Law Commons^™

The Influence Of The Thirty-Six Stratagems On Chinese Strategy In The Diaoyu Islands, Brent Schuliger

Senior Honors Theses

The Diaoyu Islands are a small, uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea which has begun increasing in strategic significance due to its advantageous location near Taiwan and along the First Island Chain. The islands are currently under Japanese administration, but the People’s Republic of China considers them historically Chinese and contests Japan’s claim to the islands. A careful examination of China’s actions in challenging Japan’s rule over the Diaoyus reveals the influence of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, a tome of ancient Chinese military wisdom which provides a framework onto which China’s current strategy corresponds. This thesis examines the historical …

An Umbrella Of Autonomy: The Validity Of The Hong Kong Protests, Ciera Lehmann

Senior Honors Theses

Hong Kong has been fighting for democracy and to retain its autonomy from China, and the world has been watching. Over time, Hong Kongers have seen Beijing blatantly tighten its grip before time was up for the fifty-year agreement since the handover in 1997. In 2014, and again in 2019, hundreds of thousands of citizens filled the streets to participate in pro-democracy demonstrations with the protests only gaining momentum and influence. While there has mostly been support for Hong Kong’s independence movement, there has been argument that Beijing’s actions are completely justified. Should Hong Kong remain autonomous from China, and …

Lessons From China's Response To Covid-19: Shortcomings, Successes, And Prospects For Reform In China's Regulatory State, Jacques Delisle, Shen Kui

All Faculty Scholarship

China’s response to COVID-19 offers a case study of law, the regulatory state and governance in China. The costly delay in the initial response reflected distinctive features of the Chinese system, including perverse incentives local-level officials face to try to cover up problems, fragmentated institutions and rules, and politically weak public health bureaucracies. After the initial shortcomings, China’s largely successful efforts to contain the pandemic also reflected defining features of the Chinese system, including a highly capable, centralized and authoritarian party-state that could mobilize vast resources, coordinate across fractious institutions, create ad hoc government and party leadership bodies, and deploy …

North Korea’S Nuclear Program And Negotiation: How Nuclear Negotiation During The Clinton Years Produced Lessons For Current International Relations, Brian Hilliker

Senior Honors Theses

North Korea’s road of survival began in the aftermath of World War II, when the United States and the Soviet Union sparred over rival ideologies. Ultimately, Korea split into a free south and an authoritarian north. Over seventy years later, North Korea remains a bastion of communism. Nuclear weaponry is a factor behind North Korea’s survival, and the history of their program can offer insight for American policy makers today. This paper offers a history of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program during the Clinton presidency, along with recommendations for present day policy makers. Without an understanding of history decision-makers tend …

Exclusionary Megacities, Wendell Pritchett, Shitong Qiao

All Faculty Scholarship

Human beings should live in places where they are most productive, and megacities, where information, innovation and opportunities congregate, would be the optimal choice. Yet megacities in both China and the U.S. are excluding people by limiting housing supply. Why, despite their many differences, is the same type of exclusion happening in both Chinese and U.S. megacities? Urban law and policy scholars argue that Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) homeowners are taking over megacities in the U.S. and hindering housing development therein. They pin their hopes on an efficient growth machine that makes sure “above all, nothing gets in the way of building.” …

Academic Freedom As A Human Right: The Problem Of Confucius Institutes, Jay Todd Richey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Academic freedom is the ability to explore, research, and analyze any topic without prohibitions or repercussions. In the Anglo-American tradition, it is both a fundamental aspect of academia and, as this thesis argues, a fundamental human right. Although the United States embraces this core principle of academia within American universities, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) seeks to suppress the acquisition of knowledge through restrictions on topics deemed politically-sensitive to the Chinese government. Although human rights abuses pervade the PRC and academic freedom is suppressed, PRC-funded entities known as Confucius Institutes (CIs) are widely embraced at universities in liberal democracies. …

The Law Of The Sea Convention And Sea Level Rise In The Light Of The South China Sea Arbitration, Stuart B. Kaye

