Legislating Women's and Children's Rights and Interests in the PRCa

China Quarterly

Volumn 149, Issue , 1997, Pages 29-55

  Keith, Ronald C ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 5844354154     PISSN: 03057410     EISSN: 14682648     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0305741000043629     Document Type: Article

References (108)

1. I first began to explore quanyi in Ronald C. Keith, China's Struggle for the Rule of Law (Basingstoke, New York: Macmillan, St. Martin's Press, 1994), pp. 81,97,112,114–15,118, 140
2. in Ronald C. Keith, “The new relevance of ‘rights and interests’: China's changing human rights theories,” China Information, Vol. X, No. 2 (Autumn 1995), pp. 38–62.
3. A short list of such works might include: Phyllis Andors, The Unfinished Liberation of Chinese Women 1949–1980 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983)
4. Margery Wolf and Roxane Witke (eds.), Women in Chinese Society (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975)
5. Judith Stacey, Patriarchy and Socialist Revolution in China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983)
6. Elisabeth Croll, The Politics of Marriage in Contemporary China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981)
7. Dalia Davin, Woman-Work: Women and the Party in Revolutionary China (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976)
8. Kay Ann Johnson, Women, the Family and Peasant Revolution in China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983)
9. Deborah Davis and Stevan Harrell (eds.), Chinese Families in the Post-Mao Era (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993)
10. Christina Gilmartin, Gail Hershatter et al. (eds.), Engendering China: Women, Culture, and the State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Contemporary China Series, No. 10, 1994)
11. Ellen Judd, Gender and Power in Rural North China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994)
12. C. Montgomery Broaded and Chongshun Liu, “Family background, gender and educational attainment in urban China,” The China Quarterly (CQ), No. 145 (March 1996), pp. 53–86.
13. Michael Palmer, “The re-emergence of family law in post-Mao China: marriage, divorce and reproduction,” CQ, No. 141 (March 1995), p. 110.
14. For general discussion of the Chinese counteroffensive see John F. Copper, “Peking's post-Tiananmen foreign policy: the human rights factor,” Issues and Studies, Vol. 30, No. 10, pp. 49–78
15. Andrew Nathan, “Human rights in Chinese foreign policy,” CQ, No. 139 (September 1994), pp. 622–643.
16. The developing political importance of NPC law-making has become a strong new area in Western sinological research; for example see Murray Scott Tanner, ”The erosion of Communist Party control over lawmaking in China, CQ, No. 138 (June 1994), pp. 381–403.
17. Keith, “The new relevance of ‘rights and interests’,” pp. 46–49.
18. For an extended discussion of the evolution of “rights” in China see Ann Kent, Between Freedom and Subsistence: China and Human Rights (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1993), passim.
19. The efficiency versus fairness controversy is detailed and analysed in my AAS conference paper, “Antithesis in Post-Deng Jurisprudence,” Honolulu, 14 April 1996.
20. See “Human rights in China,” Beijing Review, (BR), 4–10 November 1991, pp. 8–45.
21. Sixteen of these regulations have been translated in Yuanling Chao and Richard Sao (eds.), “Provincial laws on the protection of women and children,” Chinese Law and Government, Vol. 27, No. 1 (January-February 1994), passim.
22. “The situation of children in China,” BR, 22–29 April 1996, p. 21.
23. “The report of the PRC on the implementation of the Nairobi forward-looking strategies for the advancement of women,” BR, 24–30 October 1994, p. 10.
24. Also see the June 1994 white paper, “The situation of Chinese women,” which highlights this law in its discussion of equal legal status in BR, 6–12 June 1994, pp. 12–13.
25. Wang Rong, “Women's rights awareness drive put on the move,” China Daily, 10 June 1992, p. 3.
26. “An outline of Chinese women's development 1995–2000”, in FBIS-CHI 95–154, 10 August 1995, pp. 13–19.
