State Immunity

Hong Kong

As the case of a US vulture fund against the Democratic Republic of the Congo reached the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, the disputed debt of US$104 million was overshadowed by the claim made in letters from the Foreign Ministry to Hong Kong courts that "China considers the issue of state immunity an important issue which affects relations between states" and that Hong Kong's embrace of the restrictive immunity doctrine would prejudice China's sovereignty. Some commentators also made alarmist remarks such as "no central government can survive if one of its components is singing a different tune", as if there were death penalty for a state if its regions breach international law. The Hong Kong Government, intervening in the case, argued that the issue of state immunity is part of Hong Kong's foreign affairs on which Hong Kong courts must follow Beijing's approach and maintain "one state, one immunity". The Government and the defendants in the case agreed that Hong Kong courts should not follow English common law on restrictive immunity which they said had been displaced by the Basic Law, and called for the court to ask for an interpretation from the national legislature on Article 13 of the Basic Law dealing with Hong Kong's foreign affairs. Lawyers for the plaintiff argued against the court seeking the interpretation, suggesting that Beijing could decide on Hong Kong's state immunity law by enacting a national law that applies to Hong Kong. They claimed that Hong Kong's return to the "legal dark ages" of absolute immunity would damage Hong Kong's reputation as an international financial centre.

Human Rights

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demanded the Chinese government to immediately release Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer who has been detained for nearly a year. The Group said that "the detention violated international law because Gao’s disappearance was punishment for exercising his fundamental human rights and because the government failed to meet even the minimum international standards for due process,” In response, a Chinese FM spokeswoman said she was unaware of Gao's whereabouts, but that the UN should respect China's "judicial sovereignty", as "China is a country ruled by law, with an independent judiciary that handles cases."

Use of Force

After abstaining from the Security Council resolution that authorises the use of force against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya, China joined other members of the BRIC group to call for an immediate cease-fire and suggest that coalition forces were imperilling civilians by exceeding the UN-mandated no-fly zone.

Treatment of Aliens

Despite appeals for clemency from Manila, China had set the execution date for three Filipino drug traffickers who are set to be executed on 30 March in Xiamen and Shenzhen.

Extradition

Apparently in an attempt to allay Canada's concerns over torture in the case of Lai Changxing's deportation to China, the Chinese Government made what is believed to be an unprecedented promise to allow Canadian embassy officials to visit Lai in prison and conduct third-party medical checks if he were convicted in China.

Tibet

The Dalai Lama announced that he would formally relinquish his political leadership role in the Tibetan exile government and devolve authority to an elected prime minister. In response, a Chinese FM spokeswoman dismissed the announcement as "tricks to deceive the international community", while the Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile lamented, "Despite His Holiness' request, the people and the government do not feel competent to lead ourselves".

Taiwan

Extradition

Taiwan announced that it will lift punitive sanctions on the Philippines and end a row over Manila's deportation of 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects to the mainland to face prosecution. The announcement came after the Philippines sacked two senior immigration officials and again expressed "deep regrets".

Law of the Sea - Continental Shelf

Song Enlai, chairman of China National Offshore Oil Corp's (CNOOC) board of supervisors, certainly made a name for himself by becoming one of the few Chinese officials whom the Chinese Foreign Ministry called a liar, when he made the following remarks to reporters in Beijing on the disputed Chunxiao gas field in the East China Sea, "It's a sensitive question. But we already started developing the field, we are already pumping oil." After Japan called the statement "very regrettable", the Chinese Foreign Ministry told Japan that the statement is "not true" and pointed out that Song had retired from CNOCC. Later, a Chinese FM spokeswoman reasserted that China has complete sovereignty over the Chunxiao oil and gas field.

Human Rights

As the UN General Assembly decided by consensus to suspend Libya's membership of the UN Human Rights Council, a Chinese delegate to the UN said China joined the consensus "in view of the extremely exceptional situation now in Libya and concerns and views expressed by Arab and African countries", and that Libyan suspension "does not constitute a precedent".

United Nations

Hong Kong

International Law and Domestic Law

Law of the Sea

The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line (IRISL), which was under sanctions by the UN Security Council, reportedly operated in Asia with the help of shell companies in Hong Kong that owned IRISL ships registered in Hong Kong, because Hong Kong has not made local regulations to enact the UN sanctions. Meanwhile, IRISL continues to operate between China and Iran through a Chinese affiliate despite a Ministry of Foreign Affairs request that the UN resolution be "conscientiously implemented in accordance with the law" by all government agencies.

Use of Force

In two unprecedented moves, the PLA first sent a Navy frigate to the Libyan coast to "support and protect" the more than 30,000 Chinese nationals being evacuated from Libya on civilian ships. Later, China sent four military transport planes to take part in the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya.