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While China engages in world commerce as a global player and is signatory to international labor and human rights standards, at the same time it uses treaty reservations and its own domestic laws to limit and undermine the full application of those standards. Concern from Western governments and global human rights groups regarding China's longstanding treatment of the Uyghur people has resulted in a freeze in negotiations for the EU-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CAI). This was also a result of China's failure to ratify or implement relevant United Nations (U.N.) covenants and International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and placing reservations or domestic legal barriers on them, as well as foreign accusations of forced labor. Now that China has recently ratified ILO Convention Nos. 29 and 105 prohibiting forced labor, what will be the effect on the currently frozen negotiations of the EU-China CAI, now at an impasse due to issues relating to China's alleged discrimination and forced labor treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China? In unbundling the legalities of this stalled draft agreement, this paper progressively examines the global obligations of the U.N. covenants and ILO conventions, as well as relevant provisions in the draft CAI, in the context of the Chinese approach to international labor and human rights standards, including the EU's emerging due diligence laws and the 2021 Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the U.S. Following Part I, Part II of this paper outlines the key international labor and human rights obligations of which China is a signatory, such as the Declaration of Human Rights, U.N. treaties, ILO labor standards, free trade agreements, and national legislation. Part III addresses the legal consequences of alleged non-compliance as it may affect the Uyghurs; and Part IV provides analysis and presents the dichotomy between international standards and Chinese practices. Part V offers a conclusion suggesting the use of national legislation and more effective remedies in international standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border data flow brings new growth and opportunities for the development of digital economy, but disordered cross-border data flow may damage national security, public interests, enterprise interests, and data sovereignty. At present, the unified rules for global regulation of cross-border data flow have not yet been formed. The existing rules are mainly led by developed countries like Europe and the United States. There is huge room for improvement in the international legal protection of cross-border transmission of personal information. This paper introduces the privacy protection mechanism of personal information data under the digital trade environment in China, that is, the privacy protection framework under the background of big data, cloud computing, and the cloud service selection method of data life cycle privacy protection. At the same time, we combined with many problems existing in the cross-border transmission of personal privacy information in China and compared with foreign advanced experience, and this paper puts forward China's response path to clarify the obligations of data controllers and exporters, improve the responsibilities of regulators, improve the legislation of cross-border data flow, and improve the operability of the law; we vigorously carry out international cooperation and actively participate in the formulation of international rules, so as to further protect the rights and interests of personal privacy information protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power and its distribution have always been the central themes of international law, yet international lawyers have paid limited attention to the correlation between power shifts and legal change. Notably, international law effectively operates when balance of power is sustained. With this qualification, this paper examines the relationship of international law with the change in power distribution, arguing that international law should proactively attend to power in order to contribute to the peaceful reconfiguration of the international system. Furthermore, this paper explores the mechanism of power shift being transmitted to law shift and specifically adduces the process and effectiveness of hegemonic international law change centered on UNCLOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On September 1, 2023, China amended its Civil Procedure Law, making a historical shift from de facto to de jure reciprocity in judgment recognition and enforcement (JRE) in civil or commercial cases, and provided detailed rules for JRE under reciprocity.[1] This paper exhaustively surveys all published Chinese cases on JRE and analyzes these ground-breaking developments in an international context. It compares Chinese law for JRE with the Convention of July 2, 2019, on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters and the Convention of June 30, 2005, on Choice of Court Agreements. It critically assesses whether Chinese law for JRE would be a substitute for both Conventions in China or serve as a preliminary step to their eventual ratification, and what the remaining challenges are. It also offers useful insights for foreign courts and business actors to understand and plan for JRE in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research delves into the multifaceted issues surrounding the contested regions within the South China Sea and the intricate geopolitical dynamics at play. In the aftermath of the Arbitral Tribunal’s ruling on UNCLOS, this paper contends that China’s nine-dash line and claims to sovereignty over disputed areas have faced challenges to their legitimacy. Recognizing the contemporary global emphasis on the rule of law, the paper argues that China must reconsider its approach, creating an opportune moment for the Philippines to fortify its claims. While conventional realism and liberalism approach in International Relations prove insufficient for resolving this complex matter, the same can be said with the existing framework of International Law, which is bereft of an institution mandated to enforce legal judgments. This article proposes a model that holds potential benefits for both China and the Philippines. Analyzing the foreign policy