Opinion | Conservatives counter demands for constitutional rule in China

Chinese conservatives have come out to argue against the adoption of "constitutional rule", a term increasingly used by liberals to demand the realisation of basic human rights guaranteed in the Chinese constitution.

These intellectuals wanted to "change China's course of development", the paper argued.

"If the entire Western world together can't muster the might [to change China's course], then a small group of domestic dissenters will be even less able to do so."

Even though the Chinese constitution in theory guarantees freedom of speech, the press and to demonstrate, and the right to elect and be elected, human rights organisations say such rights are consistently cracked down upon.

Many lament that courts cannot invoke the constitution to protect the civil and political rights of citizens. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has attempted to cite rights guaranteed in the constitution in his trial for "inciting subversion of state power" that led to an 11-year prison sentence in 2009.

When the liberal Guangzhou-based newspaper Southern Weekly called for a realisation of a "constitutional dream" in its traditional New Years editorial in January, censors replaced the text with a more muted version, triggering a rare public strike by journalists.