27. The Chinese text is available in Xinhua yuebao, No. 10 (1995), pp. 48–55.
28. The Beijing Declaration was carried in the BR, 16–22 October 1995, pp. 8–10.
29. “Chen Muhua profiled,” Xinhua, 4 September 1995 in FBIS-CHI 95–171,5 September 1995, pp. 31–32.
30. “Speech by Chen Muhua: equality, development and peace are the common pursuit of women all over the world,” Xinhua, 2 September 1995 in FBIS-CHI 95–174,8 September 1995, pp. 4, 6.
31. “Text of Jiang's speech,” FBIS-CHI 95–171, 5 September 1995, pp. 21–22.
32. Hillary Rodham Clinton, “Women's rights are human rights,” in Vital Speeches of the Day, Vol. lxi, No. 24 (1 October 1995), pp. 738–740.
33. “The progress of human rights in China,” BR, Special Issue, 1996, p. 21.
34. See Shao-chuan Leng and Hungdah Chiu, Criminal Justice in Post-Mao China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1985), p. 7.
35. Also refer to Keith's discussion of law and the “comprehensive management of public order” in China's Struggle for the Rule of Law, pp. 18, 29, 106, 118, 149.
36. Shen Zongling, “Nuquanzhuyi faxue shuping” (“A commentary on feminist jurisprudence”), Zhongguo faxue (Chinese Legal Science), No. 3 (1995), p. 51.
37. Paul McKenzie “China and the Women's Convention: prospects for the implementation of an international norm,” China Law Reporter, Vol. vii, No. 1 (1991), introduction, p. 34.
38. “Beijing declaration,” BR, 16–22 October 1995, p. 9 (author's italics).
39. Sun Xiaoxia, “Lun falüyu shehui liyi” (“On law and social interests”), Zhongguofaxue, No. 4 (1995), pp. 52–53.
40. This is discussed in detail by David Ding, “1980s intellectual re-evaluation of Chinese democracy,” unpublished June 1996 paper cited with author permission.
41. See the report on these debates in “Falixuede gaige yu fazhan” (“Reform and development of jurisprudence”), Faxue (Law Studies) (Renda), No. 7 (1995), pp. 16–31.
42. “Pluralized jurisprudence” is discussed extensively in Ronald C. Keith, “Post-Deng jurisprudence: justice and efficiency in a ‘rule of law’ economy,” currently under editorial review.
43. See Luo Mengda and He Hangzhou, “Lun renquande geti shuxing” (“On the individual character of human rights”), Zhengfaluntan (Forum on Politics and Law), No. 1 (1993), p. 56.
44. On related theory see Keith, “The new relevance of ‘rights and interests’,” pp. 38–61.
45. See Keith, “Post-Deng jurisprudence”.
46. Theodore Chen (ed.), The Chinese Communist Regime. Documents and Commentary (New York: Praeger, 1967), p. 91.
47. For the Chinese text see Zhonghua renmin gongheguo changyong falü daquan (Compendium of Often Used Laws of the PRC) (Beijing: Falü chubanshe, 1989), pp. 3, 5, 7–9.
48. See “The report of the PRC on the implementation of the Nairobi forward-looking strategies,” p. 9.
49. Albeit Chen has analysed three different schools of opinion in terms of “rights-oriented,” “obligations-oriented” and “equal emphasis on the consistency of rights and obligations.” See Albert Chen, “Developing theories of rights and human rights in China,” in Raymond Wacks (ed.), Hong Kong, China and 1997: Essays in Legal Theory (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1993), pp. 123–149.
50. “Human rights in China,” BR, 4–10 November 1991, documents, p. 9.
51. The distinction between fading quanli and shiyou quanli was pivotal to Li Buyun's major new theory on the forms of human rights. For discussion of Li Buyun, “Lun renquande sanzhong cunzai xingtai” (“On the three extant forms of human rights”), Faxue yanjiu. No. 4 (1991)
52. see Keith, “The new relevance of ‘rights and interests’,” p. 48.
53. “The report of the PRC on the implementation of the Nairobi forward-looking strategies,” p. 12.
54. “The situation of Chinese women,” BR, 6–12 June 1994, documents, p. 9.
