The Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol was implemented in China several years ago. In spite of the significant benefits the CDM has brought to China, legal research on the CDM is relatively weak and there are many legal problems with the implementation of CDM projects in Chian. This article clarifies the legal problems of implementing the CDM in China by exploring and analyzing how to implement CDM projects, the legal relationships involved, CDM-related contracts and various key legal issues. The conclusions drawn from the above discussions could have implications for the future carbon reduction activities in China beyond 2012.

This paper examines the early operation of the Kyoto Protocol’s non-compliance procedure since 2006. Several important non-compliance cases recently or currently before the Kyoto Compliance Committee of the procedures and mechanisms deserve to be analysed and discussed. As we may see, the enforcement branch of the Compliance Committee has dealt with some important cases of non-compliance; Among them, from the viewpoint of interpretation or application of international environmental treaties, the question of compliance by Croatia would be particularly interesting. What must be noticed is that the Kyoto Protocol’s NCP has prepared a multilateral forum which enables both the parties and the enforcement branch to base their arguments on international legal perspectives. This examination will also contribute to contested theories of compliance with international legal rules.

Climate change is an emerging environmental issue. To prevent possible trade sanctions from the industrialized trading partners, Taiwan proposed several policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This includes their preparation of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act is under legislature review and the Statute for Renewable Energy Management. Because Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, it is excluded from participation in the United Nation Convention on Climate Change and lacks access to the flexible mechanisms defined under the Kyoto Protocol. The Taiwan Environment Protection Administration plans to encourage the local emitters to acquire foreign reduction credits to offset domestic emissions. This article approaches Taiwan’s mitigation policies and measures from an international legal perspective. It also introduces adaptation policies and recommends that the government establish a special national adaptation team to prepare data and criteria for risk prioritization. Finally, this paper recommends that the Parties of the UNFCCC adopt the ‘universal apply’principle for climate change and allow any governmental agency whose governing matters are covered by the convention, to participate and share emission-reduction responsibilities.

China consists of four customs territories: the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. Each customs territory is an independent member of the WTO as well. To strengthen and promote regional economic integration, the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan have concluded the CEPAs and the ECFA, respectively. The CEPAs and the ECFA are not only RTAs under the WTO, but also administrative agreements of China, which are unprecedented practices in the Multilateral Trading System. The implementation of the CEPAs and the ECFA go smoothly, and have been elevated to national policies of China, which will significantly promote the joint economic prosperity and development of the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

A primary purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate Professor P. Singh’s Article, “Colonised’s Madness, Colonisers’Modernity and International Law: Mythological Materialism in the East-West Telos”published in Volume 3, Number 1 of the Journal of East Asia and International Law. In his article, Singh attempted to overlap various conceptions of modernity taken from a wide range of academic disciplines, and experimentally collapse them into one with a post-colonial point of view. In spite of incomplete argumentation and obscurity in the conceptual formulation, I found his original ideas on the internal connection of modernity with the operating mode of international law to be highly impressive. The most critical point against him was the firm and stereotypical dichotomy of the colonizer and the colonized without any potentiality of sublating the state of colonization, that is, disconnecting the colonizers with their colony and liberating the colonized from their colony. By such sublation (Aufheben) of the existing oppressive relation between the colonizers and the colonized, we can plan to build a new world of peaceful coexistence between the colonizers and the colonized of the past. But although Singh’s conception of modernity is dangerously one-sided, I expect his further research to penetrate into the deep life-reality of the Indian subaltern, which would make a great contribution to the establishment of the new vision of international law in this global society.

Le présent commentaire offre un aperçu critique des dispositions clés de la nouvelle loi française relative à la lutte contre la piraterie. À la lumière des problèmes que pose la piraterie maritime au commerce international et notant le manque d’uniformité au niveau de la législation national sur le sujet, l’objectif sous-tendant le commentaire est de déterminer dans quelle mesure la nouvelle loi française sur la piraterie constitue un model législatif domestique désirable. Pour se faire, le commentaire adopte une analyse à deux temps: (1) le degré d’adaptation par le droit français de l’ensemble des dispositions clés formant le régime juridique internationale et; (2) le degré de conformité du régime juridique interne français relativement aux droits et libertés de la personne, notamment en ce qui à trait aux garanties procédurales qui s’impose dans un contexte de détention en mer. À la lumière de ces critères, le commentaire permet de desceller certaines lacunes dans la nouvelle loi française qui pourrait poser obstacle au succès de future poursuite pénale en matière de piraterie.

The entry into force of the Japan-Indonesia Economic Partnership Agreement on July 1, 2008, is highly expected to boost Japan’s investment in Indonesia due to the fact that it is the most comprehensive bilateral agreement between the two countries. The JIEPA covers most areas of economic cooperation, including: taxation, trade in goods, trade in services, movement of natural persons, government procurement, intellectual property, investment etc. Some potential legal issues are anticipated during the implementation of the JIEPA due to some differences between the JIEPA and the Indonesian legal system. This article focuses on issues related to foreign investment related law, namely: instrument of ratification and its legal implications; review mechanism; legal certainty; continuation of business activities; termination of business activities; protection and guarantee of foreign investment such as minimum standard of treatment; investment risks; and disputes settlement mechanism.

After careful deliberation and through rounds of talks, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010. This agreement is viewed by many across the straits and around the world as an agreement with great implications not only for economic issues, but also for political interactions between the two sides. Moreover, as the two sides of the ECFA are WTO members, legally, the relevant rules concerning free-trade agreement under of the WTO regime are applicable to the ECFA. This article will give a brief analysis on the economic, political and legal aspects of the ECFA.

The ECFA was signed by Taiwan and Mainland China on June 29, 2010. It is Taiwan’s new overall national economic policy calling for rapproachment with Mainland China. A primary purpose of this Agreement is to establish a quasi national cross-strait common market within the framework of the WTO as well as to design the legal framework of bilateral economic cooperation. It is a course for the Chinese common market as the final economic integration. By its nature the current ECFA lies somewhat between a free trade agreement and a bilateral trade agreement within the framework of the WTO in the sector of trade in goods. Two parties have agreed on a new model of preferential treatment for goods exported from Taiwan to Mainland China. An agreed Early Harvest for Trade in Goods list is favourable for Taiwan, while an Early Harvest for Trade in Services list is balanced one for both parties. Other principles formulated by the ECFA are related to intellectual property rights and mutual investment. The success and failure of the ECFA will depend largely on the future cross-strait political atmosphere.