Sovereignty In China S Perspective

The concept of sovereignty -- Sovereignty in ancient China -- The emergence of modern sovereignty in the Late Qing Dynasty -- Nationalism in China -- Sovereignty and human rights in China -- China's contemporary perspective of sovereignty.

This book provides a comprehensive history of the emergence and the formation of the concept of sovereignty in China from the year 1840 to the present. It contributes to broadening the history of modern China by looking at the way the notion of sovereignty was gradually articulated by key Chinese intellectuals, diplomats and political figures in the unfolding of the history of international law in China, rehabilitates Chinese agency, and shows how China challenged Western Eurocentric assumptions about the progress of international law. It puts the history of international law in a global perspective, interrogating the widely-held belief of international law as universal order and exploring the ways in which its history is closely anchored to a European experience that fails to take into account how the encounter with other non-European realities has influenced its formation.

At today's hearing, we will be exploring the concepts of sovereignty that are advanced by the Chinese government. In some circumstances, these concepts are at odds with interpretations of international law as understood by the United States and they also play a role in conflicting territorial claims between China and some its neighbors in Asia. Furthermore, the continuing advances in outer space exploration and use and in use of cyberspace raise questions regarding how sovereignty is defined in these critical realms of economic and information exchange and what are the rights of lawful international access. We hope that this hearing will add to the public dialogue on these issues, which I am confident will assume ever greater importance in the months and years ahead.

Is China always defensive about its sovereignty issues? Does China see sovereignty essentially as 'absolute,' 'Victorian,' or 'Westphalian?' Sow Keat Tok suggests that Beijing has a more nuanced and flexible policy towards 'sovereignty' than previously assumed. By comparing China's changing policy towards Taiwan and Hong Kong, the author relates the role of previous conceptions of the world order in China's conception of modern 'sovereignty', thereby uncovers Beijing's deepest concern when dealing with its sovereignty issues.

Kevin Lane discusses the tension existed between China's traditional claim to sovereignty over Hong Kong. He believes that on historical track record China has the capacity for flexibility on Hong Kong that would enable arrangements about its future to work successfully.

In China, State Sovereignty and International Legal Order, Phil C.W. Chan explores the nexus between China’s exercise of State sovereignty and international legal order, and the locus in which State sovereignty resides in international law and foreign policy-making.

In this book, the author undertakes a postcolonial analysis of identities the Chinese state uses to confront world politics and globalization. Because these identities are created at the confluence of Western modernity and Confucian tradition, two elements that are continually reinterpreted themselves, the result is an ambiguity regarding the identities best suited to explain Chinese behavior. The author argues that this uncertainty is not a new condition but one that reaches back to end of the nineteenth century. It is by understanding this ambiguity surrounding identities that will in turn help present -day authorities predict the future course of Chinese behavior in world politics.

This book contends that sovereignty, and more directly the extent to which it creates walls between any given state and other actors in the international system, lies at the core of Chinas foreign relations during the reform era.