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Lessons from East Asia and the Road Ahead for China Room 419 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building The Congressional-Executive Commission on China held a Commission hearing entitled "Law in Political Transitions: Lessons from East Asia and the Road Ahead for China," on Tuesday, July 26 from 1:00 to 2:30 in Room 419, of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. China's legal system is developing, but meaningful reform of its authoritarian political system has not yet taken place. What role are law and legal institutions likely to play in China's political reform process? This hearing assessed the state of China's rule of law development and examined the role of legal institutions in political transitions in Taiwan and South Korea to see whether these experiences suggest a path ahead for China. The panelists: Panel One Gretchen Birkle, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State Ms. Birkle began her duties in the Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in June 2004. In DRL, she works primarily with the Country Reports and Asylum Office and the Office for Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy. She has recently also taken the lead for DRL on issues related to human rights violations in Darfur, Sudan. Prior to joining DRL, Ms. Birkle worked for more than five years at the International Republican Institute, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to advancing democracy worldwide through strengthening political parties and political institutions. As deputy director for the Eurasia division, she managed the organization’s activities in nine countries of the former Soviet Union. Ms. Birkle was a legislative assistant to Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) from 1997 to 1999. While working on Capitol Hill, she covered defense, foreign affairs and energy issues for the senator, and handled the staff duties for the senator on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. She developed her expertise on international energy policy through her work at Ogilvy, Adams & Rinehart, where she specialized in assisting nonprofit and corporate clients in the energy industry between 1993 and 1997. Ms. Birkle began her work in international affairs as an assistant editor at a regional business magazine in 1992, where she wrote extensively on investment risks and opportunities in the former Soviet Union. Ms. Birkle graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in political science and has a Master’s Degree in International Relations with a specialization in Soviet Studies from The Johns Hopkins University, Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She speaks Russian and has carried out extensive fieldwork in Belarus and Ukraine. Panel Two Jerome A. Cohen, Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; Adjunct Senior Fellow on Asia, Council on Foreign Relations; Of Counsel, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Professor Cohen is a leading expert on the Chinese legal system and the international relations of East Asia. As an attorney, he has long represented foreign companies in contract negotiations and dispute resolution in China and other countries in East Asia. As Director of East Asian Legal Studies at Harvard Law School from 1964-1979, Professor Cohen pioneered the study of East Asian legal systems and perspectives in American legal curricula. He has published numerous books and articles on Chinese law, including Contract Laws of the People's Republic of China, The Criminal Process in the P.R.C.: 1949-1968, and “The Plight of China’s Criminal Defense Lawyers.” John Fuh-sheng Hsieh, Professor, Department of Government and International Studies, University of South Carolina Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. Professor Hsieh has been active in scholarly activities, serving as secretary-general of the Chinese Association of Political Science (Taipei), chairman of the Comparative Representation and Electoral Systems Research Committee in the International Political Science Association, and coordinator of the Conference Group on Taiwan Studies, a related group in the American Political Science Association. He has written extensively on constitutional choice, electoral systems, electoral behavior, party politics, democratization, and foreign policy. His articles appear in many books and scholarly journals. He is also the author or editor of a number of books. His most recent book is How Asia Votes (Chatham House, 2002), co-edited with David Newman. John K. Ohnesorge, Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin School of Law; Professor and Assistant Director of East Asian Legal Studies, University of Wisconsin Law School Dr. Ohnesorge practiced law in South Korea during several key years in the democratic transition there (1990-1994) and has studied and taught in China. Dr. Ohnesorge specializes in Korean law, comparative law, and economic development and the law. His recent publications include “The Rule of Law, Economic Development, and the Developmental States of Northeast Asia,” “States, Industrial Policies & Antidumping Enforcement in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan,” and “Understanding Chinese Legal and Business Norms.” Statements of Members:
Panel One Panel Two
Transcript: Law in Political Transitions: Lessons from East Asia and the Road Ahead for China (Text/PDF) |
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