55. “Decision of the CPC Central Committee on some issues concerning the establishment of a socialist market,” BR, 22–28 November 1993, p. 23.
56. For Deng's original Southern Tour remarks see Deng Xiaoping wenxuan (Deng Xiaoping's Selected Works), Vol. 3 (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1993), p. 373.
57. Also see Zhang Guangbo, “Xuexi Deng Xiaoping jianshe you Zhongguo tese shehuizhuyi lilun, yindao faxue yanzhe zhengque daolu xiangqian fazhan” (“Studying Deng Xiaoping's theory on the establishment of socialism with Chinese characteristics to advance jurisprudence in the right direction”), Zhongguo faxue, No. 4 (1995), p. 42.
58. See Barrett McCormick, Su Shaozhi and Xiao Xiaoming, “The 1989 democracy movement: a review of the prospects for civil society in China,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 65, No. 3 (Summer 1992), p. 187
59. Thomas Gold, “Party-state versus society in China,” in Joyce Kallgren (ed.), Building a Nation-State: China after Forty Years (Berkeley: Centre for Chinese Studies, China Research Monograph, No. 37), p. 150
60. Thomas Gold, “The resurgence of civil society in China,” Journal of Democracy, Winter 1990, p. 20
61. Heath Chamberlain, “Coming to terms with civil society,” Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 31 (January 1994), p. 117
62. Martin Whyte, “Urban China: a civil society in the making,” in Arthur Rosenbaum (ed.), State and Society in China (Boulder: Westview Press, 1992), pp. 98–99.
63. In commenting on Dorothy Solinger's synthesis of autonomy and control in the Rosenbaum book, Vivienne Shue suggested that even as the state “erodes” it can also “reinvent itself, adapting its structure and its ethos to its changing social context.” See Vivienne Shue's review of Rosenbaum's edited volume in CQ, No. 135 (September 1995), p. 606.
64. Shue comments further on the “state-society paradigm” in her review article, “Grasping reform: economic logic, political logic and the state-society spiral,” CQ, No. 144 (December 1995), pp. 1180–81.
65. Preliminary Study of China's Juvenile Delinquency (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1992), p. 56.
66. See Børge Bakken, “Crime, juvenile delinquency and deterrence policy in China,” Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 30 (July 1993), p. 29.
67. “The situation of children in China,” p. 20.
68. Kay Johnson has raised the very pertinent criticism that while the poorer segments of China's population have witnessed increasing prosperity, Chinese orphanages are still disproportionately filled with girls. See Kay Johnson, “Chinese orphanages: saving China's abandoned girls,” Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 30 (1993), pp. 61–88.
69. According to Professor Yu Shutong, adviser to the Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee of the NPC. See “NPC adviser on protecting minors' rights,” Xinhua, 6 December 1991 in FBIS-CHI 91–235, 6 December 1991, p. 24.
70. See Wang Zhongfan (ed.), Zhongguo shehui zhian zonghe zhili de lilun yu shijian (Theory and Practice of Comprehensive Management of Public Order) (Beijing: Qunzhong chubanshe, 1989), p. 4.
71. For discussion of this sector of the law refer to Ronald C. Keith and Lin Zhiqiu, “Fighting corruption in China's ‘rule of law economy’,” unpublished paper currently under review.
72. The Chinese text of this law is in Funü he weichengnianren falü baohuquanshu (Complete Volume on the Legal Protection of Women and Children) (Beijing: Zhongguo jiancha chubanshe, 1991), pp. 10–16.
73. The English text is in FBIS-CHI 91–174, September 1991, pp. 36–40).
74. “Song Rufen reviews draft laws,” BR, 3 September 1991
75. FBIS-CHI 91–172, 5 September 1991, p. 27.
76. “Law of the PRC for the protection of minors,” Xinhua, 4 September 1991
77. in FBIS-CHI 91–174, 9 September 1991, p. 37.
78. “Minors protected under the law,” BR, 22–28 June 1992, p. 25.
