courts to Make Public the Judgment Documents on the Internet, so as to fully promote openness in trial procedures, judicial papers and adjudication enforcement, and to enhance public understanding of judicial decisions. The China Court's Live Trial website has been set up, on which people's courts at all levels have so far live-broadcast 45,000 court trials. The Jinan Intermediate People's Court live-telecast Bo Xilai's court trial through a microblog, which received extensive and positive attention. Internet information service websites of all kinds have greatly improved their service capability to ensure effective information acquisition by the public.

Chinese people enjoy extensive freedom of speech. Research and discussion in academic fields cover politics, society, culture and other aspects. Within the range allowed by the Constitution and other laws, the public can discuss political issues freely. Important government policies are widely discussed before and after being adopted, and opinions from all quarters can be fully expressed. The popularization and improvement of the Internet have dramatically expanded the space of freedom of speech. The public can express opinions through Internet forums, Netnews, blog/personal webpages, social networking websites, network literature, network videos, microblogs, IM and other Internet platforms. Netizens post an immense number of opinions all the time. According to statistics, Chinese netizens post and forward 250 million microblog messages and over 20 billion WeChat and other IM messages every day. According to the statistics about the texts posted by seven websites including Sina microblog and Tencent microblog, of the 20 top issues that received netizens' attention in 2013, the first 12 received over two million messages each, and the top one over 45 million messages. Netizens' attention, opinions and statements cover a wide range, including legal cases, the people's livelihood, individual rights and interests protection, patient-hospital disputes, and combating corruption.

Effective realization of freedom of speech ensures that the public oversee the government. People can present social problems through news media, the Internet and other channels, forward criticisms and proposals to governments at all levels and supervise the behavior of civil servants. Many local government websites in China have a municipal mayor's mailbox or county head's mailbox to receive letters from the public. The central discipline inspection and procuratorial organs, Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate have set up offence-reporting websites for the public. The public's proposals for and criticisms of government work receive high attention of governments at all levels, and have become important references for them to improve their work and decision-making.

V. Rights of the Person

The effectiveness of a country's protection of its citizens' rights of life and health, of personal liberty, of personal dignity and other rights of the person is one important gauge of examining that nation's human rights protection effort. In 2013 China abolished the reeducation through labor system, waged special campaigns against human trafficking, searched for and rescued abducted and trafficked women and children, punished serious violations of its citizens' rights of the person in accordance with the law, improved the mechanism for preventing and rectifying unjust, false and erroneous charges, took various measures in ensuring the rights of suspects, defendants and detainees, and strengthened law-enforcement in key areas such as workplace safety, and food and drug production, effectively safeguarding the Chinese citizens' rights of the person.

With over 50 years of operation in China, the system of reeducation through labor played a positive role in protecting public security, maintaining social order, ensuring social stability, and educating and rescuing lawbreakers in certain historical circumstances. But over time its functions were gradually replaced with the implementation of laws such as the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security and the Law on Narcotics Control, and also with the improvements in the Criminal Law. Also, as the relevant laws became increasingly applicable in cases of reeducation through labor, the correction system played a lesser role over the years. Since March 2013 the system has been basically suspended in China. On December 28, 2013 the Standing Committee of the NPC passed a decision on abolishing legal provisions pertaining to reeducation through labor, putting an end to the system. It was also decided that persons who were receiving reeducation through labor as prescribed by law should be released and exempted from their remaining terms.

The rights of the person of women and children have been effectively protected. The state has implemented China's Action Plan Against Human Trafficking (2013-2020). In 2013 China cracked 5,126 and 2,765 cases of abducted and trafficked women and children, respectively, and united 631 abducted children with their biological parents through the DNA database network of public security organs. The state has issued opinions on punishing crimes of sexually assaulting minors, in accordance with the law, and rigorously cracks down upon such crimes as sexually assaulting girls under the age of 14 and teachers sexually assaulting students. In 2013 criminal charges were pressed against 2,395 persons suspected of abducting and trafficking women and children.

Special emphasis has been given to the protection of the rights of the person of people with mental disorders. The Law on Mental Health came into effect May 1, 2013, and applies the principles of free will and restriction on involuntary hospitalization for patients with mental disorders. It is prohibited to use constraints and isolation and other protective measures as means for punishing mentally disturbed patients, and medical institutions are not allowed to force their patients with mental disorders to engage in production or other kinds of labor.

