China Perspective Issues
Leïla Choukroune
The norms of Chinese harmonyDisciplinary rules as social stabiliserA harmonious society is one in which the rule of law is given greater strength and authority
Whereas the concept of "socialist rule of law" punctuated political discourse in the late 1990s, it is the idea of a "socialist harmonious society" that today casts a strange light, clearly more Marxist than Confucian, on Chinese legal reform. This theoretical framework turns law into a disciplinary principle dedicated to society's moral construction. If law is seen as an instrument for legitimizing power, it remains implicitly but primarily subordinate to the regime's durability. Although more and more ordinary citizens are seizing hold of normative tools being put at their disposal, the party-state, fearful of being outflanked, is seeking to snuff out the democratic ferment contained in forces it has itself unleashed.
Hélène Piquet, La Chine au carrefour des traditions juridiques
Neil J. Diamant, Stanley B. Lubman and kevin O'Brien, Engaging the law in China: State, Society and Possibilities for Justice
The Compromised “Rule of Law by Internationalisation”
ABSTRACT: Upon accession to the WTO, China committed to a series of specific obligations often referred to as “WTO+,” aimed at the progressive transformation of the Chinese legal landscape. While one cannot ignore a number of very significant achievements as well as a true political responsiveness to other WTO members’ concerns, China has not been willing to grasp the WTO opportunity for domestic legal reforms as much as observers, and some Chinese leaders, had hoped for. This incomplete normative revolution now creates tensions between WTO members, as evidenced by an increasing number of disputes shedding a direct light on the lack of transparency in the Chinese legal system. Ten years later, this piece reflects upon predictions about Chinese “rule of law by internationalisation,” while putting China’s legal reform into a broader political perspective.
Editorial 2012/1
China and the WTO Dispute Settlement System: The Global Trade Lawyer and the State Capitalist
ABSTRACT: Since its accession to the WTO on 11 December 2001, China has been involved in eight cases as complainant, 23 as respondent, and 89 as a third party. Against all pre-entry predictions, the China-related cases have not overburdened the WTO dispute settlement system, as if all parties were implicitly respecting a latent period before engaging in commercial hostilities. Often portrayed as a “passive rule taker” in the immediate aftermath of its accession, China was not only learning by attentively watching other members’ strategies, but also benefiting from the benevolent attitude of its main trading partners, the US and the EU. Moreover, its participation in 89 WTO disputes as third party is not a trivial detail nor is it a sign of passivity, but rather one of cautious preparation that corresponded to the time needed to properly apprehend its new legal tools and all rights thereunder.