patterns of the Duterte administration, the study reveals the strategic use of uncertainty to prevent conflict escalation. This strategic uncertainty, the paper argues, can serve as a tool for the Philippines to attain a position of relative equality with China. The suggested approach involves a phased strategy. First, the Philippines must navigate the impasse by leveraging strategic uncertainty to recalibrate its foreign policy, maintaining the status quo for itself. Simultaneously, it should enhance legitimacy through collaborative networks with other claimant states and seek alliances with major global powers such as the US, Australia, Japan, Korea, and the EU, aligning with common interests. In the second phase, as new alliances emerge and the Philippines achieves a more balanced position, the nation can transition to establishing a genuine friendship with China. Unlike traditional power models solely pursuing power for its sake, this Smooth Power Approach seeks to utilize acquired power to foster authentic friendships. An essential characteristic of smooth power is creating an environment where co-optation through friendship becomes the target state’s best interest. This approach breaks deadlocks by proposing mutually beneficial solutions, sharing power with stakeholders, and avoiding coercion, all with the ultimate goal of harmonizing interests and creating new shared objectives under the Rules-based Order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing use of measures of economic coercion by China has caused its trading partners to review their close trade ties with that country as well as their ability to resist such pressure. In December 2022, the European Union (EU) requested that the World Trade Organization (WTO) adjudicate its dispute with China regarding restrictive trade measures China had imposed on Lithuania in response to its foreign policy actions that were not to China’s liking. The EU also drafted new legislation – the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Protection of the Union and its Member States from Economic Coercion by Third Countries – to deter third countries from applying coercive measures that target the EU and its Member States. This paper considers the new instrument in the context of the EU’s evolving ‘economic de-risking’ strategy on China and a wide range of measures aimed at protecting the common market from the unfair behaviour of China and other states and reducing the EU vulnerability vis-à-vis economic and security threats. The EU’s ability to deter states from applying coercive measures against it hinges upon its ability to strengthen its market power and to use the new instrument when necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper opens a scholarly discourse about Chinese scholars' engagement with TWAIL (Third World Approach to International Law). This paper shows that Chinese international law scholars and TWAIL align in their resistance to Eurocentrism in international law, while they differ in their attitude towards whether to refrain from "national allegories" and criticize international law as a state-centric invention. A state-centric approach means that mainstream Chinese international lawyers tend to adopt a pragmatic attitude towards international law, employing it as a strategic weapon. During the course of this inquiry, this paper also observes a critical strand in Chinese academics – mostly outside of the international law discipline, and within the disciplines of history and philosophy – that is dedicated to redeeming China's subjectivity and history, which may be useful to understand Chinese critical spirit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opening of the twentieth-first century has been a time of uncertainty. Despite many visions of the future, a Eurocentric bias is still at heart of the discourse about world order. For instance, the 'Thucydides Trap' as a metaphor is often borrowed by political theories to make sense of the changing relationship between China and the United States. Yet as many are turning to ancient history in the 'West' to find wisdom for the future, they tend to overlook the story from the other side of the globe. In this paper, I investigate a genealogy of thought that there existed an international order in ancient China. The concept sounds like an oxymoron to many people today. Yet various scholars have adopted this view as an alternative to the Eurocentric world of international relations over the course of the long twentieth century, from the Western missionary W. A. P. Martin in late Qing, the Chinese historian He Bingsong in the Republican period, to the hawkish PRC foreign policy analyst Yan Xuetong. Recalling this legacy will help us to appreciate the crucial role of political idealism in the reshuffling of international relations in a world that is increasingly leaning towards power politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to examine India's water security in the present scenario of its fast dwindling water resources and aggressive posturing by China which plans to subvert Brahmaputra waters. This paper critically examines the treaties that India has so far entered into with its neighbors regarding the use of its transboundary river waters, their applicability to the water sharing conflict with China, various doctrines including the Helsinki Rules and the UN Convention of 1997, how they have been adhered to and used by different countries as well as how they can be invoked to meet India's water security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Written on the occasion of marking the 30th anniversary of the reform and opening-up process starting in 1978 which ushered in a new historical phase of both China's own development and China's interrelation with the world, the paper asserts that international law has played a unique role in this process through facilitating an increasingly broader and deeper mutual engagement and interaction between China and the world. The paper reviews both the benefits China has gained from its engaging with and using international law and the contribution made by China to international law in a wide range of areas covering international commerce and trade, environment protection, climate change, combating transnational crimes, human rights, disarmament, etc. In view of the ongoing significant changes both China and the world order are experiencing, the paper foresees a more important and conducive role for international law in China's future development and presents recommendations for China's better interaction with international law. