On May 10th, the 2022 China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights was held in China and Austria at the same time. The event in China was held in HUST, sponsored by the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the Austria-China Friendship Association, and organized by the Institute for Human Rights Law of HUST and the Austria-China Law Association. The opening ceremony was presided over by Lu Guangjin, General Secretary of the China Society for Human Rights Studies. In the seminar, online and offline attendees including representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and more than 100 experts and scholars in various fields from different countries discussed issues relating to technology and human rights.

On behalf of the university, Li Yuanyuan, Chair of University Committee of HUST, expressed his gratitude to the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the Austrian-China Friendship Association for their guidance and support, while extending a warm welcome to the domestic and overseas participants. He stated that, in the midst of rapid science and technology advancement, it was critical to defend and promote the common values of humanity and fully leverage science and technology in promoting the progress of human rights. With the focus on technology and human rights issues, the 2022 China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights provided a platform for exchanges and mutual understanding of human rights between China and Europe. It was crucial to the common development of the human rights for both sides.

Xu Xianming, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, stated that China has been actively promoting the balanced development of technological innovation and human rights protection and strengthening international cooperation to ensure a greater role of science and technology in building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Heinz Fischer, the former president of the Republic of Austria and the president of the Austria-China Friendship Association, and Li Xiaosi, the Chinese ambassador to Austria, both mentioned that the Internet, big data, and artificial intelligence had transformed our lives and brought us both opportunities and challenges in terms of human rights protection. It is essential for countries to strengthen communication and mutual understanding. They believed that the in-depth exchange of ideas among experts and scholars around the world would promote cooperation in human rights protection.

Li Junru, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies, delivered a speech entitled “New Issues Raised by Informatization, Intelligence and the trend towards big data for Human Rights Protection”. He mentioned that the new trend in China's human rights cause was to appropriately comprehend and handle human rights issues against the background of the rapid development of information technology, network, big data and intelligence, as well as respect and protect human rights in the era of Internet information.

The conference set up a keynote speech and three parallel sessions. The keynote speech was hosted by Wang Xigen, Dean of School of Law and Dean of Institute for Human Rights Law at HUST. Fifteen well-known experts and scholars shared their perspectives on the theme. In the parallel sessions, over 50 Participants conducted in-depth exchanges on "the contribution of science and technology development to human rights", "science & technology and the right to development", and "digital technology and human rights", to form synergy to address challenges and size opportunity in the development of human rights cause as well as seek a balance between scientific and technological progress and governance on human rights in the world.

The closing ceremony was presided over by Shen Yongxiang, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies and expert of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, United Nations. At the ceremony, Xu Xiaodong, vice president of HUST and director of the Institute for Human Rights Law, expressed his sincere gratitude and stated that HUST would continue to pay close attention to the relationship between science & technology and human rights issues, focus on the connection between technological innovation and people's wellbeing, and expand the role of science and technology in supporting human rights. He also stated that the university would capitalize on its scientific and education strengths to contribute more to talent training and the regional economy.

Seven sessions of the China-Europe Seminar on Human Rights have been held since its founding in 2015. It is an institutionalized academic platform for human rights exchanges and cooperation between China and Europe. As one of the organizers of this year, Institute for Human Rights Law of Huazhong University of Science and Technology is a human rights legal research platform with a mission to advance human rights theory research and strengthen the legal protection of human rights. In December 2020, it was approved as a national human rights education and training base.

Written by: Gao Yifei

Edited by: Shi Can, Luo Xin, Jiang Jing