The state punishes crimes seriously undermining the people' s sense of security and infringing upon the citizens' rights of the person. In 2013 China's procuratorial organs at all levels issued arrest warrants for 500,055 persons suspected of severe violent crimes, gang crimes, repeated crimes against property, and drug dealing. A total of 580,485 persons were indicted for criminal acts. People's courts at all levels concluded 250,000 cases of homicide, robbery, kidnapping, explosion, rape, trafficking of children and women, and gang-related organized crime, convicting 325,000 persons. (more)

Measures for preventing and rectifying unjust, false and erroneous charges have been further strengthened. In 2013 the Ministry of Public Security issued the Notice on Further Strengthening and Improving the Criminal Enforcement and Case Handling, and Effectively Preventing Unjust, False and Erroneous Charges and other related documents, in an effort to improve the system for preventing erroneous charges, reinforce supervision over law enforcement and case handling in an all-around, real-time manner that covers the whole procedure, and prevent unjust, false and erroneous charges at the source. The Supreme People's Procuratorate issued the Opinions on Diligently Performing Procuratorial Duties and Preventing and Rectifying Unjust, False and Erroneous Charges, and strives to improve the mechanism for identifying, correcting and preventing erroneous charges during the procuratorial phase and also the accountability system. It exercises strict supervision over case handling, to ensure that the facts are accurate, evidence genuine, procedures correct and laws applicable. In 2013 the Procuratorate supervised the withdrawal of 25,211 ineligible charges filed by organs of investigation; and rectified 72,370 occasions of misuse of coercive measures, collection of evidence by illegal means and extortion of confession by torture; decided against arrest on 100,157 occasions and against prosecution on 16,427 persons for lack of evidence and for cases that did not constitute crimes. The Procuratorate protects the right of action of suspects and the right of practice of lawyers. In 2013 it supervised the correction of 606 cases of improper surveillance of suspects who were confined to designated residences, and 2,153 cases of obstructing the exercise of the right of action by defenders; strengthened the examination of necessity for detention, and advised the release of or change of coercive measures for 23,894 suspects. The Procuratorate attaches importance to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of detainees. In 2013 it supervised the correction of violations of law during the execution of penalties and supervision activities on 42,873 occasions, urged the closing of long-pending cases with suspects in prolonged detention, and supervised the correction of extended custody on 432 occasions. In 2013 the Supreme People's Court issued 548 judicial interpretations on the application of the Criminal Procedure Law-the most judicial interpretations to a law since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The exclusion of illegal evidence, the principle of no additional penalty for making appeals and other principles that protect the litigation right of defendants have been implemented with detailed measures. On October 9, 2013 the Supreme People's Court issued the Opinions on Establishing and Improving the Working Mechanism for Preventing Unjust, False and Erroneous Criminal Charges. Adhering to the principle of assuming innocence until proven guilty, the Opinions stipulate that the defendants should be acquitted in accordance with the law in case of insufficient incriminating evidence; confession extorted by torture or other illegal means should be excluded, as should confession obtained from interrogation sessions conducted at undesignated sites, from interrogation sessions the whole procedure of which is not videotaped, and from interrogation sessions in which the possibility of the use of illegal means cannot be ruled out. The Court ensures that innocent persons are not held criminally liable. In 2013 the people's courts at all levels acquitted a total of 825 defendants in accordance with the law, and ran retrials of unjust, false and erroneous charges discovered during appeal and quashed the original judgments in these cases.

Protection of the rights of the person of criminal suspects, defendants and detainees has been enhanced. In 2013 the Ministry of Public Security issued the Regulations on the Use and Administration of Areas and Sites for Law Enforcement and Case Handling by Public Security Organs, which stipulates the use and administration of areas for case handling, with a strict code for audio- and video-recording interrogation and inquiry sessions. The Ministry adopted a new version of the Standards for Building Detention Centers, vigorously promoted the use of social resources for detainees' medical care, and required all detention centers to be made open to the public to ensure a higher level of transparency of law enforcement. The people's procuratorates further improved synchronized audio- and video-recording system, effectively protecting the legitimate rights of suspects.

