Impact of Sino-US Trade Agreement on Chinese Legal System about Intellectual Property Rights

On January 15,2020,the representatives of Sino-US trade signed Phase I Economic and Trade Agreement Between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the United States of America in Washington,which symbolizes the temporary settlement of two-year Sino-US trade war in relatively peaceful method and lays a good foundation in mutual trust for subsequent Phase II negotiation.This Agreement includes eight chapters involving Sino-US economic and trade and is called the model of the international bilateral agreement by virtue of its wide field and rigorous details.The impact of clauses about intellectual property rights on China’s current legal system and the future revision direction of China’s relevant laws for conformance with the Agreement will be discussed emphatically so that the author can rapidly understand the impact and significance of Sino-US trade agreement to Chinese law.

Advancing the Chinese Legal System Through Inheriting Excellent Traditional Chinese Legal Culture

Currently,research on the Chinese legal system is flourishing,and more and more issues are worthy of exploration.The Chinese legal system is unique among the five major legal systems in the world.It is the only ancient secular legal system,and the only ancient secular legal system to have been disseminated by non-coercive means.The openness of the Chinese legal system is a powerful proof that traditional Chinese law plays a role in importing and exporting legal policies and measures from and to other states.Indeed,these issues are important in research on the Chinese legal system,and a correct understanding of them can help to comprehensively understand traditional Chinese legal culture.It is essential to deepen the research on the Chinese legal system to contribute to its revival and to the inheritance of traditional Chinese legal culture.In addition to comprehensive discussions,it is also necessary to fill gaps and advance the research on the Chinese legal system.

Updated Interpretation of the Chinese Legal System

As an important accomplishment of self-governance exploration for the Chinese nation,the Chinese legal system has contributed significantly to human rule-of-law civilization,and should be reinterpreted from three dimensions:historical tradition,prevailing practice,and future development.Following the constant logic of rule-of-law development in China,Chinese rule-of-law modernization marks a new era of the Chinese legal system and is a specific embodiment of Chinese modernization in the domain of rule of law.The Communist Party of China(CPC)has explored the China’s socialist rule-of-law practice with Chinese characteristics,carried forward the essence of fine Chinese rule-of-law culture,and learned from others’important rule of-law achievements,modernizing the rule of law for the needs of China.Furthermore,XI Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law,adapting to the times to promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,understands and grasps the basic laws of national governance,the laws of socialist rule-of-law building and the principles of law-based humane civilization development.The Chinese legal system has thereby been revised and expanded through linking history with reality,the international scene with the domestic one,and theory with practice.Surely,the updated Chinese legal system with China characteristics and with world significance will return to global centre-stage in rule-of-law development.Also,the updated Chinese legal system in the new era will embrace the revival of Chinese rule-of-law civilization,while the Chinese rule-of-law modernization will advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Transborder Personal Security of Chinese Nationals and Its Legal Safeguard

Personal security is an im- portant human right. There would be no human rights to talk about if personalsecurity, including personal safety, were not safeguarded. So long as a person is in the person＇s own coun- try, there will always be a measure of legal safeguard for the person＇s interests and personal security, ff the person has his or her rights infringed upon when the person is outside the country, there will be more than one province of judicial jurisdiction over the case, and the subsequent legal remedies for the person, if any, in most cases will not be so timely and easily available as provided under the domestic laws of the person＇s own country.

Promotion of the Chinese Legal Culture and System in the New Era

The 5000-years uninterrupted Chinese legal culture embodies the political and legal wisdom of the Chinese nation and is a source of pride for the Chinese nation.It has provided extremely rich resources and treasures for the construction of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics.It has been inherited vertically,evolved intergenerationally and reserved continuously.Originating from both the historical legal system and from Marxist historical materialism,the Chinese legal system has profoundly influenced neighboring countries.The comprehensive governance of politics,law,and morality in ancient China,as reflected in the Rites of Zhou,a book of the Western Zhou Dynasty(1027-771 BC)on cultural ideology and political structure,provides an early work on the governance of ancient China.Chinese legal culture has remained progressive,and with the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,it is now important to promote Chinese legal culture for construction of the Chinese legal system in the new era.

THE LEGAL THOUGHT OF EMPEROR TAIZONG OF THE TANG DYNASTY （618--907）

Little scholarly work has been done on understanding Taizong＇s （one of China＇s most influential emperors） legal thought. Existing historiography has been descriptive and has not fully contextualized Taizong＇s legal thought in his broader political thought. Furthermore, it has been influenced by the traditional bias in Tang historiography as a whole, which has been adulatory toward Taizong＇s reign. Drawing from a variety of sources, including dynastic histories and Taizong＇s writings, this article seeks to complicate the existing historiography. It lays out key characteristics of Taizong＇s legal thought, situating them in the historical context in which Taizong operated, as well as contextualizing them within his broader political thought, to present a more balanced analysis. It will argue that Taizong was an emperor who was concerned with legality, competent legal administration, and leniency in punishments. His actions and rhetoric also suggest that he believed that law should be applied to the emperor＇s conduct as well. At the same time, this article also argues that Taizong should not be viewed primarily as an innovative legal thinker or as someone with an ideological or idealistic commitment to legal reform for its own sake. Rather, he was a man whose views on law were greatly motivated by practical, political concerns, such as concerns regarding the stability and legitimacy of his rule. More broadly, this article contributes to the historiography of traditional Chinese legal history by complicating the so-called dominant narrative of the process of ＂Confucianization of law＂ in premodern Chinese history by highlighting the role that specific historical actors （such as Taizong） played in that process.