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The Transplantation of “Western” International Law in Republican China

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Book cover Legal Thoughts between the East and the West in the Multilevel Legal Order

Part of the book series: Economics, Law, and Institutions in Asia Pacific ((ELIAP))

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Abstract

This chapter analyzes the evolution of “Western” international law as an intellectual and professional discipline in Republican China. It argues that statism and pragmatism define the major features of the Republic of China’s approach to the reception of international law. These characteristics transformed the law of nations into universally valid normative claims and galvanized China’s intellectual focus from Westphalian sovereignty to the civilized nation concept. By examining the professionalization of international law in modern China, this chapter offers insight into the educational transplantation of the new discipline. The cultivation of China’s first-generation international lawyer contributed to the legal capacity of the Foreign Ministry. Chinese jurists’ participation in international law societies and the Shanghai Mixed Court further strengthened the nation’s legalist approach to diplomacy. Hence, this research provides a valuable case study of twentieth-century international lawmaking in Asia.

This chapter is an abridged and revised version of Pasha L. Hsieh, The Discipline of International Law in Republican China and Contemporary Taiwan, 14(1) Wash. Univ. Global Studies L. Rev. 87 (2015).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Proclamation of President Sun Yat-sen on the Establishment of the Republic of China on January 1, 1912 [hereinafter 1912 Proclamation] (“With the establishment of Provisional Government we will try our best to carry out the duties of a civilized nation so as to obtain the rights of a civilized state.”). The preamble to the 1907 Hague Convention first mentioned the term “civilized nations,” which included China as a signatory country. Gozzi (2007), p. 365.

  2. 2.

    For recent literature on the historical aspects of international law , see Fassbender and Peters (eds.), (2012), Shinohara (2012), and Lorca (2010), p. 477. For details on the “public law of Europe ” as the foundation of international law , see Orakhelashvili (2006), p. 336–338.

  3. 3.

    The scholarship on China and International Law primarily focuses on the People’s Republic of China (PRC ) and ignores the Republic of China (ROC ) era. For example, Jia (2013) and Xue (2012).

  4. 4.

    Chinese judges, nominated by the ROC , sitting on international courts include Wang Ch’ung-hui (1921–1939) and Cheng Tien-hsi (1939–1946) of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), Hsu Mo (1946–1957) and Wellington Koo (1957–1967) of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and Mei Ju-ao (1946–1948) of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal).

  5. 5.

    United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (1971) transferred the China seat from the ROC to the PRC .

  6. 6.

    The Republican Chinese characteristics are distinct from commonly known “Chinese characteristics,” which refer to the PRC ’s neo-Confucian approach that focuses on the Westphalian concept of absolute sovereignty and governmental control.

  7. 7.

    Wang (1990), p. 227.

  8. 8.

    Chiu (1973), p. 192.

  9. 9.

    Taiwan was under Dutch rule from 1624 to 1662. The Executive Yuan (2012), p. 45.

  10. 10.

    Liu (2004), pp. 113–115.

  11. 11.

    Id.; 13. Han Sang-hee (2010), The Circulation of International Legal Terms in East Asia , pp. 3–25 (Asian L. Inst., Working Paper Series No. 014).

  12. 12.

    Lin (2009), pp. 126–127 and 153. W. A. P. Martin’s course was based on a more updated textbook of Theodore D. Woolsey’s Introduction to the Study of International Law, known as Gongfa Bianlan. Kawashima (2012), p. 463.

  13. 13.

    Id. at p. 130.

  14. 14.

    Id. at p. 153; Sun (2002), p. 176.

  15. 15.

    See Zarrow (2012), p. 91.

  16. 16.

    Liu (2004), p. 119; Tang (2012), pp. 704–705.

  17. 17.

    For example, Appendix: Lin Zexu ’s Communication to Queen Victoria , reprinted in Liu (2004), pp. 235–237.

  18. 18.

    See id. at p. 119 (“Lin treated international law not as the universal truth but as a mode of persuasion....”).

