Democracy was a major concept introduced to China in the late nineteenth century. The debate over its form and definition as well as application was one of the major ideological battlegrounds in Chinese politics for well over a century. The People’s Republic of China was initially based on Mao’s concept of “New Democracy”, not the immediate “dictatorship of the proletariat”. Soon, however, Mao called for establishing the people’s democratic dictatorship. Starting in the 1980s, in the period of Opening and Reform, the government organized village elections in which several candidates would run. However, each candidate was chosen or approved by the Party. Human rights in China is a highly contested topic, especially for the fundamental human rights periodically reviewed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, on which the government of the People’s Republic of China and various foreign governments and human rights organizations have often disagreed. PRC authorities, their supporters, and other proponents claim that existing policies and enforcement measures are sufficient to guard against human rights abuses. The book will be found immensely informative and useful for all and for students and scholars.