CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ THE ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TOWARD INTERNATIONAL LAW a network of trade and investment programs with a wide range of countries, from Asia to Europe. Above all, the Biden administration has concerns about China’s lending practices to developing countries which leave them vulnerable to default and subsequent Chinese takeover of critical infrastructure or assuming control over strategic resources. China has signed trade agreements with several Asian countries and has invested heavily in their economies, making them heavily indebted to China. The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership TPP left a vacuum that China was quick to fill. China has applied to become a member of the new Comprehensive and Progressive Transpacific Partnership CPTPP), which the eleven nations signed among themselves. The eleven nations have a combined global gross domestic product of 13.4 percent, approximately $13.5 trillion, and 30 percent of the world population. China is now the dominant power in the Asia-Pacific region and has gained greater influence in Africa, Latin America, and Central Asia with its unconditional infrastructure loans and grants. However, there is a hidden cost to these nations. Although President Biden has shown a willingness to work with China on climate change, North Korea’s nuclear weapons proliferation, regional conflict management, and international terrorism, China has not shown a similar willingness to engage the US administration with the same degree of urgency. The task ahead for the Biden administration will be challenging but it can be overcome if both sides are willing to make concessions. So far, the Biden administration has shown no sign it is willing to soften its stand on China on issues of human rights and fair-trade policies. It would be foolish for Biden to try to dictate to China what policies they need to adopt and what changes they need to make in their foreign and domestic policy; it will not work. China sees itself as an ancient civilization with a long history of ignoring foreigners. No one expects China to change its policies just because it wants to improve relations with the new Biden administration. China certainly needs to modify its attitude toward international law as it becomes a great power, and it needs to assume greater responsibility for the stability and security of the international system. China has profited from the US-based international legal order but has not contributed much to maintain it. China’s ultimate goal is to replace the existing legal order with one more favorable to its national interests. China has been selective about which international rules it chooses to comply with and which ones it considers conflicting with its domestic and foreign policy priorities. China can no longer play only by the rules it likes and discard those that hold it to account. China has deployed its “Wolf Warriors” diplomats to defend its policies against international condemnation and to accuse its critics of meddling in its internal affairs. This strategy has failed. Public opinion about China has declined precipitously since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. China is a strong proponent of state sovereignty, non-intervention in the internal affairs of the states, the right to self-defense, and diplomatic privileges and immunities of states, their agents, and their properties. But China refuses to recognize human rights norms as universal; it does not adhere to the basic principles of market liberalization, free trade, Most Favored Nation (MFN) treatment, or non-discrimination, as stipulated in the World Trade Organization Charter. The concept of sovereignty has changed since World War II, which means states have both a duty and a responsibility. The emergence of human rights on the global agenda has also undermined the absolute concept of sovereignty advocated by Jean

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