  19. 19.

    C.f. Lorca (2010), pp. 486–490 and 534–535.

  20. 20.

    Westad (2012), pp. 81–82.

  21. 21.

    The Chinese translation, entitled Xingyao Zhizhang, is based on Martens (1866).

  22. 22.

    Hsu (1960), pp. 167–184.

  23. 23.

    The Chinese translation, entitled Geguo Jiaoshe Bianfalun, is based on Phillimore (1861).

  24. 24.

    In 1900, the US Supreme Court described Japan as “the last state admitted into the rank of civilized nations.” The Paquete Habana v. United States, 175 U.S. 677, 700 (1900).

  25. 25.

    Huang (2007), p. 64.

  26. 26.

    For the list of Japanese translations, see Svarverud (2007), pp. 269–302.

  27. 27.

    Zarrow (2012), pp. 98–100.

  28. 28.

    Jeremy Bentham created the English term “international law ” in his book, Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, and “international law ” replaced the older term “law of nations .” Janis (2010), pp. 12–13.

  29. 29.

    Chiu (1968), p. 490.

  30. 30.

    Liu (2004), p. 135; Lin (2009), pp. 306–340.

  31. 31.

    1912 Proclamation.

  32. 32.

    Li (2002), pp. 198–207; Li (2006), pp. 107–108.

  33. 33.

    Beiyang University is the predecessor to Tianjin University.

  34. 34.

    As the 1930–1931 curricula demonstrate, a four-credit-hour international law course was offered in both English and Chinese at Soochow, also known as the Comparative Law School of China. Conner (1994a), p. 39.

  35. 35.

    Tsinghua Xuetang, which served as a preparatory school for Chinese students to pursue college education in the United States, was renamed Tsinghua School in 1912 and National Tsinghua University in 1928.

  36. 36.

    Zhou Gengsheng joined the Department of Political Science at Peking University in 1922 and Wang Huacheng, a former student of Quincy Wright, joined the Department of Political Science at Tsinghua University in 1928.

  37. 37.

    Chen (1984), p. 11.

  38. 38.

    The Central Political School was the predecessor to Taiwan’s National Chengchi University (NCCU). The National Southwestern Associated University (Lianda), which merged with Peking University , Tsinghua University, and Nankai University, was set up in 1938. The international law professors included Tsui Shu-chin in the Department of Political Science and Yan Shutang in the Department of Law. Israel (1998), pp. 178–183.

  39. 39.

    Shen et al. (eds.), p. 260.

  40. 40.

    Boxer Protocol (1901), art. XII.

  41. 41.

    Chen (1984), p. 7; Tang (2012), p. 705.

  42. 42.

    The Qing government’s assertion on the territorial sea was influenced by the Chinese translations of Henry Wheaton ’s Elements of International Law. Li (2012), pp. 135–138.

  43. 43.

    Helmick (1945), p. 253.

  44. 44.

    The Guangzhou Military Government coexisted with the Beiyang Government from 1917 to 1927.

  45. 45.

    See Bieler (2004), pp. 167–168 (explaining US influence on ROC diplomats).

  46. 46.

    Wu Tingfang became acquainted with Guo Songtao , China’s first minister to the United Kingdom, and subsequently served as the legal advisor to Li Hongzhang, one of Qing’s most respected politicians.

  47. 47.

    Spiermann (2006), p. 117.

  48. 48.

    Id.

  49. 49.

    Li, translated by Howson (2008), p. 545; Minguo Xianfa (ROC Constitution) (1946), art. 141

  50. 50.

    Li (2006), pp. 99–100.

  51. 51.

    The Foreign Minister, who was nominated by the Prime Minister and was appointed by the President, would be the acting Prime Minister should the incumbent Prime Minister resign.

  52. 52.

    Li (2006), pp. 99–100.

  53. 53.