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Revista de Direito Internacional is the property of Revista de Direito Internacional and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The relationship between a national constitution and international law reflects a nation's self-positioning in the international legal regime and its reception of international law in the local context. The adaptation of international law in the Chinese Constitution and legal system determines China's engagement and participation in the international law regime and indicates the country's treaty performance. This paper provides an overview of the position and status of international law, including both treaties and customary international law, in China's current 1982 Constitution and domestic legal system. It also analyzes current practice of international law in China's judicial practice. By reference to recent developments in the PRC Constitution and domestic laws, especially the 2018 Constitutional Amendment, this article attempts to provide a contextual analysis on the standing of international law in the Chinese Constitution and legal system, in the hope that the understanding of the interplay between international law and the Chinese constitutional and legal system will help scholars and policymakers to pursue opportunities for cultural communication and reconciliation to seek normative consensus in the formation of international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the few rich powerful nations, the idea(l) that international law fosters development is a truism, but for the rest of the world, it might only be a promising vision or worse, an empty promise. I Contemporary International Law and China's Peaceful Development i - the first book in the publisher's "Modern China and International Economic Law" series - grapples with these paradoxes and attempts to address them, through a curated collection of papers by the late Professor Lingliang Zeng on various international law topics that concern China. In a quite circuitous fashion, this chapter concludes that the envisioned harmonious world is "consistent with the principles of contemporary international law" (p. 63) - a statement that seems to reverse the roles of international law and harmonious world, with the former now serving as the normative standard for the latter. [Extracted from the article]

In recent years, maritime sovereignty disputes have become highly visible microcosms of broader contests between security orders in East Asia. Escalating tensions over seas provoke questions about how historical and territorial conceptions of sovereignty map onto maritime areas, and the continuing effectiveness of the so‐called "rules‐based order" in maintaining regimes for deciding jurisdiction of islands, rocks and other maritime land features. The paper examines sovereignty claims and the international law of the sea across various cases, including the contested claims over Dokdo/Takeshima, Senkaku/Diaoyu Dao and China's nine‐dash line. These case studies reveal the tensions between two legal regimes: territorial rules of acquisition (sovereignty) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). This article concludes by considering the ways that the symbolic nature of these disputes has implications for the capacities of UNCLOS and other legal instruments in the US‐led "rules‐based order" to establish orderly relations among states in the maritime arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) tell us about China's perceptions of the international order? This paper takes an inductive approach by examining the BRI for a two-pronged purpose: first, to understand China's perception of the international order by examining Beijing's official discourse around its intentions and vision for the initiative; and, second, to examine the mechanisms through which Chinese norms are diffused and normalised in Global South states. I find that Chinese policy navigates a dialectical interchange between upholding the existing international order while simultaneously promoting alternative norms and practices to reform parts of the order that are unsatisfactory to Chinese interests. To answer the second part of the puzzle, the paper finds that a central socialisation mechanism in China's foreign policy for Global South states occurs through professionalisation training programmes. These programmes allow for Chinese expert knowledge and technical know-how to be shared with and mimicked by elites and civil servants across many Global South states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence and quick spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the focus and dynamics of the debates about global health, international law, and policy. This shift has overshadowed many of the other controversies in the international sphere. It has also highlighted the tensions that often exist in international affairs--especially in understanding the place and purpose of international institutions, vis-à-vis states, in the general schema of public international law. Central to the international response to the current pandemic is the World Health Organization (WHO)--a treaty-based organization charged with the overarching mandate of ensuring "the highest possible level of health" for all peoples.1 Interestingly, the WHO has also become entangled in a foreign policy spat between China and the United States of America. This work explores the public international law aspects of the WHO and why we should focus on its primary policy mandate and avoid unduly heaving the institution into perennial strategic policy games of states. It argues against turning such an illustrious institution, charged with a peculiar mandate, into an arena of zero-sum competitions amongst states. The hope is that this paper will provide crucial insights and assist legal and policy experts in understanding the organization, insulating it from unnecessary strategic games of powerful states, and ensuring the continued and effective delivery of global health policy2 through the WHO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on Finnish national identities because they expressed the shared experiences of newly established Finnish communities, and they were