ChinaFile Recommends
03.15.18Hong Kong’s Judges Voice Fears over China Influence in Judiciary
Reuters
As Hong Kong’s judges and senior lawyers paraded in ceremonial wigs and gowns on Jan 8 to mark the start of the legal year, anxieties over China’s growing reach into the city’s vaunted legal system swirled with the wintry winds.
Conversation
09.27.17
How are NGOs in China Faring under the New Law?
In September 2016, Beijing implemented a new law governing charities, which changed the ways domestic charitable organizations can register and fundraise. Then in January 2017, Beijing began implementation of a new law on the management of foreign...
09.15.17
Analysis: How Businesses and Universities Should Respond to the Foreign NGO Law
New in our Analysis section: Rob Precht of Justice Labs argues that the obstacles the Foreign NGO Management Law creates for already beleaguered international human rights and rule of law organizations mean businesses and universities need to assume...
09.15.17
Is the Foreign NGO Law a Blessing in Disguise?
Many foreign NGOs working in China view its newly adopted Law on the Management of Foreign NGOs as a threat to their work and say the law may force their organizations to leave the country. Yet, at least for the work I am familiar with—namely, the...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.07.17China Judge Blasts Trump as “Enemy of Rule of Law”
News.com.au
A top Chinese judge has branded President Donald Trump a bully and “enemy of the rule of law” for attacking the US judiciary as China revels in the upheaval gripping the world’s leading democracy.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.30.16Uncertainty Over New Chinese Law Rattles Foreign Nonprofits
New York Times
A new law in China is raising concern among thousands of nongovernmental organizations about their ability to continue their work in the new year
ChinaFile Recommends
12.21.16China Unveils List of Activities Permitted for Foreign Non-Profits
Wall Street Journal
Law taking effect Jan. 1 is widely seen as targeted at groups working in areas such as human rights and rule of law
ChinaFile Recommends
12.15.16New Chinese Law Puts Foreign Non-Profits in Limbo
Wall Street Journal
Many NGOs could be made illegal on Jan. 1 amid campaign against unwanted foreign influences
ChinaFile Recommends
10.20.16China Lags Behind in Rule of Law Ranking
WSJ: China Real Time Report
A new global ranking finds China is making limited progress
ChinaFile Recommends
10.19.16How the Party’s Absolute Power Undermines its Efforts to Strengthen China’s Rule of Law
South China Morning Post
While Chinese leaders support the need for a credible legal system, it is their iron-clad grip that is the stumbling block to its development
ChinaFile Recommends
10.06.16Five Ways China Has Become More Repressive Under President Xi Jinping
Time
According to the 2016 report by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, there has been a broad corrosion of freedoms
Media
08.11.16
The Future of China’s Legal System
In early August, Beijing held show trials of four legal activists—a disheartening turn for those optimistic about legal reform in China. What are the prospects for the development of the rule of law in China under Communist Party Secretary Xi...
Viewpoint
02.25.16
A Looming Crisis for China’s Legal System
In China, politics continues to control law. The current leadership has rejected many of the universal legal values that China accepted—at least in principle—under communist rule in some earlier eras. Today, for example, to talk freely about...
ChinaFile Recommends
11.18.15Thailand Deports 2 Dissidents to China, Rights Groups Say
New York Times
The groups denounced the act, by the Thai authorities, as a betrayal of the two men’s right to flee feared political persecution and torture.
ChinaFile Recommends
11.18.15China Faces Sharp Questioning by U.N. Panel on Torture
New York Times
“China has made further progress in its legal development and human rights protection.”
Conversation
10.20.15
Britain: ‘China’s Best Partner in the West’?
This week, Xi Jinping is in Great Britain for a state visit, his first since assuming leadership of China nearly three years ago. Britain’s government under David Cameron has signaled—increasingly loudly in recent months—that it hopes to usher in a...
