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China and the International Criminal Court pp 1–19Cite as

Introduction

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Part of the book series: Governing China in the 21st Century ((GC21))

Abstract

This chapter provides a background on the significance of the study on China’s engagement with the ICC and the importance of placing the China-ICC relationship in the wider context of China’s engagement with international adjudication and global governance. This chapter also gives a description of China’s historical engagement with the ICC, and sketches out in broad terms China’s specific concerns towards the Rome Statute.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (or ‘ICC Statute’), 2187 UNTS 90, 17 July 1998.

  2. 2.

    P. Kirsch (2009) ‘ICC Marks Five Years Since Entry into Force of Rome Statute’ in C. Stahn and G. Sluiter (eds.) The Emerging Practice of the International Criminal Court (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers), p. 11.

  3. 3.

    ICC Statute, Art. 5 (1).

  4. 4.

    Ibid., the ICC will have jurisdiction for the crime of aggression only for crimes committed after the entry into force for the 30th state party and only after the Assembly of States Parties has voted in favour of that after 1 January 2017.

  5. 5.

    W. A. Schabas (2011) An Introduction to the International Criminal Court, 4th edn (Cambridge University Press), p. 6.

  6. 6.

    UN Press Release, UN Diplomatic Conference Concludes in Rome with Decision to Establish Permanent International Criminal Court, L/ROM/22, 17 July 1998.

  7. 7.

    Rome Statute, Status, at: http://treaties.un.org/pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XVIII-10&chapter=18&lang=en, date accessed 29 August 2017.

  8. 8.

    Ibid.

  9. 9.

    As noted by Higgins, ‘Policy considerations, although they differ from “rules”, are an integral part of that decision making process which we call international law … [t]here is no avoiding the essential relationship between law and policy’. See R. Higgins (1995) Problem and Process: International Law and How We Use It (Oxford University Press), p. 5.

  10. 10.

    Although Western human rights values have exerted deep influence on China, this does not mean that a Westernised approach to international criminal justice is today fully accepted by China, whose perspective on human rights has its origins in traditional Confucian philosophy. See J. Chan (1999) ‘A Confucian Perspective on Human Rights for Contemporary China’ in J. R. Bauer and D. A. Bell (eds.) The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights (Cambridge University Press), pp. 212–240.

  11. 11.

    Statement by Mr Jian Chen (China), Provisional Verbatim Record of the 3175th Mtg., UN Doc. S/PV.3175, 22 February 1993, p. 7, para. 5; Statement by Mr Zhaoxing Li (China), Provisional Verbatim Record of the 3217th Mtg., UN Doc. S/PV.3217, 25 May 1993, p. 33, para. 1.

  12. 12.

    Statement by Mr Zhaoxing Li (China), Provisional Verbatim Record of the 3453rd Mtg., UN Doc. S/PV.3453, 8 November 1994, p. 11, para. 7.

  13. 13.

    Statement by Mr Zhaoxing Li (1993), p. 33, para. 1.

  14. 14.

    Statement by Mr Zhaoxing Li (1993), p. 34, para. 1.

  15. 15.

    Statement by Mr Zhaoxing Li (1994), p. 11, para. 4.

  16. 16.

    J. Crawford (1995) ‘The ILC Adopts a Statute for an International Criminal Court’, American Journal of International Law, 89, p. 406.

  17. 17.

    Statement by Mr Kening Zhang (China), 6th Comm., 18th Mtg., GAOR, 49th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/49/SR.18, 26 October 1994, para. 43.

  18. 18.

    See GA Res. 44/39, GAOR, 44th Sess., Supp. No. 49, UN Doc. A/44/49(1989), p. 310.

  19. 19.

    Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Forty-second Session, GAOR, 45th Sess., Supp. No.10, UN Doc. A/45/10 (1990), pp. 36–54, paras. 93–157; see W. C. Gilmore (1995) ‘The Proposed International Criminal Court: Recent Developments’, Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems, 5, p. 265.