The state strengthened its efforts to defuse threats to people's security and health in their work and life. The legislature improved relevant laws for dealing with key problems related to personal safety, and the Standing Committee of the NPC enacted the Law on Special Equipment Safety, strengthening supervision and control over the whole process of the manufacturing and installation, operation and utilization, maintenance and care, and examination and testing of special equipment. The Law established an identity management system, an accountability system of product quality, and a recall and scrap system for special equipment, strengthening supervision of special equipment safety in accordance with the law so as to protect the people's rights of life and property. Departments of law enforcement continued to strengthen their troubleshooting effort in focus industries and areas, defusing hidden dangers on 6.815 million occasions with a correction rate of 97.9 percent in 2013. More effort was put into the investigation of accidents and a time limit was set for the cracking of related cases under the supervision of relevant authorities, and 44 cases of serious and major accidents were investigated and handled. The average period for closing a case was 109 days shorter on a year-on-year basis, and investigation reports of accidents were made public in a timely manner. Procuratorial organs conducted immediate intervention in the case of serious and major accidents, and investigated cases of dereliction of duty, malfeasance, bribery and other power-abuse crimes behind fires and mining accidents, with a total of 1,066 persons investigated. The state attaches great importance to food and drug safety, and has issued relevant judicial interpretations for punishing crimes that harm food and drug safety in accordance with the law. In 2013 procuratorial organs at all levels pressed charges against 10,540 persons suspected of manufacturing and selling poisonous or hazardous food, adulterant drugs or drugs of inferior quality, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate set time limit to urge the handling of 785 cases of crimes that menaced food and drug safety. The people's courts at all levels concluded 2,082 relevant cases, with 2,647 persons convicted.

VI. Rights of Ethnic Minorities

China has established the principle that all ethnic groups are equal and jointly participate in the management of state affairs on the constitutional, legal and systemic levels. The state respects the cultural differences and lifestyles of ethnic groups, and ensures the equal rights of ethnic minorities in politics, economy, culture, language and folk customs, religious belief and other aspects, with coordinated measures. In 2013 China's ethnic minorities and areas inhibited by ethnic minorities made new achievements and developments in various undertakings, and all ethnic minorities fully enjoyed and effectively exercised their basic rights.

The political rights of ethnic minorities are fully guaranteed. Areas inhibited by ethnic minorities in compact communities exercising regional ethnic autonomy enjoy autonomous rights in a wide range of areas, including legislative power, flexibility in the execution of relevant state laws and regulations, the right to use their own spoken and written languages, personnel management power, financial management power, and the right of independently developing their special culture and education. The advantages of regional ethnic autonomy are best exemplified in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Xinjiang is an ethnic autonomous area mainly inhibited by the Uygur people. It is China's only autonomous region with all three administrative levels of autonomous areas (region, prefecture and county). In other parts of Xinjiang inhabited by ethnic minorities, except the Uygur, in compact communities, there are five autonomous prefectures where the Kazak, Hui, Kirgiz and Mongolian people are concentrated; six autonomous counties where the Kazak, Hui, Mongolian, Tajik and Xibe people live; and 42 townships where various ethnic minorities live. Autonomous organs at all levels in Xinjiang formulate and implement autonomous regulations, local rules and regulations, and legally binding decisions in light of their actual conditions, ensuring the autonomous rights of ethnic autonomous areas.

All China's 55 ethnic minority groups elect deputies to the NPC and members to the National Committee of the CPPCC. The chairpersons or vice chairpersons of the standing committees of the people's congresses of all 155 areas where regional ethnic autonomy is exercised, as well as the heads of government of autonomous regions, prefectures, counties or banners are citizens of the ethnic group or groups exercising regional autonomy in the areas concerned. In the Tibet Autonomous Region the chairpersons of past standing committees of the people's congress and the heads of the people's government have all been Tibetans. Tibetan deputies and deputies from other minority groups to the NPC have always constituted the absolute majority among deputies of the region at all levels. In Tibet, of the 34,244 directly and indirectly elected deputies to the NPC at all four levels, 31,901 persons, or 93 percent, are from the Tibetan or other minority communities. Also, 82.05 percent of the total number of the Tibet Autonomous
Region's officials are Tibetan or from other minority groups, and 80.06 percent of the total number of leading officials of counties and townships are Tibetan or from other minority groups.