Caixin Media
10.13.15
Insider Trading Is Hindering Development of Stock Market
A series of investigations into apparent market violations emerged after the recent stock market turmoil, bringing down Zhang Yujun, an assistant chairman at the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC); Cheng Boming, general manager of CITIC...
Conversation
09.30.15
The Future of Autonomy in Hong Kong
Yesterday, the governing board of Hong Kong University, one of the territory’s most esteemed institutions of higher education, voted to reject the promotion of Johannes Chan, a former law school dean, over the objections of the faculty and students...
Caixin Media
09.28.15
Xi and Obama Should Make a BIT Breakthrough
President Xi Jinping has begun his first state visit to the United States to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in what state councilor and former foreign minister Yang Jiechi has called “a pivotal meeting at a critical time.”Xi arrived in the United...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.25.15Six Questions for Chinese President Xi Jinping
Washington Post
Chinese President Xi Jinping does not usually conduct open news conferences, but when in America, do as the Americans do.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.23.15Leading China Lawyer Says He Was Tortured
Associated Press
In his first interview in five years, leading Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng said he was tortured with an electric baton to his face and spent three years in solitary confinement during his latest period of detention since 2010.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.16.15China Locks Up Lawyers, Defending the Rule of Law
Economist
Amnesty International says 120 lawyers, and more than 50 support staff, family members and activists, have been rounded up in China since July 9th.
Conversation
07.14.15
China’s ‘Rule by Law’ Takes an Ugly Turn
Yet another crackdown has begun under Chinese President Xi Jinping. This time, the target is so-called “rights lawyers,” loosely defined as those who defend unpopular or dissident clients, or bring cases against the state that rest on claims of...
Caixin Media
06.22.15
Why Fukuyama Still Beats a Drum for Democracy
American author and political scientist Francis Fukuyama has long extolled the virtues of democracy against the backdrop of the Soviet Union’s collapse and the end of the Cold War.Fukuyama’s best-selling book The End of History and the Last Man...
Viewpoint
01.16.15
The Plight of China’s Rights Lawyers
As the year came to a close, at least seven prominent Chinese human rights lawyers rang in the New Year from a jail cell. Under President Xi Jinping, 2014 was one of the worst years in recent memory for China’s embattled civil society. Bookending...
Viewpoint
01.15.15
Chinese Lawyers to Chinese Lawmakers: Let Us Defend Our Clients
Legal Opinion on Article 35 of the Ninth (Draft) Amendment to the Criminal Law: "We are a group of legal professionals who care about the rights of lawyers and reform of the judicial system and who have taken note of the draft for the Ninth...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.07.15China’s Empty Promise of Rule by Law
China Change
I’m afraid that those of you who excitedly applauded the Communist Party’s rehashing of the term “governing the country according to the law” have forgotten the famous words of Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu, who once warned sternly, “Don’t...
Reporting & Opinion
12.23.14
China in 2014 Through the Eyes of a Human Rights Advocate
from China Change
This time last year, volunteers and I were busy writing and translating articles to prepare for the New Citizens Movement trials. Many Chinese voices were speaking out forcefully against these trials: law professors, rights lawyers, liberal...
Media
12.08.14
On First Annual Constitution Day, China’s Most Censored Word Was ‘Constitution’
On December 4, China’s first annual Constitution Day, Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily posted the complete text of the Chinese constitution to its Weibo microblogging account, accompanied by the upbeat hashtag: “Let’s all read the...