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Sea level rise from anthropogenic climate change is an increasing concern for the international community and especially for coastal States. The prospect of whole islands disappearing under rising waters raises serious questions as to the impact upon maritime jurisdiction and the ability of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to deal with the inundation of large areas of territory. The South China Sea Arbitration Tribunal recently considered these questions. Here, the Tribunal relied on a high standard for what constituted human habitability under Article 121 of the Law of the Sea Convention, which likely will have …

The Arbitral Award In The Matter Of The South China Sea Between The Philippines And China What Are The Implications For Freedom Of Navigation And The Use Of Force?, Cameron Moore

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

This article considers the implications of the Award for freedom of navigation and the use of force in the South China Sea, identifying the conclusions that can be drawn from the Award and the questions that remain. The Award also indirectly raised the question of the use of force to defend navigational rights. This article therefore revisits the Corfu Channel Case for the light it may shed on the use of force and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. This leads to questions of the danger of miscalculation and the potential importance of the Code for Unplanned Encounters …

Geopolitical Implications Of The Sino-Japanese East China Sea Dispute For The U.S., Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Much analysis on Asian strategic challenges facing the U.S. has justifiably emphasized the South China Sea (SCS). This has also been reflected in 2016 presidential campaign debate on the SCS as an emerging area of U.S. foreign and national security policy concern. The East China Sea (ECS) is at least as important for the strategic interests of the U.S. and its allies given the tension between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, potential energy resources in this body of water, increasing defense spending by adjacent geographic powers, the area’s importance as a maritime international trade route, and the possibility …

How Will The Next Philippine President Navigate The Turbulent Waters Of The South China Sea?, Lowell Bautista

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The leadership change in Manila after the May 2016 presidential elections will certainly have significant impact on the country's policy towards China over the ongoing dispute in the West Philippine Sea. The change in Philippine leadership may portend either continuity or dramatic foreign policy shifts when it comes to this heated issue.

The South China Sea Issue And Philippine President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte, Lowell Bautista

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Michel Hockx, Internet Literature In China, Xiaoping Gao

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Bridging Troubled Waters: China, Japan, And Maritime Order In The East China Sea. By James Manicom. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2014. Softcover: 266pp., Lowell Bautista

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

In this book, James Manicom contests the orthodox view that the strategic rivalry between China and Japan will escalate into a fullblown military conflict. The book concedes that the East China Sea will be the likely medium for Sino–Japanese military rivalry and cyclical tensions will persist; however, it makes the compelling case that cooperation will endure.

Silent Protest And The Art Of Paper Folding: The Golden Venture Paper Sculptures At The Museum Of Chinese In America, Sandra Cheng

Publications and Research

Housed in the Museum of Chinese in America is the Fly to Freedom collection of paper art, which were produced by a traditional folk method of Chinese paper folding. The 123 paper works were created by detainees of the Golden Venture, a freighter used to smuggle undocumented immigrants into the U.S. On the evening of June 6, 1993, the ship ran aground off the Rockaways in New York City and nearly 300 migrants, gaunt from the four-month ordeal at sea, poured out of the cramped windowless hold of the vessel. Several drowned that night, a few escaped, but the majority …

Why The World Is Wary Of China’S ‘Great Wall Of Sand’ In The Sea, Clive H. Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

China’s neighbours have accused it of destroying an estimated 120 hectares of coral reef systems in the disputed Spratly Islands through land reclamation. EPA/Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The leaders of Southeast Asian nations recently took the extraordinary step of warning China that its island-building activities in the contested South China Sea “may undermine peace, security and stability” in the region.

That’s strong language from the usually reticent 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and shows just how high tempers are flaring over what has been called China’s “great wall of sand” in a strategically important area.

