China’s Emerging Unilateral Sanctions: Heading towards the Rule of Law?

Abstract

Abstract Although China remains consistent in its stance and practice in unilateral sanctions episodes, its ‘decade of sanctions’ has witnessed some subtle changes—in particular, its endeavour to build a rule-of-law-based unilateral sanctions regime. Both international law and the domestic law of China provide for its unilateral sanctions. It is within the discretion of China to take unilateral sanctions as long as it is not against its obligation under the applicable international law, but its domestic law shows a certain level of insufficiency. The administrative nature of unilateral sanctions decides the core parameter of due process for a rule-of-law-based unilateral sanctions regime, which has its boundaries: the limit of law as a regulatory regime for unilateral sanctions as political instrument and the limit of domestic jurisdiction in terms of extraterritorial application. To upgrade the unilateral sanctions regime according to its own concept of rule of law in foreign relations, China needs to improve the compatibility among current laws and to provide proper remedies.