Norm-Taker or Norm-Maker?
China’s Attitude towards International Law
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
China’s attitude towards international law moves in a dialectical field of tension. Chinese domestic practice for implementing international treaties is primarily aimed at flexibility. It selectively adopts and adapts the content of international law to advance China’s national interests. At the same time, the People’s Republic acts as the guardian of the status quo of the international legal order. In Chinese jurisprudence, the discussion surrounding the foreign-policy concept “community of common destiny” points in a similar direction. The legal effects of this concept lie, on the one hand, in consolidating existing international law and, on the other hand, in certain modifications that serve to legitimize and stabilize authoritarian rule.
(Osteuropa 7-9/2023, pp. 209–226)