The commander …

Stemming The Black Tide: Cooperation On Oil Pollution Preparedness And Response In The South China Sea And East Asian Seas, Robin M. Warner

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

As global hydrocarbon resources on shore steadily decline, there has been an increase in offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. Some estimates suggest that there are over 6,000 offshore oil and gas installations worldwide. Notwithstanding simmering disputes over the territorial sovereignty and associated maritime zones of a number of island groups in the South China Sea and adjacent East Asian seas, exploration for offshore oil and gas resources under national and joint development regimes has become a prominent feature of these areas. It is estimated that there are now over 1,390 offshore oil and gas installations in the South China Sea …

New Media, Censorship And Gender: Using Obscenity Law To Restrict Online Self-Expression In Japan And China, Mark J. Mclelland

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The widespread take-up of Internet technologies from the mid-1990s has proven challenging to nation states that seek to limit access to ideas, information or images that the political class considers dangerous or inappropriate for the general population. As a largely deterritorialized technology, the Internet allows access to material that circumvents national legislatures and ignores local ratings systems and in so doing facilitates all kinds of inter-cultural and transnational flows of communication. Different countries have different sensitivities regarding the kinds of material that should not be freely available to their citizens and although the entry of such material is closely scrutinized …

Freedom From Violence And The Law: A Global Perspective In Light Of Chinese Domestic Violence Law, 2015, Rangita De Silva De Alwis, Jeni Klugman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Defining Eez Claims From Islands: A Potential South China Sea Change, Robert Beckman, Clive Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

In the face of seemingly intractable territorial and maritime disputes in the South China Sea, the article examines how the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC), sets out what maritime claims States can make in the South China Sea and how it establishes a framework that will enable States to either negotiate maritime boundary agreements or negotiate joint development arrangements (JDAs) in areas of overlapping maritime claims. It provides an avenue whereby the maritime claims of the claimants can be brought into line with international law, potentially allowing for meaningful discussions on cooperation and maritime …

Filial Obligation In Contemporary China: Evolution Of The Culture-System, Xiaoying Qi

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Family obligation, which has an exceptionally high salience in traditional Chinese society, continues to be significant in contemporary China. In family relations in particular sentiments and practices morphologically similar to those associated with xiao (filial piety) remains intact in so far as an enduring set of expectations concerning age-based obligation continues to structure behavior toward others. Researchers pursuing the theme of “individualization” in Chinese society, on the other hand, argue that family obligations and filial sentiments have substantially weakened. The present paper will show that under conditions of cultural and social change in China filial behavior through family obligation continues …

Gigantic Shipbuilders Under The Imo Mandate Of Ghg Emissions: With Special References To China, Japan And Korea, Yubing Shi

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

To address greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, the International Maritime Organization has adopted technical and operational measures, and discussed the possibilihj of adopting market-based measures. China, Japan and South Korea are major shipbuilding nations in the world, and have differing responses towards the IMO's regulatory initiatives. This paper conducts a comparative assessment of these three countries' positions on regulatory principles of the greenhouse gas issue, and concludes that their differentiated perspectives on this matter reflect their different regulatory interests. It is significant to take their differentiated interests into account in the developing regulatory regime to avoid disproportionate burdens being …

Greenhouse Gas Emissions From International Shipping: The Response From China's Shipping Industry To The Regulatory Iinitiatives Of The International Maritime Organization, Yubing Shi

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) received its mandate to regulate shipping greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the Kyoto Protocol. However, the IMO Convention and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea also provide it with competence in this area. In exercising its mandate, the IMO has developed regulatory initiatives. China’s shipping industry is playing a growing role in the international shipping market, and its response to these initiatives will have a substantial effect on the future application of these regulations. This article analyses the GHG mandate of the IMO, examines the main outcomes achieved within the organization on …

Increasingly Contested Waters? Conflicting Maritime Claims In The South China Sea, Clive Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The South China Sea is host to a complex coastal geography, numerous sovereignty disputes over islands featuring multiple claimants, excessive and controversial claims to baselines, confl icting and overlapping claims to maritime jurisdiction and, most recently, contested submissions regarding extended continental shelf rights. The objective of this paper is to review and analyse these issues from spatial, legal and geopolitical perspectives. An overview and assessment of the geographical and geopolitical factors that inform and underlie the South China Sea disputes is offered prior to the claims of the littoral states to baselines and maritime zones being assessed. Maritime boundary agreements …

