Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009
The interaction between the millennial dominant orientations of Chinese culture and the entire impact of modernization and of Marxism-Leninism is a story that is unfolding before our eyes, and we have no neat formula for predicting its outcome
By focusing on legal reforms this Special Issue of The China Quarterly draws attention to a group of institutions whose fate is crucial for China's future. The economic reforms that have transformed China since the late 1970s are generating new institutions and transactions that demand legal definition. The surge of foreign direct investment that has made China the world's largest capital-importing country makes necessary further development of the legal framework for foreign trade and investment. More-over, forces broader and needs deeper than those produced by economic development will also help to impel Chinese law reforms.
When the Chinese leadership turned its attention to creating a legal order after the end of the Cultural Revolution, one of its expressed concerns was to reduce official arbitrariness. Even though the totalitarian grip of the Chinese Communist Party has weakened since then, concerns about arbitrariness are no less and can only increase. Furthermore, if China is to cope with the many problems that are by-products of economic reform, including a decline in social order, spreading corruption and a general crisis of values, it will need strong legal institutions and a legal culture that promotes the rule of law. The rule of law has become an issue for many more Chinese than just their leaders or intellectuals.
1. Schwartz, Benjamin, China's Cultural Values (Tempe, AZ: Center for Asian Studies, Arizona State University, 1993), p. 19.Google Scholar
2. Alford, William P., “Seek truth from facts – especially when they are unpleasant: America's understanding of China's efforts at law reform,” Pacific Basin Law Journal, Vol. 8(1990), pp. 177–196 at p. 182.Google Scholar
3. Jones, William C., “Some questions regarding the significance of the General Provisions of Civil Law of the People's Republic of China,” Harvard Journal of International Law, Vol. 28 (1987), p. 309.Google Scholar
4. Tanner, Murray Scot, “Organizations and politics in China's post-Mao law-making system” in Potter, Pitman B. (ed.), Domestic Law Reforms in Post-Mao China (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1994) pp. 56–96.Google Scholar
5. Tanner, p. 64.
6. His conclusions add interest to NPC Vice-Chairman Tian Jiyun's suggestion that rather than let legislation be allowed to come forward from “departments concerned,” it was desirable for the NPC Standing Committee and its Special Committees to “organize and take the lead in drafting some laws,” “Tian Jiyun on laws for market economy,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report, China (hereafter FBIS-CHI), 23 July 1993, p. 36 at p. 37.Google Scholar
7. See e.g. Wang, Guiguo, Business Law of China: Cases, Text and Commentary (Hong Kong: Butterworths Asia, 1993) p. 36Google Scholar and authorities there cited.
8. See William C. Jones, “The significance of the Opinion of the Supreme People's Court for civil law in China” in Potter, Domestic Law Reform in Post-Mao China, pp. 97–108. Jones views the Opinion differently, concluding that it “provides rules for deciding minor problems but makes no effort to be complete nor to deal with serious interpretive issues” (p. 103).
9. Liu, Nanping, “ ‘Legal precedents’ with Chinese characterstics; published cases in the Gazette of the Supreme People's Court,” Journal of Chinese Law, Vol. 5 (1991), pp. 107–141Google Scholar; Finder, Susan, “The Supreme Court of the People's Republic of China,” Journal of Chinese Law, Vol. 7 (1993), pp. 225–275Google Scholar, concluding that “the Court is involved in interpreting law, legislating, adjudicating, as well as administering the judicial system.” p. 223.
10. Dicks, p. 93.
11. Ibid. p. 84.
12. Ibid. pp. 94–95.
13. Ibid. p. 109.
14. “Ren Jianxin delivers Supreme People's Court work report,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 25 April 1991, Part 3, Special Supplement FE/1055/C1/1 at p. 6.
15. “Supreme People's Court Work Report,” FBIS-CHI, 7 April 1993, p. 17 at p. 19.
16. Quoted in Bersani, Matthew D., “The enforcement of arbitration awards in China,” Journal of International Arbitration, Vol. 10 (1993), pp. 47–53 at p. 49.Google Scholar
17. Epstein, Edward J., “Editor's notes,” China Law & Practice, Vol. 5 (17 June 1991), p. 61 at p. 65.Google Scholar
18. See also Cheng, Lucie and Rosett, Arthur, “Contract with a Chinese face: socially embedded factors in the transformation from hierarchy to market, 1978–1989,” Journal of Chinese Law, Vol. 5 (1991), pp. 143–244 at p. 242Google Scholar: “Courts are creatures of the level of government… that creates them, appoints the judges, and which continues to supervise in detail their activities.”