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10.29.14China to Ban Extralegal Administration with Power List
Xinhua
The new policy hopes to curb problems in administration and law enforcement such as failure in strictly observing or enforcing the law, putting their power above law, bending law for personal gains and power-for-money trades, Xi Jinping said.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.27.14Xinhua Insight: China's Legal Renaissance Sounds Death Knell for Guanxi
Xinhua
As the curtain fell on a key meeting on rule of law on Thursday, Israeli Yuval Golan, 29, felt good about his business prospects in what should be a more transparent and predictable China.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.24.14China Vows Better Rule of Law, But No Word of Disgraced Security Chief
Reuters
The moves, made at a closed-door meeting of the ruling party's elite, are pivotal to the workings of China's market economy.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.21.14China Focus: By Rule of Law, China On the Way to Improving Governance
Xinhua
At 7:00 a.m., Shanghai-based lawyer Zhang Jie opened his computer at home, logged onto the Judicial Opinions of China website, and read a court ruling on a case he had offered legal aid to. The whole process took no more than one minute.
Caixin Media
10.21.14Revision of Securities Law Is Chance to Liberalize Market
China's securities law is to undergo a comprehensive revision almost a decade after the last major overhaul. Public consultation is due to start in the first half of next year, following recent comments from officials, scholars, and market...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.20.14What China Means by ‘Rule of Law’
New York Times
There’s plenty of evidence that China sees the rule of law in nuanced and complex ways.
The NYRB China Archive
10.19.14
China’s Unstoppable Lawyers: An Interview with Teng Biao
from New York Review of Books
Teng Biao is one of China’s best-known civil-rights lawyers, and a prominent member of the weiquan, or “rights defenders,” movement, a loosely knit coalition of Chinese lawyers and activists who tackle cases related to the environment, religious...
Conversation
10.17.14
Rule of Law—Why Now?
In a recent essay, “How China’s Leaders Will Rule on the Law,” Carl Minzner looks at the question of why China’s leaders have announced they will emphasize rule of law at the upcoming Chinese Communist Party plenum slated to take place in Beijing...
Viewpoint
10.15.14
How China’s Leaders Will Rule on the Law
Last week, as the world watched the student demonstrations in Hong Kong, China’s Politburo announced the dates for the Communist Party’s annual plenary session would be from October 20-23. As in previous years, top leaders will gather in Beijing to...
ChinaFile Recommends
10.14.14‘People’s Democratic Dictatorship’ Wrongly Targeted
Global Times
A CPC-owned magazine published an article recently, saying it is wrong to negate or replace the people's democratic dictatorship with the rule of law.
ChinaFile Recommends
10.10.14China ‘Strongly Displeased’ by U.S. Rights Report
ABC
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news briefing that the independent U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China "twisted facts and attacked China on purpose" in its report.
Conversation
10.01.14
Is This the End of Hong Kong As We Know It?
Over the past week, tens of thousands of Hong Kong people have occupied the streets of their semi-autonomous city to advocate for the democratic elections slated to launch in 2017. The pro-democracy protestors have blocked major roads in the...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.30.14Why Hong Kong Remains Vital to China’s Economy
Economist
Foreign companies also use Hong Kong as their staging post for investing in China as it offers them something that no mainland city does: a stable investment environment, protected by long-established rule of law.Although much of this money is...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.23.14Chinese Court Sentences Uighur Scholar to Life in Separatism Case
New York Times
A university professor who has come to symbolize peaceful resistance by ethnic Uighurs to Chinese policies was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of separatism in the western region of Xinjiang.
Caixin Media
09.22.14
Nudging China Toward Governance Reform
Three recent items of news deserve attention. First, revisions to the budget law were passed late last month. Second, in a speech this month marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National People's Congress, Party General Secretary...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.18.14Uighur Scholar Ilham Tohti Goes on Trial in China on Separatist Charges
New York Times
A conviction of Ilham Tohti for separatism could result in the death penalty, but in his case life imprisonment is likely to be the maximum punishment because of the specific charges.
Sinica Podcast
08.02.14
The Rule of Law in China
from Sinica Podcast
This week on Sinica, Jeremy and David are joined by Donald Clarke, a professor at George Washington University where he specializes in Chinese law, for a discussion of what is happening with the Zhou Yongkang corruption scandal, as well as ongoing...