crucial in constructing a new nation. It also explores created images of the Finnish and Finland, as well as community construction in Republican China, especially after Finland gained independence in 1917. Another aim is to examine those Finnish political, cultural and economic activities that supported their identity construction in China. The specific emphasis will be on analysing the largest and sometimes cross‐functioning Finnish groups in China: the governmental officials and the commercial community. By using qualitative methods, namely, discourse analysis and historical analysis, this study shows how the Finnish community created alternative, sometimes imaginative and frequently anti‐imperialist national identities in the new Republican China. Indeed, by signing the Treaty Principles of Reciprocity and Equal Treatment, it was agreed that Finland and China 'shall enjoy same rights, privileges, favours, immunities and exemptions which [might] be accorded to similar foreign agents in accordance with the principles of international law'. This article argues that Finnish aspirations were positively regarded by many Chinese, and they respected this quite unique national connection with Finland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2019, the Hague Conference on Private International Law adopted the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters. As an outcome of the Judgments Project, this Convention will exert a great influence on the global circulation of foreign judgments. China attached great importance to the Judgments Project and participated in the full negotiation process. This paper is a reflection of some of the Chinese negotiators' approaches in handling certain very difficult but important issues in the process, with the hope that it may shed some light on China's negotiation practice and the principles it adheres to in the international law arena, which are fully in line with the principles of equity and justice, mutual benefit, and win-win outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ars Boni et Aequi is the property of Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Facultad de Derecho y Comunicacion Social and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As a crucial part of the Maritime Silk Road, underwater cultural heritage plays a role in promoting development of One Belt and One Road in China due to its historical, archaeological and cultural value. The Chinese government has taken effective and reasonable measures to safeguard underwater cultural heritage, with numerous achievements. This paper addresses recent developments in the preservation of underwater cultural heritage with regard to legislation and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One quarter of the world's population live in China. Chinese law is fast shifting into the global arena. China's response to new and emerging crimes over the last decade is now an important international human rights issue. This paper discusses some key concepts for understanding the criminal justice system of a country that is fast becoming the second most economically and geopolitically powerful nation in the world. Thousands of criminals are executed during China's periodic `Strike Hard' anti-crime campaigns. This paper examines the Strike Hard policy of `severity and swiftness seeking to achieve three complementary objectives: to provide insight into the machinations of criminal justice operations in China's anti-crime campaigns, to explain official justifications for the policy, and to give voice to alternative commentaries and opinions of Chinese criminal justice researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet has unarguably changed our paradigm of social interaction, perceptions, and norms, and will continue to affect future generations as it evolves. Through content regulation, nations are able to manipulate the way that paradigm shifts and thus, both directly and incidentally, control our future. This paper will assess how the ideologically polar opposites United States and China regulate the Internet, what content both nations regulate, and whether regulation of that content is possible and desirable. Inspired by the recent events at the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, China, in which the Chinese government attempted to show a faux sense of openness, transparency and freedom of their Internet, the topic of Internet content regulation is crucial to all global citizens. This paper will first focus on the birth and infrastructure of the Internet, followed by the intricacies of technical and legal modes of Internet content regulation. It will then present the approaches of several legal theories that have been presented by various scholars who are pro and against Internet content regulation. Lastly, it will evaluate those approaches and present an alternate way of how United States and China should approach Internet content regulation as to minimally overstep their powers and minimize harm to the freedom of expression and privacy of their citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professor Sienho Yee has recently published a paper in Chinese Journal of International Law, entitled, “Unilateral Sanctions: Kind and Degree; Long-arm and Strong Arm Jurisdiction; Real Intent and ‘Could-be’ Intent.” Yee has ably elaborated that to assess the conduct of unilateral sanctions, there is a need to consider a question of “kind” so as to a question of “degree.” Further, the so-called “long-arm jurisdiction” should be better phrased as “strong-arm jurisdiction” since sometimes long-arm jurisdiction may be lawful, whereas the current version of the long-arm jurisdiction asserted by the United States is so extreme that it is no longer lawful. To this end, attention should be paid to the level of scrutiny or standard of review that a decision-maker would apply to the assessment of intent. Following from Yee’s thoughts, this note would like to elaborate further on another aspect, namely, the proportionality and necessity of unilateral sanctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) introduces new eligibility requirements for existing USD 7,500 tax-credit provided to electric vehicles. The new requirements condition the credit upon North American final assembly and North American-sourced materials and components. As tensions flare between the US and China, these new local content requirements reflect