In the 1940s several of the Communist-controlled areas adopted declarations protecting people’s rights within their jurisdictions. Some of them also explicitly used the term human rights (renquan). The rights stipulated were predominantly civil and political rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of publication, and freedom of assembly and association. The exercise of these rights was, however, contingent upon their being used in the struggle against Japan. Certain groups of people, such as traitors, counterrevolutionaries, and others were excluded from enjoying these rights. Rights were thus not regarded as belonging to people qua human beings, but were instead contingent upon correct political beliefs. Rights were valued for their usefulness in the revolutionary struggle and were more of a means to an end than an end in themselves.
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