  20. 20.

    Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Forty-fourth Session, GAOR, 47th Sess., Supp. No. 10, UN Doc. A/47/10 (1992).

  21. 21.

    J. Crawford (1994), ‘The ILC’s Draft Statute for an International Criminal Tribunal’, American Journal of International Law, 88, p.140.

  22. 22.

    See Report of the Working Group on a Draft Statue for an International Criminal Court [‘1993 ILC Draft Statute’], in Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of its Forty-fifth Session. GAOR, 48th Sess., Supp. No.10, pp. 100–131, UN Doc. A/48/10(1993) [‘1993 ILC Report’]; this Report also contains the Commission’s commentary to each draft article [‘1993 ILC Commentary’].

  23. 23.

    J. Crawford, ‘The ILC Adopts a Statute for an International Criminal Court’, p. 404.

  24. 24.

    GA Res. 48/31(1993), para. 5.

  25. 25.

    Comments of Governments on the Report of the Working Group on a Draft Statute for an International Criminal Court, UN Doc. A/CN. 4/458, 18 February 1994.

  26. 26.

    Statement by Mr Guangjian Xu (China), 6th Comm., 19th Mtg., GAOR, 48th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/48/SR.19, 27 October 1993, para. 12.

  27. 27.

    GA Res. 48/31(1993), paras. 4, 6.

  28. 28.

    Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of Its Forty-Sixth Session, GAOR, 49th Sess., Supp. No. 10, UN Doc. A/49/10(1994) [‘1994 ILC Report’].

  29. 29.

    Statement by Mr Qizhi He (China), 2334th Mtg., 46th Sess., in 1994 ILC Report, paras. 3, 6–7.

  30. 30.

    Draft Statute for an International Criminal Court [‘1994 ILC Draft Statute’], pp. 42–91, in 1994 ILC Report, this Report also contains the Commission’s commentary to each draft article [‘1994 ILC Commentary’].

  31. 31.

    Statement by Mr Kening Zhang (1994), para. 43.

  32. 32.

    Ibid., para. 42.

  33. 33.

    Ibid., paras. 46–48.

  34. 34.

    Ibid., para. 50.

  35. 35.

    GA Res. 49/53(1994).

  36. 36.

    GA Res. 50/46(1995).

  37. 37.

    Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, adopted 6 September 1995, UN GAOR, 50th Sess., Supp. No.22, UN Doc. A/50/22(1995) [‘Ad Hoc Committee Report’].

  38. 38.

    See Report of the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, adopted 13 September 1996, UN GAOR, 51st Sess., Supp. No. 22, UN Doc. A/51/22(1996) [‘Preparatory Committee Report’].

  39. 39.

    M. H. Arsanjani (1999) ‘The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court’ 93 American Journal of International Law, 93, p. 22.

  40. 40.

    Statement by Mr Kenning Zhang (China), 6th Comm., 50th Mtg., GAOR, 51th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/51/SR.50, 29 November 1996, para. 10.

  41. 41.

    Statement by Mr Shiqiu Chen (China), 6th Comm., 25th Mtg., GAOR, 50th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/50/SR.25, 30 October 1995, paras. 66–74; Statement by Mr Shiqiu Chen (China), 6th Comm., 28th Mtg., UN GAOR, 51th Sess., 31 October 1996, UN Doc. A/C.6/51/SR.28, paras. 95–99; Statement by Mr Jielong Duan (China), 6th Comm., 11th Mtg., GAOR, 52th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/52/SR.11, 4 November 1997, paras. 95–98.

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    GA Res. 52/160 (1997).

  44. 44.

    M. C. Bassiouni (1999) ‘Negotiating the Treaty of Rome on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court’, Cornell Journal of International Law, 32, p. 457.

  45. 45.

    Officers of the Conference and its Committees, in Official Records, United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, Rome, 15 June–17 July 1998,Vol. II, UN Doc. A/CONF.183, p. 45.

  46. 46.