the US’s effort to establish a supply chain for electric vehicles that circumvents China. The blow, however, is felt elsewhere, namely by South Korean auto makers whose electric vehicle models are no longer eligible for the significant tax-credit necessary to compete in the American market. As South Korea considers submitting a complaint to relevant international bodies, this paper dissects the IRA’s relevant provisions and analyzes the applicability of international trade law rules of the WTO and the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement to the new local content requirements of the IRA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legal profession is undergoing fundamental changes; and this is the case not just in established legal markets. Based on a state-of-the-art sketch, this paper identifies and analyzes the latest innovation initiatives and alternative business models in China's legal profession. It finds that, propelled by market demands and benefiting from technological advancements, the provision of legal services has become highly versatile today, giving rise to various alternative service providers, especially the rapidly rising online legal service portals. Because they are technically not law firms, the exclusivity requirements on lawyer ownership and legal service provision are not applicable to them. In the meantime, the competition for large corporate clients and lucrative business transactions is fierce and will continue to be so, not only within the club of big Chinese corporate law firms, but also between Chinese law firms and international law firms globally. In this course, some leading big corporate law firms in China are observed to have creatively incorporated key corporate features in running their business and compensating their partners, effectively deviating from the partnership + pure legal services regulation. Such market realities question the necessity and effect of the regulatory restrictions on law firm legal form and ownership structure, and call for an agenda for related research in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how Chinese private international law responds to online data protection from two aspects: jurisdiction and applicable law. Compared with foreign laws, Chinese private international law related to online data protection has two distinct features. Chinese law for personal jurisdiction is still highly territorial-based. The "target" factor and the interactive level of a website have no play in Chinese jurisprudence. Regarding applicable law, Chinese legislators focus more on the domestic compliance with data regulations rather than their extra-territorial application. Moreover, like foreign countries, China also resorts to Internet intermediaries to enhance enforcement of domestic law. These features should be understood in the Chinese contexts of high-level data localization and Internet censorship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Initiated in 2008, the EU'S Arctic policy acknowledges the evolving geo-strategy of the Arctic region and intends to secure the EU'S trade and resource interests as new actors like China enter the Arctic arena. This paper shows that China's growing assertiveness in the Arctic has impacted upon both EU Arctic policy and EU foreign policy. The new China's trade interests in the Arctic, in particular the sensitive issue of rare earth elements, have triggered various moves in the EU in terms of trade and cooperation policies. The use of international law gives the EU some leeway to manage legal tensions with China which may still remain in some sectors, and which may also arise in connection with China's legitimate aspirations in terms of becoming a rule maker as well. On an institutional level, engaging in an ambitious agenda with China also proves that the European External Action Service has gained in efficiency and internal coherence. Finally, this article also shows that the increasing connection of the EU'S Arctic policy with major bilateral relations calls for strengthened EU diplomatic attention in order to respect the principles guiding the EU'S action on the international scene as stated in the Treaty of the European Union, and to avoid a Eurocentric attitude that could undermine the ability of the EU to be a global actor. EU-China cooperation on Arctic issues certainly relies on a strong potential for cooperation, but it also represents additional challenges for the integrated EU Arctic policy that is expected by the end of 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 30 December 2020, the European Union (EU) and China agreed in principle to a revamped investment treaty: The Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). Notably, the EU and China have not decided which investment dispute resolution system will be included under the new agreement. Instead, the EU and China are continuing negotiations on this contentious topic. This article discusses the key features of the proposed investment court system in the context of the CAI negotiations to assess whether China could agree on such a paradigmatic change that would have systemic consequences. The article explains the objective reasons behind China's partial support for the proposed reforms to the existing investor-state arbitration system. For example, China has supported adding an appellate body without accepting the EU's full-fledged investment court proposal. Finally, the article identifies the points of convergence and divergence which will shape the CAI negotiations and pave the way to global investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the process of resolving the Natuna sea dispute between Indonesia and China to obtain their respective sovereignty. The Natuna Sea is one of the outermost waters in Indonesia, which is unilaterally claimed by China at the South China Sea (indicated with dash lines on Figure 1). This claim overlaps with Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Natuna Sea. As a result of this claim, many Chinese fishermen are free to go in and out of catching fish in Natuna Waters with illegal fishing status. The method used in this research was qualitative and descriptive research. The data collection technique was based on a literature study and was strengthened by interviewees. The study results show that this dispute resolution process is carried out through two approaches, namely the international