ChinaFile Recommends
07.30.14CPC to Hold Key Session on Rule of Law
Xinhua
The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee said in a meeting Tuesday presided over by the CPC Central Committee's general secretary Xi Jinping, that it will discuss governing "according to law."
Media
06.24.14
The President China Never Had
An activist lawyer heroically risks everything for his beliefs. Although he fails, his brave stand against authoritarianism wins him lasting admiration and changes the fate of his East Asian nation forever. The plot may sound seditious in mainland...
Environment
02.28.14
Citizen Sues Local Government for Failing to Curb Air Pollution
from chinadialogue
Although residents in Northern China are no strangers to dirty air, a man from the smog-enshrouded Hebei province has decided to take the local environmental authority to court for failing to control air pollution.Li Guixin, a resident in Hebei’s...
Conversation
02.13.14
Are Ethnic Tensions on the Rise in China?
On December 31, President Xi Jinping appeared on CCTV and extended his “New Year’s wishes to Chinese of all ethnic groups.” On January 15, Beijing officials detained Ilham Tohti, a leading Uighur economist and subsequently accused him of “separtist...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.03.14In China’s War On Bad Air, Government Decision to Release Data Gives Hope
Washington Post
China’s Communist state is hardly known for its transparency. So when environmental groups appealed for official air pollution data, they were not expecting much.
ChinaFile Recommends
02.03.14Imax Faces a Threat in China
New York Times
Competitors in China could cut into Imax’s potential market share, but the company has charged in several courts that a Chinese system relies on technology that was blatantly stolen.
Conversation
01.27.14
China’s Offshore Leaks: So What?
Two recent stories by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists detailed China’s elite funneling money out of China to tax havens in the Caribbean. We asked contributors to weigh the impact of the revelations.
Features
01.26.14
For Freedom, Justice, and Love
from China Change
Following is legal activist Xu Zhiyong’s closing statement at the end of his trial in Beijing on January 22, 2014. According to his lawyer, Xu was only able to read “about ten minutes of it before the presiding judge stopped him, saying it was...
ChinaFile Recommends
01.25.14Ilham Tohti’s Arrest Demonstrates China’s Renewed Hard Line on Xinjiang
Lowy Institute Interpreter
Economist Tohti was reportedly arrested after 30 police raided his apartment, confiscating documents, books and hard drives. He is most likely to be charged with ‘endangering state security,’ which carries heavy penalties including life imprisonment.
Conversation
01.06.14
Will Xi Jinping Bring a Positive New Day to China?
Chinese President Xi Jinping, just over a year in office, recently made a rare appearance in public in a Beijing restaurant, buying a cheap lunch and paying for it himself. Shortly thereafter, President Xi delivered a brief televised New Year...
Viewpoint
10.16.13
Innovation in Britain and What it Means for China
On the occasion of a high-level British delegation’s visit to Beiing this week, Vincent Ni, the long-time New York-based U.S. correspondent for the independent Caixin Media group, shared his views about China’s ability to innovate relative to what...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.03.13China’s Rule-of-Law Trial
Council on Foreign Relations
The just-concluded trial of former Communist Party boss Bo Xilai was unprecedented in opening up a high-profile legal proceeding to public scrutiny, says legal scholar Jerome A. Cohen.
Viewpoint
08.22.13
How Bo Xilai Split the Party and Divided the People
from Chinese Law Prof Blog
After the 1989 Tiananmen Incident, Chinese political struggles became milder and more mundane. Members of the Politburo and politicians of higher rank rarely were toppled (except for Chen Liangyu in 2006) and ideology seldom triggered significant...
Conversation
08.21.13
Is Xi Jinping Redder Than Bo Xilai Or Vice Versa?
Michael Anti:Competing for Redness: The Scarlet Bo vs the Vermilion Xi?Bo Xilai, the fallen Chinese princeling famous for leading a “Red Songs” communist campaign in southwest China's megacity Chongqing, is on trial today, live-Twittered from...