The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. We are embracing the ever-changing development of modern technology, and also witnessing the ever-changing international political situation. The Spring 2023 Issue of Tsinghua China Law Review continues to focus on China and the international community in the prevailing times.
With the increased awareness of data security and personal information protection, scholars from various academic fields have been discussing the opportunities, risks and measures regarding issues on data and technology. Against this backdrop, Tsinghua China Law Review launched the very first student essay competition in November 2022. Two outstanding winning pieces are published as China Law Update notes in this issue, relatively focusing on the definition of sensitive personal information and NFT transaction.
Competition mixed with cooperation, at the international level, new norms are potentially developing and emerging in the relations between China and other major powers. In order to further discuss China-related issues from a legal perspective, articles focusing on comparative legal analysis and international policy analysis are selected for the current issue, covering both the common issues for the community with a shared future of mankind, as well as the particular challenges faced by China.
In the article entitled China’s Emerging Legal Regime for Privacy and Personal Information Protection, Professors Peng Chengxin, Shao Guosong and Zheng Wentong discussed China’s emerging legal regime for the protection of privacy and personal information. The article identified three pillars of this legal regime: China’s Constitution, the Civil Code, and the Personal Information Protection Law. After recognizing the achievements of the current regime, the authors further pointed out several problems remained in the system.
In the article entitled Ambition into Action: An Examination of China’s Climate Governance, Professor Zhao Yuhong shed light on the latest progress in China regarding the efforts in combating climate change. The author recognized China’s unprecedented political will on this matter and the establishment of a top-down system of measures. The author went on to argue that that China needs to strengthen its regulatory and legislative infrastructure to facilitate the fair and transparent operation of the carbon market and climate litigation.
In Tempering the Extraterritoriality of Foreign Issued Anti-Suit Injunctions in Chinese Admiralty Proceedings, Professor Xing Lijuan focused on China’s measures in dealing with anti-suit injunctions (“ASIs”) from overseas courts. In this article, the author proposed a new mechanism for Chinese Maritime Courts to mitigate the undue influence ASIs has produced, after which the adjustment of judicial objectives and principles is also suggested. The article also provided advice on how the courts may respond in different situations.
In the article entitled Alternate Realities: Critical Evaluation of U.S. Legal Sanctions on “Communist Chinese Military Companies”, Professor Colin Hawes and Professor Grace Li provided valuable comments the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s sanction on “Communist Chinese Military Companies”, which was further modified by President Joe Biden. After introducing the key executive orders and legal provisions of the sanction, the article took two successful court injunction cases obtained by Xiaomi and Luokung as examples to analyze the sanction in detail. The article also evaluated Biden’s modification and pointed out its inconsistency and arbitrariness, after which the article systematically questioned the underlying assumptions of the sanctions.
In the article entitled Do Not Let Justice Be Absent: Enlightenment from Canada for China in Determining Self-defence Cases, Dr. Huang Junjun provides an insight into the determination of self-defence cases, based on Canadian rules and practices. Rather than relying on the commencement and termination of the unlawful force as a fixed mindset, the author suggested employing reasonableness and circumstance assessments to evaluate the belief and purpose of the response, and imminence and necessity to determine the cause and timing of self-defence. This new approach can help address some traditionally controversial self-defence situations, such as self-defence against domestic violence.
In our China Law Update column, insightful pieces by student authors have been selected, providing comments and analyses on the latest social and legal developments in China. The first two notes are the outstanding winning entries in our first student essay competition on the theme of “Data Security and Data Governance”, responding to the legal issues raised by the rapid growth of information technology and data science. In the first note entitled Whether Personal Credit Information is Sensitive Personal Information, Yin Shanghong denied that personal credit information is sensitive personal information from the balance of protecting personal credit information and facilitating finance, and further reflected on the definition of sensitive personal information in Article 28 of the Personal Information Protection Law. Hao Xinchang focused on NFT, a brand-new application of blockchain technology in the note Distribution or Information Network Dissemination: A Prospect for the Legal Characterization of NFT Digital Work Transaction, and characterize the transaction of NFT digital work as distribution, according to the legal theory under the copyright law. Another note entitled Identification of Parentage in the Context of Surrogacy by Chen Qingyang is the first note on legal update in case-study. Faced with the current situation of surrogacy, this note aims at solving the inevitable practical problem of parentage determination in surrogacy and providing a rule of resolution to protect and balance the interests of different parties, especially the children.
Lastly, we would like to express our gratitude to everyone participating in the process of submission, editing, and promotion of this issue. We also sincerely appreciate the guidance and support provided by Professor Gao Simin. We would like to thank Professor Zhou Guangquan, the Dean of Tsinghua University School of Law, for his firm support and warm encouragement of this journal. Special thanks go to the Tsinghua University Humanities and Social Sciences Development Initiative for its generous financial support for this issue.
