Professor Ma Rong-Jie, from Peking University, who was one of the first Chinese lawyers who trained under Chinas old system of legal education, pre-Mao Zedong days, and allegedly was one of the counsels of Gang of Fours accused, Qiang Qing, wife of Mao, and allegedly the power behind the cultural revolution, left China and became an expert on China law for American audiences and law firms. In the 1980s, Prof. Ma made a talk that I attended. In it, he said, I can summarize China law in one sentence, there is no law in China. In short, if you want to do business or trade in China, it is all guanxi, influence peddling, fixing, back-doorism, knowing who and which door to go and pay your way in. It was like that in the early 80s during Nixons time, and it remains so today, with a higher level of sophistication. But essentially, guanxi remains the core of Chinese law. As well as American law. It is rule of man that matters. And occasionally, yes, we have lucid intervals of rationality and real administration of justice. Most of the time, the system just muddle along.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 16:04:00 +0000
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