【明報專訊】Universal values generally refer to values that transcend countries, religion, ethnicity, and territory and that are recognised by all people. However, it is debatable as to what universal values are and whether there are universal values. For instance, while democracy and liberty are regarded as universal values in Western society, people of other cultures do not see it that way.

Universal and equal suffrage

Hong Kong used to be a British colony, and is highly westernised. Our society is still defending universal values such as democracy and liberty after the 1997 handover.

In recent years, when issues such as political development and universal suffrage are being discussed, there have been many opinions that universal suffrage in Hong Kong must be in line with the international community's definition of universal and equal suffrage. Former Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan, for example, has been stressing that a constitutional reform package must adhere the principle of universal and fair suffrage laid out in the United Nation's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(《公民權利和政治權利國際公約》). The pro-establishment camp, however, has been saying that there is not a universal international standard for universal suffrage.

Transnational treaties

In 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(《世界人權宣言》). The declaration seeks to protect the fundamental human rights of all people in the world, containing concepts such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and equality before the law which are considered universal values.

The declaration, though not legally binding, was the basis for legally binding treaties of human rights such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child(《兒童權利公約》).

China's control of ideology

Former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao once said, "Democracy, law, liberty, human rights, equality and fraternity are not exclusive to capitalism. They are the products of civilsation that came into being in the entire world through the long historical processes. They are also values that the human race pursues as a whole". But in recent years, the mainland authorities have been criticising "universal values", saying that they are only the values for American-style democracies or the bourgeois.

In 2013, universities in mainland China were asked not to talk about seven issues(「七不講」), including universal values, freedom of the press and civil society. It was also said that works by Chinese-American academic Yu Ying-shih(余英時)and Taiwanese novelist Giddens Ko (九把刀) would be banned, which turned out to be true. Some netizens regarded this as the 21st century's movement to "burn books and bury scholars"(焚書坑儒), saying that it was a serious infringement to free speech and democracy. Wang Fan-sen, then vice president of Academia Sinica in Taiwan, said that China's ban on books by Yu Ying-shih was a retrograde step.

Related concepts:

．United Nations

．humanitarianism

．civic participation

[通通識 第490期]