    UN Press Release, UN Diplomatic Conference Concludes in Rome with Decision to Establish Permanent International Criminal Court, L/ROM/22, 17 July 1998.

  47. 47.

    Statement by Mr Guangya Wang (China) on the Statute of the International Criminal Court, Legal Daily, 29 July 1998, p. 4.

  48. 48.

    Final Act of the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, UN Doc. A/CONF.183/10, 17 July 1998, Resolution F.

  49. 49.

    Ibid., para. 2.

  50. 50.

    Statement by Mr Feng Gao (China), 6th Comm., 25th Mtg., GAOR, 54th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/54/SR.13, 8 November 1999, para.7.

  51. 51.

    Statement by Mr Wensheng Qu (China), 6th Comm., 9th Mtg., GAOR, 55th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/55/SR.9, 12 December 2000, para. 21.

  52. 52.

    Ibid.

  53. 53.

    Permanent Mission of the PRC to the UN Office at Geneva, ‘VI. China and the International Criminal Court’, 19 April 2004, at: http://www.china-un.ch/eng/gjhyfy/hflygz/t85684.htm

  54. 54.

    Statement by Mr Feng Gao (1999), para. 7.

  55. 55.

    Statement by Mr Wensheng Qu (2000), para. 21.

  56. 56.

    Statement by Mr Dahai Qi (China), 6th Comm., 25th Mtg., GAOR, 56th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/56/SR.25, 23 November 2001, para. 56.

  57. 57.

    ICC, ‘About the Court’, at: http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/About+the+Court/

  58. 58.

    Statement by Mr Jian Guan (China), 6th Comm., 25th Mtg., GAOR, 57th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/57/SR.15, 28 November 2003, para. 47.

  59. 59.

    Statement by Mr Yishan Zhang (China), 6th Comm., 9th Mtg., GAOR, 58th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/58/SR.9, 21 November 2003, para. 73.

  60. 60.

    Statement by Mr Dahai Qi (China), 6th Comm., 9th Mtg., GAOR, 59th Sess., UN Doc. A/C.6/59/SR.6, 1 November 2004, para. 25.

  61. 61.

    Statement by Mr Yishan Zhang (2003), para. 72; Statement by Mr Dahai Qi (2004), para. 25.

  62. 62.

    China’s Position Paper on UN Reform (2005) at: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t199318.htm, date accessed 29 August 2017.

  63. 63.

    Statement by Mr Yishan Zhang (2003), para. 73.

  64. 64.

    Statement by Mr Dahai Qi (2004), para. 25; China’s Position Paper on UN Reform (2005).

  65. 65.

    ICC Statute, Art. 112.

  66. 66.

    ICC Statute, Art. 112(1).

  67. 67.

    ICC-ASP/I/Res.1, 9 September 2002.

  68. 68.

    R. S. Clark (2002) ‘Rethinking Aggression as a Crime and Formulating Its Elements: The Final Work-Product of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court’, Leiden Journal of International Law, 15, pp. 860–861.

  69. 69.

    Report of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, Doc. ICC-ASP/7/SWGCA/2(2009) [‘2009 SWGCA Report’].

  70. 70.

    Statement by Mr Zonglai Wang (China), at the 5th Session of the ASP, 28 January 2007, at http://www.china-un.org/chn/zgylhg/flyty/gjft/t348867.htm (in Chinese), date accessed 29 August 2017; Statement by Mr Hong Xu (China), at the General Debate of the 8th Session of the ASP, 20 November 2009, at http://www.iccnow.org/documents/ICC-ASP-ASP8-GenDeba-China-ENG.pdf, date accessed 29 August 2017, para. 4.

  71. 71.

    Delegations to the Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, RC/INF.1, 29 August 2010, at: http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/RC2010/RC-INF.1-reissued-ENG-FRA-SPA.pdf, date accessed 29 August 2017, p. 43.

  72. 72.

