From Coexistence to Cooperation? The Dynamics of China’s Legal Approach to the United Nations and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

Abstract

This article analyses China’s dynamic legal approach to multilateralism with regard to an international organisation (United Nations - UN) and a regional organisation (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation - SCO), showcasing how international normative crystallization influenced China's views on multilateralism and determined her evolution from a reluctant actor to an active supporter of multilateralism and a facilitator between regional (SCO) and international organisations (UN). China’s engagement with the United Nations has been the country’s perhaps most distinguishing feature regarding her approach of the international normative order. After discussing whether and to what degree of extent China could be considered a contributor to the Rule of Law, the article moves on to identify how China solved the inherent conflict between her Westphalian views on sovereignty and her role in the UN Security Council (UNSC). While providing multiple examples on China's practice in the UNSC, the study finds out that, despite having crossed various stages in her approach to the UNSC, China's respect for sovereignty continues to remain constant in her international legal practice. Finally, China's role as a facilitator between the SCO and UNSC is analysed to showcase how, despite attaching paramount importance to national sovereignty, China became a catalyst of multilateral cooperation. In the light of China’s legal practice, the study concludes that a new stage in China's relation with International Law could be envisaged and such an evolution would not weaken, but consolidate, both the UN and SCO.