79. This kind of approach was previously explicit at the provincial level; for example refer to “Regulations of Heilongjiang province on the protection of women's and children's lawful rights and interests,” Chinese Law and Government, Vol. 27, No. 1, January-February 1994, p. 11.
80. Keith, China's Struggle for the Rule of Law, p. 111.
81. See Bakken, “Crime, juvenile delinquency and deterrence policy in China,” p. 29.
82. See “The progress of human rights in China,” p. 20.
83. “Adoption Law of the PRC,” Xinhua, 29 December 1991 in FBIS-CHI 91–251, 31 December 1991, pp. 18–20.
84. “The report of the PRC on the implementation of the Nairobi forward-looking strategies,” p. 10.
85. See “The Progress of human rights in China,” p. 20.
86. BR, 6–12 June 1994, p. 13.
87. “Implementation of the law on safeguarding the rights and interests of women,” BR, 4–10 September 1995, p. 12.
88. See “Women and reform”, China News Analysis, No. 1477(15 January 1993), p. 3
89. Keith, China's Struggle for the Rule of Law, pp. 112–13.
90. “Women's conference participant issues protest,” Eastern Express, 22 September 1995, p. 13
91. in FBIS-CHI 95–185, p. 23.
92. “PRC law protecting women's rights and interests,” FBIS-CHI92–072,14 April 1992, pp. 18–21.
93. “Important legal weapon for protecting women's rights, interests,” Renmin ribao, 10 April 1992, p. 1
94. in FBIS-CHI 92–075, 17 April 1992, p. 39.
95. “The Report of the PRC on the implementation of the Nairobi forward-looking strategies,” p. 8.
96. Stanley Rosen, “Women and political participation in China,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 68, No. 3 (Fall 1995), p. 339.
97. This is based on the explanation of Ma Yinan who states a preference for fixing the pool of candidates in “Guanyu wanshan funu quanyi baozhangfade ruogan sikao” (“Several thoughts on the perfection of the law on the protection of women's rights and interests”), Zhongguo faxue. No. 5 (1994), p. 102.
98. Zhongguo faxue. pp. 104–105.
99. Keith, China's Struggle for the Rule of Law, pp. 107–108.
100. Zhang Xianyu, “ZhongMei guanyu ‘Dui funude baoli qinfan’ guoji yanjiu taohui shuping” (“A review of the Sino-American international conference on ‘violence against women’ ”), Faxue (Renda), No. 7 (1995), pp. 128–130.
101. “Minister on new maternal, infant health care law,” Hong Kong AFP, 14 November 1994 in FBIS-CHI 94–219, 14 November 1994, p. 55.
102. “Standing Committee hears amendments to draft laws,” Xinhua, 26 October 1994, p. 33.
103. Yu Min, “Lun nannü pingdengde xianfa yuance zai ‘minshi lingyu’ neide zhijie xiaoli” (“On the direct effect of the constitutional principle of gender equality in the sphere of civil affairs”), Zhongguo faxue, No. 6 (1995), p. 106.
104. Shi Jichun, “Woguo minfa tongze yu waiguo chuantong minfa zongzede bijiao” (“Comparing [China's] General Principles of Civil Law with the traditional civil law principles of foreign countries”), Shenui kexue, No. 7 (1986), p. 24.
105. Stacey, Patriarchy and Social Revolution in China, p. 263.
106. For example see the review of 1994 Chinese jurisprudential debate in Editorial Department, “Yijiuwunian Zhongguo faxue yanjiu huigu” (“Review on the studies of Chinese law in 1994”), Faxue yanjiu, No. 1 (1995), pp. 3-M).
107. This is a paraphrased reference to Elisabeth Croll's review of Christina Gilmartin, Gail Hershatter, Lisa Rofel and Tyrene White, Engendering China: Women, Culture and the State. See Elisabeth Croll's overview of recent literature in book review, CQ.No. 141 (March 1995), pp. 211–15.
108. Shirin M. Rai, “Gender, education and employment in post-Mao China: issues in modernisation,” China Report, Vol. 29, No. 1 (1993), p. 3.