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Abstract
The Chinese politico-legal system, including the human rights component there­of, has long been the subject of intense academic and policy interest, despite its increas­ingly 'soft' features. A multiyear economic expansion and active participation in globaliza­tion processes have been accompanied by some loosening of governmental control mecha­nisms but, by Western standards, this has been a distinctly slow journey. The acquisition of power by this rapidly rising international player has also given rise to concerns about the broader implications of a combination of substantial State capabilities and an ambivalent posture towards human rights, as widely conceived. In addition to traditional perspectives, the issue has been addressed by resorting to social science-type methodological tools and employing them in order to gain a better understanding of the workings of a rule-based regime that straddles domestic and global territory. Considerable progress has been made, yet the task has not been approached exhaustively and accumulation of knowledge has been an intermittent affair. An elaborate and structured literature review is undertaken here for the purpose of identifying gaps on this specific front and concrete strategies to narrow them materially.

China has long been embroiled in a wide array of territorial disputes and has occasionally flexed its military muscle in the process. Its conduct in such situations has been of great theoretical and practical relevance and has attracted considerable attention from scholars across the socio-legal spectrum. Researchers in the field of international law have carefully surveyed official and semi-official Chinese pronouncements and practices, while their social science counterparts have rigorously dissected key behavioral patterns. This is an inherently complex subject that this two-pronged approach has not yet been able to comprehensively address, however, because scholars engaged in the enterprise have only completed a partial exploration of a multifaceted phenomenon and insufficient interdisciplinary alignment. A potentially richer investigative platform, and more effective conceptual bridge building, may help narrow the gaps in the explanatory architecture.

Since the resumption of China's sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, academic and policy interest in its unique status has largely subsided. This may be attributed to the fact that the issue has formally been settled and the absence of effective mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement of compliance with the bilateral accord underpinning the new legal order. The marginalization of the subject has arguably left an analytical vacuum as several dimensions of the post-1997 picture merit attention on the part of international lawyers. One topic that continues to be of both practical and theoretical importance—the unconstrained pursuit, within the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework, of key strategic goals in the external arena—is addressed in this paper.

Includes index ; The transition from British to Chinese rule, although widely anticipated, is shaping up as one of the most challenging events in Hong Kong's history. The purpose of this book is to examine the key relevant issues within a single framework, highlighting the interconnections in as broad as possible a context. The author employs international legal concepts to assess, from a normative standpoint, the underpinnings of the unique 'one country- two systems' formula devised by Britain and China, focusing in detail on questions such as Hong Kong's international legal status, jurisdictional competence, international legal obligations, human rights, pivotal aspects of treaty law and the relationship between Hong Kong's domestic law and international law ; published_or_final_version ; Epilogue p189 ; Index p215 ; Ch. 1 Hong Kong's Status in International Law p1 ; Ch. 2 Issues of Jurisdiction p43 ; Ch. 3 Hong Kong's International Legal Obligations p85 ; Ch. 4 Hong Kong and Human Rights p109 ; Ch. 5 Problems of Treaty Law p137 ; Ch. 6 Interrelationship Between International Law and Hong Kong Domestic Law p163 ; App. A The Nature and Extent of Hong Kong's Participation in Multilateral Forums p191 ; App. B Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong [December 19, 1984] p195

It is not surprising that, at a time when the world's political maps are being constantly redrawn, the subject of "State succession" features prominently in international legal discourse. By the same token, the infrequency of "waves" of transformation, the diversified modalities of change (cession, annexation, decolonisation, dissolution, secession, merger, unification) and the varying contextual circumstances have resulted in a less than coherent theoretical or practical framework for resolving issues of State succession.1Nor can limited international attempts at "codification"—represented in the 1978 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties2(the "1978 Succession Convention") and the 1983 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Property, Archives and Debts3—be regarded as expressing established customary norms or articulating laws grounded in consistent State practice, judicial precedent or juristic opinion.