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3 - Rule-of-Law Reform and the Rise of Rule by Fear in China
from Showcase of Authoritarian Legality and Its Potential Erosion
- By <span class='sc'>Eva</span> <span class='sc'>Pils</span>
Edited by Weitseng Chen, National University of Singapore, Hualing Fu, The University of Hong Kong
Book:

Authoritarian Legality in Asia

Published online:

14 July 2020

Print publication:

16 July 2020, pp 90-113
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Summary

The chapter argues that the use of fear techniques as a tool of authoritarian governance is central to the reconception of law on anti-liberal and anti-rationalist terms in China’s Xi Jinping era. The changes discussed here impede attempts to continue the legal reform process that began under Deng Xiaoping. To the extent that rule by fear is inherent to authoritarian governance, developments in China expose tensions within the wider project of authoritarian legality and call its chances of success into question. These developments pose challenges to a global community more widely struggling with democratic–liberal decline and authoritarian resurgence. Yet, the Chinese example also indicates that rule by fear is itself prone to challenges from a thus far resilient civil society.