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China’s Perspectives on Public International Law: Selective Adaptation of International Treaties and the Community of Common Destiny Concept

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Ahl, B. China’s Perspectives on Public International Law: Selective Adaptation of International Treaties and the Community of Common Destiny Concept. German Yearbook of International Law, 64(1), 97-116. https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.64.1.97
Ahl, Björn "China’s Perspectives on Public International Law: Selective Adaptation of International Treaties and the Community of Common Destiny Concept" German Yearbook of International Law 64.1, 2022, 97-116. https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.64.1.97
Ahl, Björn (2022): China’s Perspectives on Public International Law: Selective Adaptation of International Treaties and the Community of Common Destiny Concept, in: German Yearbook of International Law, vol. 64, iss. 1, 97-116, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.64.1.97

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China’s Perspectives on Public International Law: Selective Adaptation of International Treaties and the Community of Common Destiny Concept

Ahl, Björn

German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 64 (2021), Iss. 1 : pp. 97–116

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Professor and Chair of Chinese Legal Culture, University of Cologne.

Abstract

This study analyses two aspects of China’s perspectives on public international law: the implementation mechanism that gives legal effect to international treaties within the Chinese domestic legal system and the views of Chinese international law scholars on the important foreign policy concept of ‘the community of common destiny for mankind’. The author argues that the mode of domestic treaty implementation is aimed at flexibility to allow for the selective adaptation of contents of international law that promote the national interests of the Chinese party-State. How Chinese international law scholars flesh out the legal substance of the community of common destiny concept accords with findings that regard China’s norm-making activities as a dialectical process that emphasises both the normative status quo and changes to the international legal order. Intended changes of public international law appear to be regime type specific as they primarily attempt to legitimise and facilitate the perpetuation of the authoritarian system.

I. Introduction

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Björn Ahl\nChina’s Perspectives on Public International Law: Selective Adaptation of International Treaties and the Community of Common Destiny Concept 97
I. Introduction 97
II. International Law in the Chinese Domestic Legal System 100
A. Chinese Legal Scholarship on the Domestic Effects of International Law 100
B. Chinese Legislation and Judicial Documents on the Domestic Effects of International Law 101
C. Implementation of International Law Through Legislation in the Case of the Convention Against Torture 104
D. Application of International Treaties by Chinese Courts 106
E. Selective Adaptation of International Law in China 108
III. Community of Common Destiny for Mankind 110
A. Community of Common Destiny as a Core Foreign Policy Concept 110
B. Legal Relevance of the Community of Common Destiny Concept 112
C. Elements Reinforcing the Status Quo of International Law 113
D. Elements Indicating Desired Changes of International Law 114
IV. Conclusion 115