Intellectual Property Rights: Open Access

Abstract

Rule of Law in China: Progress in Paper or in Reality?

Na JIANG

Since 1991, China has officially published 61 white papers on human rights situation to express its achieved progress and potential commitment to Chinese society and the international community. Either on general undertakings or particular issues of human rights, such papers aim to defend its persistent policy and position against externals bodies’ criticisms on its human rights observance. This article will examine the possible distinct between China’s human rights promise in paper and its relevant situation in reality, mainly based on the rule-of-law sample of February 2008. It will be suggested that even if China has fully implemented its human rights obligations, the limited understanding of them as showed in the white papers may largely hinder its human rights progress at a substantive level. The sharp contrast between China’s promise and practice still exist as usual on its long march towards the rule of law.