China’s ‘peaceful rise’ and what it means for the international legal system

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Charles Lipson, Professor in Political Science, asserts the novelty of the issues surrounding China, saying that it has been at least 70 to 80 years since the world has witnessed a rising power with both security and economic dominance.

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Dali Yang, Professor in Political Science, Faculty Director of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing and Director of the Confucius Institute, identified the Chinese as the most pro-free trade people in the world, including Americans.

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Daniel Abebe, Assistant Professor of Law (center), predicts countries will continue to hedge on China, and hence, relationships with this rising power will be driven by flashpoints instead of deliberate strategic steps forward.

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This panel discussed international human rights. Eric Posner, Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law (far right), pointed out that although China has yet to affect international human rights norms, it will do so eventually either by generally weakening the human rights system or through an evolution of the human rights regime to a more compromising position.

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Tom Ginsburg, Professor of Law and an organizer of the event (center), talking here with other conference panelists, said in an interview in advance of the symposium, “The rise of China is affecting everything about international society. There is no reason that the law should be different. As the rise of China affects the global environment and the global economy, we should expect that China would become a global player in the international legal order as well.”

April 6, 2011

What will China’s “peaceful rise” mean for the international legal system? This question was explored in-depth at an April 6, 2011 symposium on “China and International Law,” including discussions on the international security system, human rights, trade law, and others. The University of Chicago Confucius Institute and the University of Chicago Law School sponsored the conference.