    Id. at p. 101. The Department of Treaty was later renamed as the Department of Treaty and Legal Affairs under Article 3 of the 1984 Organization Act of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  54. 54.

    The ROC ’s diplomat examination was based on the 1913 Provisional Rules on the Diplomat and Consular Examination, 1915 Diplomat and Consular Examination Ordinance, and the 1919 Diplomat and Consular Examination Law.

  55. 55.

    John Bassett Moore was Columbia’s first full professor of international law . Clements (2008), pp. 31 and 174.

  56. 56.

    Yue (2004), pp. 159–166.

  57. 57.

    Olmstead (1973), p. 18.

  58. 58.

    Hsu (1960), pp. 206–207.

  59. 59.

    Id. at p. 207.

  60. 60.

    Lin (2009), pp. 70–71.

  61. 61.

    Id.

  62. 62.

    Janis (2010), p. 149; Schrijver (2010), p. 210. The Japanese Society of International Law, which continues to exist today, was founded in 1897. Matsui (2002), p. 47.

  63. 63.

    The International Law Society lasted from 1913 to 1916. Tang (2005), pp. 72–73.

  64. 64.

    These conventions, which represented China’s first participation in multilateral treaties, include the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes and the Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land.

  65. 65.

    Tang (2005), pp. 62 and 67.

  66. 66.

    Id. at pp. 66–69. Belgium was a neutral state, and Jules Van den Heuvel was a prominent jurist. He was the only foreign national that the Chinese governments nominated as a member of the PCA .

  67. 67.

    Id. at p. 73.

  68. 68.

    Chinese Soc. & Pol. Sci. Assoc. (1916), p. 2.

  69. 69.

    Id. at p. 1.

  70. 70.

    Id.; Scott (1916), p. 376.

  71. 71.

    See Chinese Soc. & Pol. Sci. Assoc. (1916) (“stating that many members preferred to ‘effect an amalgamation of the two organizations’”).

  72. 72.

    Scott (1916), pp. 375 and 377.

  73. 73.

    Xu (2001), p. 108.

  74. 74.

    Conner (1994b), pp. 229 and 237.

  75. 75.

    Aurora University was known as Zhendan Daxue. Conner (2003), pp. 222–225.

  76. 76.

    Xu (2001), p. 229; Stephens (1992), pp. vii–xi.

  77. 77.

    Stephens (1992), p. xi; Hudson (1927), p. 451.

  78. 78.

    Hudson (1927), p. 454; see also Helmick (1945), p. 252 (“A person accused of crime was tried in the court of his nationality.”).

  79. 79.

    The French Mixed Court was also established in the French Concession and had jurisdiction over French nationals.

  80. 80.

    Hudson (1927), p. 460.

  81. 81.

    Stephens (1992), pp. 69–70.

  82. 82.

    Case Brought on Appeal from Kiangsi 16th Day 3rd Month, 6th Year of the Chinese Republic, cited in Id. at pp. 70–71.

  83. 83.

    Id. at pp. 93–94.

  84. 84.

    Hudson (1927), fn 12, p. 454.

  85. 85.

    Consul-General for the Netherlands v. Weidemann, Shanghai Mixed Court (1926). Id. p. 96.

  86. 86.

    Id.

  87. 87.

    Ni Zhengyu was elected as the first PRC judge of the ICJ. Ling (2004), pp. 693–695.

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  1. Singapore Management University School of Law, Singapore, Singapore

    Pasha L. Hsieh

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Correspondence to Pasha L. Hsieh .

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  1. Constitutional Court, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chang-fa Lo

  2. Lee and Li, Attorneys at Law, Taipei, Taiwan

    Nigel N.T. Li

  3. College of Law, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Tsai-yu Lin

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Hsieh, P.L. (2016). The Transplantation of “Western” International Law in Republican China. In: Lo, Cf., Li, N., Lin, Ty. (eds) Legal Thoughts between the East and the West in the Multilevel Legal Order. Economics, Law, and Institutions in Asia Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1995-1_15

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