law approach and the diplomatic approach. Because through these two approach strategies, this dispute resolution can be accomplished very comprehensively. The legal approach was taken by submitting a Diplomatic Protest Note to China. Also, the diplomatic approach was taken by Indonesia and other ASEAN countries within the ASEAN Way framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of states in the former communist bloc, such as Russia, have adopted the doctrine of the fundamental principles of international law, which originated from the former Soviet Union. What is the concept of the fundamental principles of international law in China? This study elucidates the uniqueness of the fundamental principles in China by comparing doctrines of international law in the Soviet Union and Western countries with reference to descriptions in contemporary international law textbooks in China. In Chinese studies, the fundamental principles of international law are considered universally recognized by all States (...); thus, they are applicable across a wide range of fields and provide the basic elements for framing individual rules of international law. In addition, the fundamental principles invalidate other rules of international law, such as treaties or customary international laws that conflict with them, similar to jus cogens norms. The prevailing view in Euro-American international studies makes significant room for the establishment ofparticular international laws that are distinct from general international law. Therefore, there is ample space for the unique development of international law among States with unitary political systems, societal institutions, and cultures. The Soviet school of international law explains the development of higher-level international laws within the Soviet bloc in accordance with these points. However, Chinese international law does not adopt the Soviet view of the formulation of international law. Instead, the Chinese doctrine of the fundamental principles of international law centers on a structure that identifies the superiority of international law as universally recognized by all nations (i.e., ...) to that within blocs that have a single political system, social regime, and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU has been the protagonist in promoting the internationalization of competition laws based on EU competition law norms. The development of China's Antimonopoly Law shows that EU has succeeded so far in establishing itself as the main reference point for China's competition regulation. The success can be mainly attributed to the EU-China Competition Dialogue (Dialogue), a new initiative set up by EU and China in 2004. The paper reviews the internationalization of EU competition law and its characteristics. It then examines the Dialogue and how EU exported its competition law norms to one of the latest AML secondary legislations on Antimonopoly Pricing. It argues that the Dialogue's informal nature, EU's routinized technical assistance to Chinese competition authorities and its China-oriented strategy in communication have been highly important in ensuring that the EU Competition Law becomes the main reference point for the AML. However, the paper argues that it is for the same reasons that EU faces weakness in controlling the reception of EU competition law norms by China. Based on this, the paper further illustrates that EU's understanding of competition law internationalization as reflected under the Dialogue has not undergone fundamental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upon its accession, China established a judicial review mechanism for trade remedy determinations pursuant to WTO rules. However, the operational details of the mechanism remain unclear. This paper fills the research gap by discussing the main issues in the judicial review process, including types of determinations that are reviewable, which parties may participate in such cases, which court has the jurisdiction, standards applicable in reviews of law and facts, burden of proof, evidentiary rules, direct application of WTO agreements, appeal mechanism and remedies available. The paper concludes that while China has built a judicial review mechanism that satisfies the minimum requirements of the WTO, its utility is greatly restricted by problems within the judicial system in general. Unless broad changes are made, judicial review will remain an untested theoretical possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper offers an analysis of the approaches employed in the three interpretations of the Basic Law of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) after the return of Hong Kong to China, including textualism, structural reading and originalism. The paper stresses the application of jurisprudential theory in the skilful employment of these methods in the NPC interpretations. In the case of "the right of abode" in Hong Kong the differences between the interpretations by the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong and by the NPC rest mainly in whether a formalist procedural review or a substantivist presumption of intent should be adopted in the process of determining an authoritative text that embodies the original intention of the legislation. That is not just a difference of legal interpretation but also one of jurisprudential theory and political stance. Based on the above considerations, this paper criticizes the common misconception that it is not appropriate for legislators to undertake legal interpretation, and calls for an understanding of the Basic Law in the framework of Chinese constitutional government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper briefly summarizes the tenets of the idea of a Harmonious World as proposed by China, compares them with those of a Co-progressive World as proposed by the author and highlights the important roles of the international law of co-progressiveness and leader States in realizing the vision of the Harmonious World or Co-progressive World. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that governments of some otherwise enlightened states are increasingly fearful of acknowledging the restraints imposed on them by existing international law. They are also reluctant to enter into new commitments by way of international conventions that would expand the reach of international law. The paper asks whether these fears are based on a true understanding of international law or on some distorted view of it. It will draw comparisons and some contrasts between Australia and the United States in their reactions to a number of recent events as well as to some enduring situations of contemporary relevance. Had time (and the limits of my research) permitted, one might also have examined public attitudes toward international law in China, Japan, and Russia in this context, where similar fears appear to be entertained. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, also enlightened states, appear by contrast to belong to a group more dedicated to international law. As Robert Kagan has recently remarked, the experience of two world wars at close quarters, and the formation of the European Union, have made the European countries more dedicated to process, where the United States is more interested in results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the trafficking and smuggling of human beings from and through the former Soviet Union. It explores the reasons for the rise in the illegal movement of people; the groups which facilitate it; the demographics of the people who are moved and the business side, including the profits, the disposition of profits and the use of corruption to facilitate the trade. With the disintegration of state control over national territory, this mass movement of people often violates national laws and the national sovereignty of the countries of the Soviet successor states and the countries where the former Soviet citizens move illegally. The paper concludes that this trade mirrors and contributes to the overall downward development of the post-Soviet economies. In contrast, a comparative look at the respective Chinese developments indicates that trade in human beings tends to facilitate the growth of both the Chinese legitimate and illegitimate economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its founding in 1949, the People's Republic of China has acceded to more than 300 multilateral treaties. Among them, China made reservations to 83 treaties, accounting for nearly 27.7 percent of the total. Evidently, for China, formulating reservations to multilateral treaties is an issue of vital importance in the process of concluding and executing multilateral treaties. This paper examines the three main reasons why China inclines to formulate reservations to the treaties, then argues that the reservations formulated by China, whether in procedure or in substance, are not only in full conformity with the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, but also full of Chinese characteristics. This paper also analyzes several specific reservations that China shall withdraw, and addresses the limitations of China's existing treaty reservation system. Accordingly, this paper concludes that the Chinese government should improve and perfect its treaty reservation system with some suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulators should not just leave FinTech rulemaking up to financial regulators. Contracting authorities should not just develop or use their own selected FinTech applications willy-nilly. They should contribute to overall changes in a procurement law -which extend far beyond simple supervisory or regulatory technologies (RegTech/SupTech). Governments should get serious about the Agreement on Government Procurement and similar treaties - by creating a new authority to help develop the law needed to put FinTech-enabled procurement platforms in place. China's own world-leading FinTech and cross-border public procurements do not always contribute to a global level playing field. Any FinTech applications facilitating public procurement should thus encourage compliance with the procurement law legal principles the international community has developed over decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Quarterly is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aimed to discuss the legal limbo of Taiwan, whose political situation lies in a grey area of international law. Its legal status is ambiguous: while meeting the characteristics of a State, it is not recognized by other States so long as China claims it as a Chinese territory. The methodology developed in this study adopted the descriptive analytical approach to the different principles of international law, in addition to quantitative methods, which involved gathering data on cases, courts, and resolutions of international organizations, followed by thorough analysis. This research provided an in-depth investigation to critically assess Taiwan's fragile status quo, threatened by a potential Chinese military intervention. The study found that the idea that Taiwan is deprived of legal status points out the shortcomings of international law. This study concluded that to overcome this tricky situation, Taiwan should take bold moves, such as making constitutional reforms to facilitate its independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A foreword to the June 2011 issue of "Chinese Journal of International Law" is presented.

This Survey covers materials reflecting Chinese practice in 2019 relating to: treaties, agreements and other documents signed or ratified by the People's Republic of China; national legislation; statements made by Chinese representatives at the meetings of the UN and other international organizations, international conferences, and those made by the Foreign Ministry spokespersons, with respect to various branches of international law; and judicial decisions, in particular on the applicability and application of international conventions, by Chinese courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s abundant transboundary water resources face new challenges as demands increase, internally and externally. As China seeks new ways to cooperate with its riparian neighbours, more attention is being paid to international water law in the evolving diplomatic practice across the region. China’s (mostly) bilateral transboundary water cooperation is here characterized as ‘responsive diplomacy’. This paper explores China’s state practice in this context and concludes by recommending that it moves from ‘responsive’ towards ‘preventive’ diplomacy. The author offers strategic and policy responses in order to effect this change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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