The socioeconomic rights of ethnic minorities are fully protected. The state continues to increase funds in promoting socioeconomic development in areas inhibited by ethnic minorities, and significant achievements have been made in this regard. In 2013, with more transfer payments diverted to ethnic minority areas, the central government arranged 46.4 billion yuan of transfer payments to ethnic minority areas, up by 10.5 percent as compared with 2012. The state increased poverty-reduction funding by a large margin for the Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Tibet, Ningxia and Xinjiang autonomous regions, and Guizhou, Yunnan and Qinghai provinces, which have large numbers of ethnic minority inhabitants. The central government appropriated 16.605 billion yuan as poverty-reduction fund, or 43.76 percent of the total volume from all sources, growing by 16.8 percent compared to 2012. In 2013 the state took concrete measures to implement three special programs, as stated in the Twelfth Five-year Plan, namely, supporting the development of minority groups with small populations, vitalizing border areas and bring prosperity to their residents, and developing special undertakings for ethnic minorities. The state continued to increase support to ethnic minorities and areas inhabited by minorities, providing 1.45 billion yuan as specialized funds for the development of minority groups with small populations, 2.79 billion yuan as specialized funds for vitalizing border areas and bringing prosperity to their residents, and 400 million yuan as specialized funds for protecting ethnic minority villages with cultural significance. These funds increased by 13.1 percent, 50 percent and 53.8 percent, respectively, as compared to 2012. In 2013 the GDP of the Tibet Autonomous Region reached 80.767 billion yuan, growing by 12.5 percent over the previous year; the per capita net income of farmers and herdsmen was 6,578 yuan, increasing by 15 percent over the previous year and well into the 11th year of double-digit growth; and the per capita disposable income of urban residents reached 20,023 yuan, up by 11.1 percent compared with 2012. In 2013 the GDP of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was 851 billion yuan, growing by 11.1 percent compared to the previous year; and the per capita GDP was 37,847 yuan, an increase of 9.7 percent. In 2013 the per capita net income of rural residents in Xinjiang reached 7,296 yuan, growing by 14.1 percent over the previous year; and the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 19,874 yuan, increasing by 10.9 percent over the previous year. The per capita total income of urban households was 22,388 yuan, up by 10.9 percent compared to the previous year and was 69.5 times more than that of 1978. In 2013 the per capita living space of Tibetan farmers and herdsmen and urban residents was 30.51 sq m and 42.81 sq m, respectively, and significant progress was made in various undertakings for improving the local people' s lives. The housing project for farmers and herdsmen, in particular, was completed after eight years of incremental investment that totaled 27.357 billion yuan. The region's 2.3 million farmers and herdsmen of 460,300 households moved into solid and convenient houses, and a historic improvement was made in the working and living conditions of farmers and herdsmen. More progress was made in the building of supporting facilities in rural areas, including water, power, road, communications, gas, radio and television, and postal services. A total of 94.6 percent and 99.7 percent of Tibet's townships and towns respectively now have access to postal services and the road network, respectively, and 97.4 percent of incorporated villages have access to road transportation. The Motuo Highway opened to traffic in 2013, connecting China's last isolated county to the national road network. Construction of the Sichuan-Tibet highway network project began. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway transported a total of 2.199 million passengers and 4.052 million tons of cargo, and civil aircraft carried 2.73 million passengers. (more)

Ethnic minority cultures and cultural undertakings in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities prospered. By 2013 China had 32 publishing houses that publish books in the languages of ethnic minorities, and 13 electronic publishers produce audio-visual products in languages of ethnic minorities. In 2013 222 titles of periodicals, 99 types of newspapers and 9,429 book titles were published in languages of ethnic minorities. In 2013 a total of 73 radio stations in ethnic autonomous areas ran 441 programs, including 100 programs broadcast in ethnic languages; and 90 television stations ran 489 programs, including 100 programs broadcast in ethnic languages. There were also 50,834 cultural institutions of various types, including 653 libraries, 784 cultural centers, 8,153 cultural stations and 385 museums. The traditional cultures of minority groups are protected. The state established an experimental area for the protection of the culture and ecology of ethnic minorities living in southeastern Guizhou Province, effectively promoting the overall conservation of the intangible cultural heritage in ethnic minority areas. The state continues to strengthen the protection and development of traditional medicine of ethnic minorities. The state supports experienced elderly experts of ethnic medicine to set up offices to pass on their medical inheritance, and supports the establishment of inheritance offices for different schools of Tibetan, Mongolian, Zhuang and Hui medicines. A program for the categorization of ethnic medicine literature and the selection and promotion of medical techniques has been initiated, covering 29 ethnic groups in 11 provinces and autonomous regions. A total of 150 titles of important ethnic medicine literature has been sorted out and categorized, and 140 medical treatment techniques have been selected for promotion. By 2013 there were 199 hospitals nationwide that specialize in ethnic medicine.

