UN Human Rights Treaties

United Nations A/AC.265/3
General Assembly Distr.: General
26 September 2002
Original: English
02-60634 (E) 011002 011002
*0260634*
Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral
International Convention on Protection and Promotion
of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
New York, 29 July-9 August 2002
Letter dated 30 July 2002 from the Permanent Representative of
China to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
I have the honour to transmit to you herewith China’s non-paper on the issue
of persons with disabilities (see annex).
I would be grateful if you would have the text of the present letter and its
annex circulated as a document of the first session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a
Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the
Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.
(Signed) Wang Yingfan
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations

A/AC.265/3
Annex to the letter dated 30 July 2002 from the Permanent
Representative of China to the United Nations addressed to
the Secretary-General
[Original: Chinese]
Non-paper on the question of persons with disabilities
1. Protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, valuing their worth and
tapping their potential are important indications of how civilized and progressive a
society is. Persons with disabilities must enjoy the same rights as those without
disabilities, and their cause must be the object of widespread concern.
2. Persons with disabilities want to participate in social life; they have a spirit of
independence and self-reliance, and they are capable of making a contribution to
society. They are creators of society’s material and spiritual wealth.
3. Persons with disabilities constitute a vulnerable group; it is still quite common
for them to be excluded and marginalized. Their rights must be safeguarded by legal
means, and a better legal system to ensure equality, participation and sharing should
be established.
4. In formulating their educational, rehabilitation, employment and social
security policies, States should take the specific characteristics and needs of persons
with disabilities fully into account and should ensure that issues relating to such
persons are reflected in comprehensive national social and economic plans.
5. States should pay particular attention to:
(a) Improving the overall quality of life of persons with disabilities;
(b) Providing opportunities for persons with disabilities to obtain education,
training and gainful employment and to participate in decision-making at all levels;
(c) Eliminating discriminatory social attitudes towards persons with
disabilities and all barriers in the areas of, inter alia, information, the law and
infrastructure;
(d) Increasing the resources allocated to ensure the equal participation of
persons with disabilities.
6. The problems of persons with disabilities are not only social issues but also
development issues. Many rights of persons with disabilities can be implemented
only through social development.
7. The international instruments adopted by the United Nations such as the World
Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons and the Standard Rules on the
Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities can play an important
role in promoting the rights and improving the situation of persons with disabilities.
These instruments will continue to form an indispensable part of the principles
guiding the cause of persons with disabilities.
8. The drafting of a convention on the rights of persons with disabilities is
consistent with the development of human society and meets the demands of the
world’s 600 million persons with disabilities. The international community must

A/AC.265/3
give serious consideration to and actively create the conditions for the drafting of
the convention.
9. Some 80 per cent of persons with disabilities live in developing countries,
many of them still in poverty. The draft convention under consideration should focus
on the special conditions and difficulties of persons with disabilities in developing
countries and should reflect the just demands of the developing countries.
10. The convention should be a programmatic document that provides broad
guidance for all States. States are encouraged to adopt a positive and practical
attitude in formulating effective rules and measures.
11. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the cause of persons
with disabilities and supports the drafting by the United Nations of a convention on
the rights of persons with disabilities. It intends to do its utmost for the drafting of
the convention and for the attainment of the goal of “equality, participation and
sharing” for persons with disabilities.
12. The international community should cooperate on the issue of persons with
disabilities on the basis of the principle of experience-sharing and equal benefit. The
developed countries should take into account the developing countries’ low
economic level and incomplete social security systems, and should take concrete
steps to provide the developing countries with support and financial assistance in
order to help them solve the problems of persons with disabilities.
13. All countries should work together to advance the cause of persons with
disabilities, thereby enabling those persons to share in the world’s material and
cultural achievements.