19. Kaixiang, Yang, “A comparative study of judges’ status,” Shanghai faxue (Jurisprudence), No. 137 (10 April 1993)Google Scholar, translated as “Judges’ status in judicial system discussed,” JPRS-CAR-93.041, 21 June 1993, p. 28.
20. Koguchi, Hikota, “Some observations about ‘judicial independence’ in post-Mao China,” Boston College Third World Law Journal, Vol. 5 (1987), pp. 195–213.Google Scholar
21. Clarke and Feinerman, pp. 152–53.
22. Alford, p. 31.
23. Ibid. p. 32.
24. Clarke and Feinerman, p. 140.
25. Alford, p. 36.
26. Ibid. p. 37.
27. Potter, p. 167.
28. See e.g. Potter, pp. 174–76, Feinerman, p. 193.
29. Potter, p. 156.
30. Ibid. p. 174.
31. Feinerman, pp. 186–87.
32. When it was reported that eight Chinese athletes had tested positive for drug usage at an international competition, one observer noted that when China lost face in sport circles “its credibility was harmed in a broader sense, at a moment when it is seeking closer integration with the international community.” “Swimmer's reputation takes a dive: the embarrassment of China's drug-shamed sports leaders,” Financial Times, 3 December 1994. Earlier in 1994, China became “the first country to flout the conventions of space by parking a satellite in a position that could interfere with other satellites and hinder the Asian ambitions of international broadcasting companies.” “Beijing flouts convention on satellite parking,” Financial Times 2 August 1994.
33. Feinerman, p. 208.
34. See, discussing comparative study of Chinese culture generally, Nathan, Andrew, “Is Chinese culture distinctive?” The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 52 (1993), pp. 923–936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35. Frankenberg, Gunter, “Critical comparisons: re-thinking comparative law,” Harvard Journal of International Law, Vol. 26 (1985), p. 411 at pp. 434–40.Google Scholar
36. Limitations on space prevent further consideration of the thorny problem of defining the categories of analysis, including other functions that could be usefully employed in analysis. Tanner, in his paper, mentions “differing roles of legislation,” and enumerates: cementing policy changes; hortatory calls for some desired behaviour; vehicles for policy debate; and declarations of policy intent for domestic and foreign purposes.
37. They continue to appear from time to time. In the early 1980s, even though the leadership had eschewed the use of campaigns, the creation of new legal institutions led to a propaganda offensive to educate the Chinese populace about the new institutions and promote their use. See e.g. Lubman, Stanley, “Emerging functions of formal legal institutions in China's modernization,” China Law Reporter, Vol. 2 (1983), pp. 195–266 at p. 238.Google Scholar
38. “Jiang links strong legal system, successful reform,” FBIS-CHI, 16 December 1992, p. 19.
39. Note, “Concepts of law in the Chinese anti-crime campaigns,” Harvard Law Review, Vol. 89 (1985), p. 1890.
40. “Supreme People's Court work report,” p. 19.
41. “Anti-corruption drive starts,” Eastern Express, 20 April 1994.
42. See “Regulations governing public offences,” FBIS-CHI, 16 May 1994, pp. 15–21, a translation of the PRC Regulations for Controlling and Punishing Public Offences, adopted as amended by the Seventh Session of the Eighth National People's Congress, 12 May 1994. The statute was first adopted in 1957.
43. Clarke and Feinerman, p. 143.
44. Tanner, p. 54, citing Pittman B. Potter, “The Administrative Litigation Law of the PRC: judicial review and bureaucratic reform” in Potter, Domestic Law Reforms in Post-Mao China, pp. 270–304. Tanner also mentions that ministries frequently seek exemptions from the coverage of new legislation.
45. Potter, p. 170.
46. “Tian Jiyun on laws for market economy”; see also “Accelerated law-making urged to boost market economy,” translated from Beijing Zhongguo wuzi bao (China Materials Newspaper), 7 March 1994, p. 4 in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, JPRS Report China, 12 May 1994, pp. 14—16.Google Scholar Compare a more tentative formulation: “Since the convocation of the 14th CPC National Congress, a consensus has been established among many people: to a considerable extent, market economy means economy operated under a legal system.” (emphasis supplied), “Xinhua on socialist market economy laws,” FBIS-CHI, 7 July 1993, pp. 18–20 at p. 19.