People of ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang enjoy freedom of religious belief, and their customs and social mores are fully respected. In accordance with the Constitution and the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region promulgated the Regulations on the Administration of Religious Affairs of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Interim Regulations on the Administration of Venues for Religious Activities of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Interim Regulations on the Administration of Religious Staff of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Interim Regulations on the Administration of Religious Activities of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and other government regulations, in an effort to protect normal religious activities and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of religious groups and religious believers. The religious believers from ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang are entitled to conducting normal religious activities according to law in venues for such activities and in their homes, rights with which no one may interfere. Currently there are ten minority groups in Xinjiang that mostly believe in Islam, with a total population of around 13.7 million. There are 24,000 mosques with 290,000 staff members. In Xinjiang there are also 120,000 Buddhist believers, with 53 venues for activities and 326 staff members; about 60,000 Protestant followers and 374 clergymen; 6,000 Catholic followers, with 20 venues for activities and 25 priests; 1,000 Orthodox believers with three venues and two priests; and 300 Daoist believers with one venue for activities. Xinjiang has published and distributed the Koran, Sahih al-Bukhari, Tafsir al-Mizan, Selected Texts of Expostulation (a1-Wa 'z) and other religious classics and books in the Uygur, standard Chinese, Kazak and Kirgiz languages. The central government and governments at all levels of Xinjiang have developed a series of policies and regulations to ensure that the customs of ethnic minorities in food and drinks, clothing, festivals, marriages and funerals are respected and given consideration. Each year governments at all levels in Xinjiang make special arrangements for the production and supply of meat, non-staple food and other necessities for the daily life of ethnic minorities ensuring the production and supply of special foods for these ethnic minorities, and lends special consideration to the ten groups dominated by Islamic believers. In Xinjiang, Moslems of all ethnic groups enjoy days off on the occasions of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

The cultural legacies of Tibet are effectively protected, and the local religion and traditional customs and social mores are respected. Currently Tibet has 4,277 sites of cultural relics. The Potala Palace, Norbulingka Summer Palace and Jokhang Temple have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List; Lhasa, Shigatse and Gyantse have been entered on the national list of historical and cultural cities; and the Tibet Museum is a first-rank national museum. Seventy-six items on China's national intangible cultural heritage list are located in Tibet, 323 at the autonomous regional level, 76 at the city level and 814 at the county level. There are 68 recognized successors to their own intangible heritages in Tibet at the national level and 227 at the autonomous regional level, and 117 Tibetan Opera troupes. The epic Gesar and Tibetan Opera were included on the list of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2009. The state actively protects and develops Tibetan medicine. Currently Tibet has 19 medical institutions that specialize in traditional Tibetan medicine, more than 50 county-level hospitals have a Tibetan medicine department, and the service network of Tibetan medicine has basically covered the whole region. The state respects the customs and social mores of the Tibetan people, and ensures that the ethnic communities of Tibet lead their lives in accordance with their traditional customs and engage in social activities in ways they prefer. The state respects the freedom of religious belief of all the people in Tibet, and ensures that they can practice their religions, conduct ceremonial activities, participate in major religious and folk festivals and engage in other normal activities of their own free will. Currently there are 1,787 venues for religious activities of various types in Tibet, with 46,000 resident monks and nuns, and 358 living Buddhas. Traditional religious activities, such as scripture study and debate, rank promotion, initiation, abhiseca (empowerment) and training, are conducted in an orderly manner, and traditional activities are held at major religious festivals. The living Buddha reincarnation system is a unique practice for the continuation of the living Buddha of Tibetan Buddhism, which is respected by the state. Since the Democratic Reform in Tibet in 1959, over 60 reincarnated living Buddhas have been certified and recognized by the state in accordance with historical conventions and following religious rituals. Many religious believers have sutra halls or small shrines set up in their homes, and they have the liberty to engage in religious activities such as turning prayer wheels, going on pilgrimages, and having monks and nuns perform religious rites. The Tibet Autonomous Region and all of its seven prefectures and cities have Buddhist associations, and the Tibet branch of the China Buddhist Association has a Buddhist academy and a sutra printing house, and publishes Tibetan Buddhism, a journal in the Tibetan language. Religious cultural items, such as murals, sculptures, statues, Thangka paintings, scriptures, ritual items and shrines in Buddhist temples, are protected and renovated when this is needed. Large quantities of religious literature and classics are rescued, sorted out and published. The traditional sutra printing houses of different temples are maintained and developed. Currently there are 60 major sutra printing houses, such as the ones at Muru Nyingba Monastery and the Potala Palace. They print a total of 63,000 titles of scriptures annually, and there are 20 private bookstalls selling scriptures in Tibet.

