Introduction

planned economy in favour of capitalism, the market economy and privatisation during the reform era of 1979 to the present, accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, and the Beijing Olympics Games in 2008.

The Chinese Government has vowed to build �a legal system with Chinese characteristics' by 2010,3 based on �the rule of law', which as a political con­cept has been embraced by the Party-state only recently.^{[27] [28] What such a legal system means is a curious question, the answer to which depends on how one defines �legal system' and �rule of law', as well as how one understands the pecu­liarity of the evolving Chinese legal culture in an increasingly globalised legal world.}

As Peerenboom points out, �[n]owdays, it is virtually impossible to open any Chinese newspaper without seeing reference to rule of law.'^[29] Since socialist rule of law became an official policy formulation in 1996, support for the rule of law has been relied upon by generations of Chinese leaders to gain political legitimacy. Thus, a white paper issued in 2008 by the State Council - China's Central Government - claims:

The rule of law signifies that a political civilization has developed to a certain historic stage. As the crystallization of human wisdom, it is desired and pursued by people of all countries... The Chinese people... know well the significance and value of the rule of law, and thus cherish the fruits they have achieved in building China into a country under the rule of law.^[30]

At its most basic, �rule of law refers to a system in which law is able to impose meaningful restraints on the state and individual members of the ruling elite, as captured inthe...

The Communist PartyofChina (CPC) has led the Chinese people in Successfullyopening up the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Along this road, China, in line with the objective requirements arising in the course of continuous economic, political, cultural and social development, has upheld the organic unity of the CPC’s leadership, the position of the people as masters of the country and law-based governance, stuck to the principle of people first, advocated the spirit of the rule of law, fostered the idea of democracy and rule of law, freedom and equality, fairness and justice, developed and improved the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, promoted the exercise of administrative functions in accordance with the law in all respects, deepened the reform of the judicial system, perfected the mechanism of restraint of and supervision over the use of power, guaranteed the citizens’ lawful rights and interests, maintained social harmony and stability, and continuously promoted institutionalization of all work.⁹

This language describes both the process and the end objectives of the construc­tion of rule of law by the political elites in China. Significantly, it reminds people of the notion of the rule by law rather than rule of law. Under the rule by law formula,

[T]he government should rule by known laws rather than by mere fiat or personal rule. Rules are here seen as a mere rational and perhaps more efficient means of guiding or steering the society.

But even rule by law is a matter of degree. Noting the official understanding of the rule of law in Singapore, Li-ann Thio remarks, â€?the rule of law as understood by Singapore’s leaders is not the version based upon the liberal democratic model, but is driven by the prioritisation of a statist goal like stability and economic growth and directed by the authoritarian hand of an efficient and relatively incorrupt government. It is more accurately characterized as the rule ofâ€?rules’ or the rule by law.’¹¹ China is yet to achieve such a strong degree of legalism given, among others, the differences in the levels of economic development, control of corruption, and sophistication of thebureaucracy. As Cohen and Lange succinctly observe, the â€?Chinese legal system today is a classic example of a glass that is half empty or half full, depending on how you look (at) it.’¹² Despite all the problems in China’s legal reconstruction, an optimistic view suggests that China is still steadfastly building a legal system that meets the most basic elements of rule of law in the sense that â€?China has backed up its (rule of law rhetoric) with actions’.¹³

9 SCIO, op. cit.

10 D Clark, �The ManyMeanings of the Rule ofLaw’, in K Jayasuriya (ed), Law, Capitalism andPower in Asia, Routledge, London and New York, 1999, p. 36.

11 L Thio, �Lex Rex or Rex Lex? Competing Conceptions of the Rule of Law in Singapore’, UCLA Pacific Basin LawJournal, vol. 20, no. 1, 2002-03, p. 75.

12 J ACohenand JE Lange, �The Chinese Legal System: APrimer for Investors’, NewYorkLawSchooUournal OfInternational and ComparativeLaw, vol. 17, no. 2 and 3, 1997, p. 345.

13 RPeerenboom, op. cit., p. 6.

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