Chinese Practice in Public International Law: 2012

Abstract

This Survey covers materials reflecting Chinese practice in 2012 relating to: I. Fundamental principles of international law; II. Rule of law at the national and international levels; III. Sources of international law (provisional application of treaties; formation and evidence of customary international law); IV. Recognition of new States and governments (Palestine; Kosovo; the new Libyan government); V. Jurisdiction and immunity (Supreme People's Court's interpretation of the Second Amendment to the 1979 Criminal Procedural Code; Case concerning the 5 October Massacre in Mekong River committed by Sai Naw Kham, Hsang Kham, Yi Lai, Zha Xika, Zha Bo and Zha Tuobo); VI. China's territorial integrity (Taiwan; Tibet; China–India agreement on the establishment of a working mechanism for consultation and co-ordination on India–China border affairs; Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands; Huangyan Island; Xisha Islands; Nansha Islands; Establishment of Sansha Municipality); VII. Polar regions (Arctic Council); VIII. International Law of the Sea (Baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands; Selection, defininition and protection of the Protection Scope of Territorial Sea Base Points; Submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in part of the East China Sea; Revised Regulations on Administration of Coastal Border Security of Hainan Province; Suyan Rock; Okinotori Reef; Marine environment; Marine biodiversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction; Sustainable fisheries; Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf; International Seabed Authority; International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; Fight against piracy); IX. International law on outer space (Militarization of and arms race in outer space; Space debris; International co-operation in peaceful uses of outer space); X. Aliens (Act on Administration of Exit and Entry; 72-hour visa-free travel to Beijing and Shanghai; Draft articles on expulsion of aliens; Refugees); XI. International human rights law (Human rights and the principle of non-interference of internal affairs; Human rights, politicization and double Standards; Human rights and national conditions; Right to survival and right to development; Human security; Discrimination and racism; Right to self-determination; Rights of indigenous peoples; Initial report under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; The Second Amendment to the 1979 Criminal Procedural Code; Act on Administration of Exit and Entry; Work of UN Secretariat in human rights; Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; Human Rights Treaty bodies and their reform); XII. International humanitarian law (protection of civilians in armed conflicts; Fourth Annual Session of Chinese National Committee of International Humanitarian Law; Litigation of Chinese victims against Japan before a court in Chongqing; Legal advisers in Chinese armed forces); XIII. International law on disasters (Strengthening of the co-ordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the UN, including special economic assistance); XIV. International law on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation (Nuclear disarmament; Mongolia's nuclear-weapons-free status; Chemical Weapons Convention; Biological Weapons Convention; Amended Protocol II to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW); Ottawa Convention; Anti-vehicle landmines; International humanitarian de-mining assistance; Protocol V to the CCW (ERW); China–Laos Memorandum of Understanding on the Provision of Assistance of China to the Laotian Victims of Cluster Munitions; Arms Trade Treaty; Cyber weapons; Conference on Disarmament); XV. International Criminal Law (International Criminal Court; ICTY and ICTR; Scope and application of universal jurisdiction; UN Comprehensive Convention against Terrorism; UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; UN Convention against Corruption; Cyber crime; Trafficking in cultural property); XVI. International environmental law (Joint Declaration of the Moscow Meeting on Inclusion of International Civil Aviation in the EU-ETS; Directive on Prohibition from Participating in EU Carbon Emission System; Protection of atmosphere; Effects of atomic radiation; Use of water resources of cross-border rivers); XVII. Law on diplomatic and consular relations (Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations; The CHEN Guangcheng incident; The WANG Lijun case); XVIII. International law on international organizations (The reform of the UNSC; Sanctions imposed by the UNSC; The working methods of the UNSC; UN Peacekeeping operations; Regulation on Participation of People's Liberation Army in UN Peacekeeping Operations (Provisional Application); Inter-mission co-operation of UN peacekeeping operations; Scale of assessments for the apportionment of the expenses of the UN); XIX. International law on settlement of disputes (International Court of Justice; Unilateral sanctions imposed by a State against another State).