Ethnic minorities have the right to use and develop their own spoken and written languages. The state takes concrete measures to ensure the legitimate use of ethnic languages in the administrative and judicial sectors, news and publication, radio, film and television, culture and education, and other areas. Ethnic minority students can use their own languages in the college entrance examination. China National Radio and local radio stations broadcast in 21 ethnic languages on a daily basis, and the coverage of radio and television broadcasts in ethnic languages in border areas has further increased. The state promotes bilingual teaching in ethnic areas. By 2013 bilingual teaching was done in the classroom in more than 10,000 schools around the country, and 29 languages of 21 ethnic minority groups were used together with standard Chinese-Putonghua. China has 15 institutions of higher learning for ethnic minority students, with approximately 240,000 students on campus. The state continues the preferential policy toward ethnic minority students in college admissions by lowering the admission scores for or granting extra scores to them, and by granting priority admissions to these students when they are competing with Han students under the same conditions. Special consideration is also given to students from ethnic minority groups with small populations.

The learning and use of the Tibetan language is protected by law. Both the Tibetan language and standard Chinese are used in the decisions and regulations passed at the people's congresses at all levels in the Tibet Autonomous Region, as well as in the official documents and public notices issued by people's governments at all levels and their subordinate departments. In judicial litigation the Tibetan language is used during trials when there are Tibetan parties involved, and the legal instruments are written in Tibetan in such cases. Both Tibetan and standard Chinese appear in the official seals, credentials, forms, envelopes, letter paper, writing paper, insignias of different entities, and are used in the signs and plaques of government organs, factories and mines, schools, train stations, airports, stores, hotels, restaurants, theaters, tourism spots, stadiums and libraries, and on street nameplates and road signs. Tibet has 14 journals and ten newspapers published in the Tibetan language. The Tibet People's Radio Station runs 42 programs broadcast in Tibetan (including the Kangba dialect), broadcasting 21 hours of news programs in the Tibetan language and 18 hours of radio programs in the Kangba dialect on a daily basis. The Tibet Television Station Satellite Television broadcasts around the clock in Tibetan. In 2013 the Tibet Autonomous Region published 780 titles of books written in Tibetan, printing a total of 4.31 million copies. For many Tibetan-language users, reading, listening to and watching domestic and international news and getting other information through the Internet, mobile phones and other platforms compatible to the Tibetan language have become part of their daily life.

In Xinjiang, there are 13 ethnic groups who have lived there for generations, and they use ten different spoken and written languages. During the performance of official business, organs of the autonomous region and the autonomous prefectures and counties use both standard Chinese and the local ethnic languages. The languages of the ethnic minorities are also widely used in the press, publication, radio, film and television. The Xinjiang Daily is published in the Uygur, standard Chinese, Kazak and Mongolian languages; the Xinjiang Television Station broadcasts in the Uygur, standard Chinese, Kazak and Mongolian languages; and the Xinjiang People's Publishing House publishes in the Uygur, standard Chinese, Kazak, Mongolian, Kirgiz and Xibe languages. More than 70 percent of the books and audio-visual products published by publishing houses in Xinjiang are in local ethnic languages. In 2013 subtitles in ethnic languages were added to 100 films and 5,975 episodes of TV series, and four TV dramas were made with ethnic minority themes.