On June 29, Professor Zhang Wanhong's funeral team released an obituary: Zhang Wanhong, a member of the Communist Party of China, a well-known human rights law scholar, legal educator, professor and doctoral supervisor of Wuhan University, died at 5:47 on June 29, 2024, at the age of 49.
Image source: Wuhan University Alumni Association Law Branch
The obituary said that Zhang Wanhong was born on June 15, 1976, in Luoyang City, Henan Province. From 1993 to 2004, he studied at Wuhan University and obtained a bachelor's degree in law, a master's degree in law, and a doctorate degree in law. He joined the Communist Party of China on March 22, 1996. From 2002 to 2003, he completed the Nanjing University-Johns Hopkins University Certificate Program. From 2011 to 2012, he studied at Columbia University Law School and obtained a master's degree in law and a diploma in comparative law from the American Law Institute. Since July 2003, he has been teaching at the Law School of Wuhan University, serving as the dean of the Institute of Human Rights of Wuhan University (National Human Rights Education and Training Base) and the chief expert of the core team of the Institute of International Rule of Law (a national high-end think tank) of Wuhan University.
Zhang Wanhong has devoted his life to research on jurisprudence and human rights education, and is also the first member of the Foreign Rights Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the 14th Five-Year Plan for Disabled Persons in China, the first expert member of the Expert Committee of the National Commission on Aging, a standing member of the Council of the Chinese Human Rights Research Association, a standing director of the China Association for the Development of the Cause of the Disabled, the director of the Professional Committee for the Protection of Rights and Interests of the China Association for the Development of the Cause of the Disabled, the vice chairman of the Hubei Disabled Persons' Federation, and the vice president of the Hubei Provincial Research Association for the Development of the Cause of the DisabledHe is a fellow at Harvard Law School, a "Greater China Public Interest Law Scholar" at Columbia University, a senior researcher at the Netherlands-China Center for Legal Studies at the University of Amsterdam, a visiting researcher at Ritsumeikan University in Japan, a visiting professor at China University of Political Science and Law, a member of the editorial board of China Law and Society Review and the Journal of Business and Human Rights, a consultant to the International Labour Organization's Employment of Persons with Disabilities Project, a chief expert at the Think Tank Forum of the High-Level Conference on Disability Affairs under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and a country adviser on disability issues at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Zhang Wanhong has published more than 60 papers in Chinese and English in important academic journals such as Law Review and Modern Law, as well as newspapers and periodicals such as People's Daily and Guangming Daily, and many papers have been reprinted by Chinese Social Science Digest and Xinhua Digest. He is the chief editor of more than 10 academic works such as Handbook on Business and Human Rights and Research on Disability Rights. He has presided over more than 10 scientific research projects, such as the late-stage project of the National Social Science Fund, the major project of the Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Ministry of Education (National Human Rights Education and Training Base), the ministerial scientific research project of the China Law Society, and the project commissioned by the Information Office of the State Council.
Zhang Wanhong is committed to studying human rights from a comprehensive perspective based on the basic theory of law, and is one of the most visible and influential scholars in the field of specific group rights research. With a clear perspective of rights, Professor Zhang Wanhong participated in and led the paradigm shift of disability research in China, advocated and promoted multidisciplinary research on the rights of specific groups, systematically introduced China's practice and development of new concepts of human rights protection such as "rights-based development" and "inclusive equality" and the great practice of international human rights standards, and further elaborated the dialectical relationship between human rights and development on this basis, and showed the world the position, concept and achievements of Chinese's human rights cause.
Professor Zhang Wanhong actively participates in the practice of human rights protection and rule of law construction, and provides suggestions and suggestions for the development of Chinese's human rights cause. He has presided over the preparation of social organizations such as Wuhan East Lake Public Welfare Service Center, and has long been rooted in the community to pay attention to legal aid, community governance and other issues, and has held many seminars, workshops, street consultations, household surveys and other activities on equal rights protection, social integration and development. In 2017, as an independent expert, he drafted the combined second and third periodic reports of States parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities submitted by the mainland government to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. He has been deeply involved in the legislative work of the Law on the Construction of a Barrier-free Environment, the Regulations on the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, the Law on the Promotion of Films, and the Law on Basic Medical Care and Health Promotion, and has participated in the formulation and compilation of the National Human Rights Action Plan and the National Human Rights White Paper for many times.
According to the Yangtze River Daily, Zhang Wanhong's academic footprint has covered more than 30 countries and regions on five continents, and colleagues call him an "international Zhang". These experiences have broadened Zhang's research horizons, enabled him to track international hot frontier academic issues, and gained a cross-cultural perspective.
In China, Zhang Wanhong is one of the most "down-to-earth" legal scholars. Concerned about the legal practice in Hubei, Zhang Wanhong strives to undertake the mission of serving the public and promoting public welfare and human rights protection. The institution he is responsible for has won many honors such as "Hubei Provincial Advanced Collective of Legal Aid for Private Practical Projects".
In May 2021, Zhang Wanhong was elected as a member of the Network Project Management Committee of the Beijing Xiaogen Foundation for the Disabled and the Parent Organization of the Mentally Handicapped in China. The network is currently the largest network of parents of people with mental disabilities in China. He said: "I want to pay more attention to and contribute to the advocacy and practice of the rights of specific groups." ”
Starting from the field of disability, Zhang Wanhong also pays attention to the rights of other vulnerable groups, such as the rights of the elderly. In March 2021, the National Working Committee on Aging established the Expert Committee of the National Committee on Ageing, and Zhang Wanhong was elected as the first expert member.
According to a report by Chinanews on October 5 last year, the "2023 Frontier Forum on Business and Human Rights" and the side event of the 54th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council were held in Wuhan in a combination of online and offline formats, with about 150 experts and scholars at home and abroad focusing on the theme of "Business for Good: The Latest Developments and Chinese Practices of Business and Human Rights". The conference was guided by the Chinese Human Rights Research Association and jointly convened by the Human Rights Research Institute of Wuhan University and a number of national human rights education and training bases.
Zhang Wanhong, dean of the Institute of Human Rights at Wuhan University, pointed out that business for good means that business enterprises should not only achieve business goals, but also promote the realization of values such as justice in the supply chain system and other stakeholders through their business activities. At present, the issue of business and human rights has attracted wide attention in the international community, and this conference is of great significance for exploring the cutting-edge topics of business and human rights, and constructing China's independent human rights discourse and theoretical system.
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