47. Clarke, p. 65.
48. Ibid. p. 69.
49. Legal rights are also weakly defined because of ideological and political constraints on modifying certain institutions. Thus, although the need for redefining property rights is frequently reiterated, since the onset of economic reforms Chinese debate on redefining property rights has been hampered by the political and economic sensitivity of reforming many loss-incurring state-owned enterprises.
50. Clarke, p. 80.
51. Feinerman, p. 194.
52. “Passion for profit,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 23 June 1994, p. 54–56 at p. 55.
53. Clarke, p. 66.
54. See generally Yin, Yu, “Phenomena of ‘officials’ violating discipline in exercising authority and ways to deal with them,“ Fazhi ribao (Legal Daily), 23 May 1993Google Scholar, translated in FBIS-CHI, 10 June 1993.
55. See e.g. “Xinhua reports on 4th CPC plenum decision,” FBIS-CHI, 6 October 1994, pp. 13–25, at p. 18, describing the weakness of CCP “grass-roots party organizations.”
56. See e.g. “The road from Tiananmen,” The Economist, 4 June 1994, pp. 19–21.
57. See e.g. “Chinese pirates,” Asian Wall Street Journal, 18 February 1994.
58. See e.g. “Circular on school fee collection control,” translated in FBIS-CHI, 21 October 1993, pp. 24–26; “Customs administration to curb illegal fees,” FBIS-CHI, 14 October 1993, pp. 14–15; “Regulations on fees borne by peasants reported,” 12 December 1991 in FBIS-CHI, 10 January 1992, pp. 36–38; “Circular on fees subject to cancellation issued,” FBIS-CHI, 12 November 1993, pp. 59–60 (illegal fees cancelled by Ministry of Finance, State Planning Commission).
59. See e.g. “Customs offices ordered to close tertiary businesses,” FBIS-CHI, 21 October 1993, pp. 41–42; “Ban on Party, government organs doing business,” FBIS-CHI, 22 July 1992; “Party, government offices ordered to server economic ties,” FBIS-CHI, 25 October 1993 p. 18, and “‘Text’ of regulations,” FBIS-CHI, 25 October 1993, pp. 18–20.
60. See e.g. Stone, Brewer S., “Don't get stuck in China,” Asian Wall Street Journal, 23 September 1993Google Scholar; “Enemies in the ranks,” South China Morning Post, 24 April 1994.
61. See e.g. “Guard against the illegal transfer of public assets in the course of moving toward market economy,” Uaowang, 12 April 1993, pp. 13–14, translated as “Economist on illegal transfer of public assets,” FBIS-CHI, 10 May 1993, pp. 31–33.
62. See e.g. Brick, Andrew, “The Emperor of Heilongcun,” Wall Street Journal, 16 July 1993Google Scholar; Sun, Lena, “For China's peasants, abuses by ‘warlords’ adds to their misery,” International Herald Tribune, 12 October 1993.Google Scholar
63. “Rebellion grows in China's cotton fields,” Wall Street Journal, 15 November 1994.
64. See e.g. “Soldiers of fortune: Chinese army fashions major role for itself as a business empire,” Wall Street Journal, 24 May 1994, p. 1; “Gun ban to affect two Chinese firms whose big size will limit injury,” Wall Street Journal, 27 May 1994.
65. See e.g. “China's regulators outgunned in war on fraud,” International Herald Tribune, 18 February 1994: “As China struggles to establish rules to govern securities trading, blatant fraud and insider dealing on the country's stock markets are going largely unpunished.”
66. See e.g. Bowring, Philip, “China: capital flight is hurting the currency and the country,” International Herald Tribune, 5 July 1993Google Scholar; Sender, Henny, “Follow the money,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 14 October 1993, p. 74.Google Scholar
67. See e.g. Sender, Henny, “Taxing problem: Peking grapples with massive tax evasion,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 25 November 1993, pp. 52–53.Google Scholar
68. See e.g. Segal, Gerald, “China's changing shape,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 73, No. 3 (May/June 1994) pp. 43–58 at p. 45CrossRefGoogle Scholar: “…Beijing's failure to implement an economic austerity package in the summer of 1993 was almost entirely due to resistance by the rich coastal provinces.”