    Statement by Chinese Delegation at the General Debate of the Review Conference of Rome Statute, 1 June 2010, at: http://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/RC2010/Statements/ICC-RC-gendeba-China-ENG.pdf, date accessed 29 August 2017, p. 1, para. 2.

  73. 73.

    Ibid., p. 3.

  74. 74.

    Ibid., p. 4.

  75. 75.

    Statement by Ms Xiaomei Gao (China), 41st Plenary Mtg., GAOR, 65th Sess., UN Doc. A/65/PV.41, 29 October 2010, p. 18.

  76. 76.

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC, ‘VI. China and the International Criminal Court’, 28 October 2003, at: http://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/wjb/zzjg/tyfls/tyfl/2626/2627/t15473.htm, date accessed 29 August 2017.

  77. 77.

    Permanent Mission of the PRC to the UN Office at Geneva, ‘VI. China and the International Criminal Court’ (2004).

  78. 78.

    ‘Position Paper of the People’s Republic of China at the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly’, 16 September 2008, at: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t512751.htm, date accessed 29 August 2017.

  79. 79.

    ‘Position Paper of the People’s Republic of China at the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly’, 14 September 2010, at: http://www.china-un.org/eng/zt/wjb65ga/t753577.htm, date accessed 29 August 2017.

  80. 80.

    ‘Position Paper of the People’s Republic of China at the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly’, 11 September 2011, at: http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t857763.htm, date accessed 29 August 2017.

  81. 81.

    ‘Position Paper of the People’s Republic of China at the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly’, 20 September 2012, at: http://www.china-un.org/eng/hyyfy/t971887.htm, date accessed 29 August 2017.

  82. 82.

    SC Res.1593(2005), SC Res.1970 (2011). See Chap. 7, Sect. 7.2.

  83. 83.

    See D. Scheffer (1999) ‘The United States and the International Criminal Court’, American Journal of International Law, 93, pp. 12–22; see also B. Broomhall (2001) ‘Toward US Acceptance of The International Criminal Court’, Law and Contemporary Problems, 64, pp. 141–151.

  84. 84.

    22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq. (2002).

  85. 85.

    M. Benzing (2004) ‘US Bilateral Non-Surrender Agreements and Article 98 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court: An Exercise in the Law of Treaties’, Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, 8, pp. 181–236.

  86. 86.

    Remarks by Mr H. H. Koh, the US Department of State Legal Advisor, in ASIL, ‘The US and the International Criminal Court: Report from the Kampala Review Conference’ (2010), p. 11, para. 5, at: http://www.asil.org/files/Transcript_ICC_Koh_Rapp_Bellinger.pdf

  87. 87.

    For more discussions, see M. A. Fairlie (2010) ‘The United States and the International Criminal Court Post-Bush: A Beautiful Courtship but an Unlikely Marriage’, Berkeley Journal of International Law, 29, pp. 533–577.

  88. 88.

    They were Chinese Society of International Law, Symposium on Comparative Study of the International Criminal Law, and the Rome Statute, 15–17 October 2003, Beijing; Research Centre for Criminal Jurisprudence, International Seminar on the International Criminal Court, 9–12 February 2003, Haikou; 2005 Shanghai Jiaotong University, Symposium on International Criminal Court: Choice of China, 18–19 June 2005, Shanghai; and Beijing Normal University, Symposium on the International Criminal Court, 3–4 February 2007, Beijing.

  89. 89.

    Ibid., 2003 Symposium (Beijing); 2007 Symposium (Beijing).

  90. 90.

    Jianping Lu and Zhixiang Wang (2005) ‘China’s Attitude towards the ICC’, Journal of International Criminal Justice, 3, pp. 608–620; Bingbing Jia (2006) ‘China and the International Criminal Court: Current Situation’, Singapore Year Book of International Law, 10, pp. 87–97.

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    Dan Zhu

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Zhu, D. (2018). Introduction. In: China and the International Criminal Court. Governing China in the 21st Century. Palgrave, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7374-8_1

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