The Philippine Claim To Bajo De Masinloc In The Context Of The South China Sea Dispute, Lowell Bautista

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The Philippine claim to Bajo de Masinloc, otherwise referred to as Scarborough Shoal, finds solid basis in international law. The territorial claim of the Philippines over Bajo de Masinloc is strong relative to the claim of China as well as with respect to the principles on the acquisition of territory in international law, in particular, on the basis of effective occupation. The sovereign rights and jurisdiction asserted by the Philippines over the maritime entitlements of the features in Bajo de Masinloc are founded on principles of international law and consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the …

Factors Conducive To Joint Development In Asia -Lessons Learned For The South China Sea, Robert Beckman, Clive Schofield, Ian Townsend-Gault, Tara Davenport, Leonardo Bernard

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Joint development in the South China Sea has been suggested as a solution to the Spratly Islands disputes since the 1980s. China was one of the earliest proponents of ‘setting aside the dispute and pursuing joint development’. The South China Sea Workshops on Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea discussed joint development but ran into a number of obstacles, notably because of longstanding sensitivities over sovereignty issues and conflicting maritime claims. Consequently, the Workshops sought to focus on less contentious issues such as cooperation on marine biodiversity and the safety of navigation. Through this non- confrontational, non-binding and …

What's At Stake In The South China Sea? Geographical And Geopolitical Considerations, Clive Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The South China Sea ranks among the most geographically and geopolitically complex ocean spaces in the world. It certainly appears to have been one of its most vigorously contested, featuring multiple, longstanding and competing territorial and maritime jurisdictional claims. The objective of this chapter is to provide the geographical and geopolitical background to the frequently conflicting national maritime claims made by the South China Sea littoral States. This exercise is designed to provide the necessary contextual backdrop to considerations of the application of maritime joint development mechanisms and/or other provisional arrangements of a practical nature in the South China Sea. …

Moving Forward On Joint Development In The South China Sea, Robert Beckman, Clive Schofield, Ian Townsend-Gault, Tara Davenport, Leonardo Bernard

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The examination of the factors that facilitated the conclusion of joint development arrangements in Asia in Chapter 11 has demonstrated that there remain considerable obstacles before joint development in the South China Sea can be discussed in a serious and meaningful manner. The following recommendations set out steps which the claimants and, in certain circumstances, other relevant stakeholders, can take to move towards a situation where joint development is a feasible dispute settlement option.

Complicating The Complex: China's Adiz, Lowell Bautista, Julio Amador Iii

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

In a move that further escalated tension in the region, China’s announcement of an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, elicited strong protests from the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The Chinese ADIZ includes airspace over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands claimed by both China and Japan and requires that aircraft entering its ADIZ must report flight information to Chinese authorities, otherwise, “China’s armed forces will adopt defensive emergency measures to respond to aircraft that do not cooperate in the identification or refuse to follow the instructions.” These measures are clearly provocative, contrary to international practice, and …

Island Disputes And The "Oil Factor" In The South China Sea Disputes, Clive H. Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The South China Sea has long been regarded as one of the key potential flashpoints for conflict in the Asia-Pacific, alongside North Korea and Taiwan. Recently tensions have been on the rise and relations between China and the other South China Sea littoral states have become more fraught – characterised not only by diplomatic claim and counter-claim (though frequently framed in less than diplomatic language) but also, more worryingly, by confrontations at sea.

Context, as they say, is everything. This article briefly outlines geopolitical drivers that sustain these complex and seemingly intractable disputes, and seeks to shed light on their …

Chinese Merchants In Singapore And The China Trade, 1819-1959, Jason Lim

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Chinese merchants in Singapore were involved with the China trade after the British established a trading post in Singapore in 1819. These merchants were regarded as Chinese citizens by the Chinese state and expected to be engaged in patriotic activities such as the promotion of Chinese goods as “national products” in the 1930s, and comply with Chinese government regulations during the Sino-Japanese War and after the communist victory in China in 1949. This paper traces the vicissitudes of the China trade for the Chinese merchants in Singapore as the island went through phases of political and economic stability, international competition, …