69. Schell, Orville, Mandate of Heaven (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994) pp. 293–310.Google Scholar
70. Potter, p. 184.
71. Scalapino, Robert, “China in the late Leninist era,” The China Quarterly, No. 136 (December 1993), pp. 949–971 at pp. 963–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
72. White, Gordon, “Democratization and economic reform in China,” Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 31 (January 1994), pp. 73–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
73. Ibid. p. 79.
74. Ibid.
75. Whyte, Martin King, “Urban China: a civil society in the making?” in Arthur Lewis, Rosenbaum (ed.), State and Society in China: The Consequences of Reform (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992) pp. 77–101.Google Scholar
76. Ibid. p. 97.
77. Wakeman, Frederic Jr., “The civil society and public sphere debate,” Modern China, Vol. 19, No. 2 (April 1992), pp. 108–139 at p. 134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
78. Dorothy J. Solinger, “Urban entrepreneurs and the state: the merger of state and society,” in Rosenbaum, State and Society in China, pp. 121–141.
79. Walder, Andrew G., “Corporate organization and local government property rights in China,” in Vedat, Milor (ed.), Changing Political Economies: Privatization in Post-Communist and Reforming Communist States (Boulder & London: Lynne Rienner, 1994) pp. 53–66 at p. 62Google Scholar, citing excellent articles by Jean Oi and Christine P. Wong on the Chinese countryside.
80. Pearson, Margaret M., “The Janus face of business associations in China: socialist corporatism in foreign enterprises,” Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 31 (January 1994), pp. 26–66 at p. 35.Google Scholar
81. Ibid.
82. Feinerman, p. 190.
83. See e.g. Keith, Ronald C., China's Struggle for the Rule of Law (New York: St Martin's Press, 1994) at p. 48CrossRefGoogle Scholar, referring to traditional Chinese concepts of law: “…law reinforced hierarchy and obligation rather than a notion of rights as separate from obligations.” Compare also Pye, Lucian W., “China: erratic state, frustrated society, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Fall 1990), pp. 56–74 at p. 59CrossRefGoogle Scholar, arguing that because the traditional Chinese state, although it “pretended to omnipotence” had limited “policy-implementing authority… Chinese society has gone along with the pretence of official omnipotence while following its own lead and making almost no demands on the government.” A consequence was “the great Chinese political game of feigned compliance. Central authorities issue their ‘absolute’ orders and local authorities proclaim their obedience, even as they quietly proceed to do what they think best. Higher authorities are hesitant to check too carefully about the implementation of their orders for fear that it might reveal their impotence and shatter the pretentions of absolute power.” Pye's views are suggestive for the making and implementation of Chinese law today.
84. Clarke and Feinerman, p. 153.
85. Potter, Pitman B., “Riding the tiger: legitimacy and legal culture in Post-Mao China,” The China Quarterly, No. 138 (June 1994), pp. 328–358.Google Scholar
86. “The Chinese civil law… is, in effect, German civil law.” Jones, William C. (ed.), Basic Principles of the Civil Law in China (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1989), p. xvi.Google Scholar
87. See, for examples, Keith, China's Struggle for the Rule of Law, which, however, also concludes - without evidence - that China’ s leadership agrees with the writings of Chinese legal academics as Keith has summarized them.
88. Potter, p. 184.
89. “China's diaspora turns homeward,” The Economist, 27 November 1993, pp. 33–34.
90. “Woo's new wave,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 23 December 1993 pp. 38–39 at p. 39, quoting Peter Woo, Chairman of Wheelock.
91. Ibid.
92. As one observer has noted:” Some cultures do, of course, show a remarkable continuity over long stretches of time. But… a multi-million manufacturing company in Taiwan is not simply a peasant clan writ large…. On the contrary, in some situations, people can drastically change their beliefs and their behavior, often in an amazingly short period of time.” Peter L. Berger, “Is Asia's success transplantable,” Asian Wall Street Journal, 20 April 1994.
93. Except, of course, when they are treated arbitrarily in China. See “Detained HK man vows to clear name,” South China Morning Post, 11 October 1993, quoting a Hong Kong businessman holding an American passport who alleged that he had been illegally arrested in China because of a business dispute with a PRC partner: “I was a so-called China expert, but I have learned more in 40 days in detention than I have in 40 years of academia.”
94. Lubman, Stanley B., “Form and function in the Chinese criminal process,” Columbia Law Review, Vol. 69 (1969), pp. 535–575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
95. Even to the point of believing that “creation of a legal regulatory mechanism can engender the very institution which the law has been created to regulate.” Feinerman, James V., “Backwards into the future,” Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 52(1989), pp. 169–184 at p. 169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
96. Alford, p. 36.
97. See e.g. use of the courts by peasants protesting cadre arbitrariness, reported in Croll, Elisabeth, From Heaven to Earth: Images and Experiences of Development in China (London & New York: Routledge, 1994), pp. 132–33.Google Scholar