This paper analyzes the need to strengthen the law applicable to Flag of Convenience (FoC) States and vessels with the goal of sustaining fish stocks and combatting overfishing on the high seas. FoC States and vessels can escape law enforcement conducted by the other flag states. Due to the lack of political will of FoC States to enforce the law and obligations imposed on FoC vessels to conduct conservation on the high seas, FoC vessels instead contribute significantly to the deterioration of fish stocks on the high seas. FoC vessels overexploit these resources and engage in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which harms the fish stocks on the high seas. The results of the study indicate that there are some legal lacunas in international legal obligations for FoC States and vessels to conserve the fish stocks on the high seas. Existing international legal instruments are ineffective in combating over-exploitation of fish stocks on the high seas by FoC vessels. Hence, strengthen the laws applicable to the FoC States and FoC vessels is urgently needed.

Forty years have passed since the UNCLOS was adopted and it is necessary to reexamine its successes and failures. This article will set out to check the four legislative features of the UNCLOS and then make some suggestions. From the aspect of legislative technique, the UNCLOS is extensive with an ambitious framework but is vague in details. From the aspect of a principled position, meanwhile, its provisions are mainly beneficial to countries with long and unimpeded sea lines but not to landlocked countries, short coastlines, or an impeded outward extension. From the aspect of rights and interest division, the division of maritime rights and interests of countries in the UNCLOS is not operational in practice. From the aspect of dispute resolution, it has constructed an ambitious mechanism accommodating various international judicial institutions, which is, however, too complicated, lacks focus, and has loopholes. The international community should consider revising and improving the Convention in view of certain shortcomings and deficiencies in its legislative features

Biopiracy, largely defined as misappropriation and intellectual property control of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, has long had profound adverse impacts on the lives of the people and communities in developing countries, including Southeast Asia, one of the global biodiversity hotspots. Given that patents are the main means used in most biopiracy cases to exploit resources and knowledge, this article will discuss its feasibility as the other policy instrument to tackle biopiracy in Southeast Asia and suggest how it should be established and/or improved. For this purpose, this article examines two policy instruments in the patent regime that can be and have been used to address the aforementioned problem: compulsory licensing and the disclosure requirement. Based on the analysis of these two instruments, this article discusses why compulsory licensing is an unlikely means of tackling the problem and suggests how a disclosure requirement can be established or improved to tackle biopiracy in the region.

In recent years, the use of third-party funds (TPF) in mainland China and beyond has grown significantly. Under the third-party funding model, the risks and costs of litigation or arbitration are transferred to parties outside the case. The parties with economic difficulties have a better chance of obtaining legal justice. However, the financial motives of third-party funders are not always in the interest of the parties or the courts’ need to review the cases efficiently and impartially. Therefore, appropriate regulatory measures against the potential risks of TPF are necessary. By comparing recent developments and historical backgrounds in the field of TPF in different countries, this book reveals differences in regulatory approaches to TPF in selected jurisdictions. In combination with China’s legal tradition, social conditions and empirical research, the author also offers suggestions on how to solve legal issues related to TPF in China. Against the background that the development of TPF in China is still in its infancy and China’s Arbitration Law is being revised, this book not only helps Chinese legislators formulate regulations on TPF, but also provides a great guiding tool for litigation and arbitration parties.

In recent years, globalisation has fostered ever more frequent and intimate interactions between states and societies in the Asia-Pacific region. Unfortunately, this has also increased the potential for disputes, particularly regarding international trade and human rights. The Asia-Pacific Dispute Resolution Program, which is run jointly by the Institute of Asian Research and the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, seeks to better understand, explain and predict when such disputes will arise, combining stateof- the-art approaches from law, political science, communications, sociology, international relations, economics and business. To manage-and ideally preventsuch disputes, the world is in urgent need of resolution approaches that meet the needs and expectations of the different cultures involved. The objective of the Program is to propose innovative interdisciplinary approaches to dispute resolution that international communities of scholars and policymakers can use to promote intercultural communication and reconciliation.

As the Biden administration succeeded President Trump’s chaotic and undisciplined trade and investment policies toward China, the last six months of 2022 have seen significant developments in the US trade law and economic policy toward China. These legislative and regulatory developments bring into sharper focus a broader and more aggressive US legal and regulatory structure fostering industrial policy and confronting China. The recent midterm elections in the US and meeting in Bali between Xi and Biden only seem to maintain the current unsettling state of affairs. The subsequent WTO panel decision against the United States concerning its Section 232 national security tariffs and its rejection of national security defense only further complicates the US-China trade relations. The legislative and regulatory measures emanating from the US in the last half of 2022 are not helpful and represent a worrisome development. These measures are by far more aggressive, with significant domestic and global implications. They portend a new emerging post-WTO order.

Malaysia’s decision to join and rectify the agreement showed that the country is serious about business, trade liberalisation and its support for a fair and transparent trade regime. Moreover, Malaysia is expected to earn approximately USD 200 million in exports, while RCEP will provide immense opportunities for trade and investments, enhanced connectivity, and deepening regional economic integration. This study aims to analyse the extent to which Malaysia’s participation in the RCEP can benefit the country’s growth and development. For this goal, a SWOT analysis will be carried out to assess the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of joining RCEP, from Malaysia’s perspective. Findings suggest that Malaysia is indeed one of the main beneficiaries of the RCEP agreement in comparison to other ASEAN nations. However, much needs to be done by Malaysia to reap the benefits of the world’s largest trading bloc, while maintaining its national interests amidst a more liberal and open market setting.

The members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) engaged with each other and their five major neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region, namely China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, to develop the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a comprehensive free trade agreement streamlining all previous agreements among the participating countries. This article applied the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) method in assessing the RCEP and the key role played by the ASEAN in the negotiation process through middle-power diplomacy. The RCEP’s strengths in economic integration and weaknesses in certain policy areas encapsulate ASEAN centrality and its strategy of hedging on China, the sole great power in the agreement. The opportunities and threats to the RCEP posed by the increasing geopolitical tensions between China and the US amid the COVID-19 pandemic, meanwhile, demonstrate the complex regional and global geopolitical situation that ASEAN should navigate to ensure the success of the RCEP and maintain centrality in the process.

RCEP will have a significant impact on ASEAN, China and other contracting parties, significantly enhancing the cooperative levels between ASEAN and other essential economies in the region. It can develop the manufacturing industry in ASEAN and China with higher quality. First of all, this study used the Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) (SWOT) model to analyze the specific impacts of China’s participation in RCEP on the development of ASEAN’s manufacturing industry. Subsequently, strategic recommendations were put forward for the high-quality development of ASEAN’s manufacturing industry under the RCEP cooperation mechanism from four aspects of SO,WO, ST and WT. As the signing of RCEP provides an excellent development opportunity, the ASEAN member countries should carry out deeper cooperation with China; create new strengths for high-quality development of the manufacturing industry; erect a closer regional industrial chain and the supply chain; and promote the realization of a higher level of regional economic integration between ASEAN and China.

India’s recalibrated strategy toward free trade agreements (FTAs) has received considerable traction in the international trade policy space. Moreover, this has reignited the debate that India needs to reconsider its decision of not joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). A variety of factors such as domestic political economy, legal provisions of the RCEP agreement remained a matter of India’s concerns and shaping decision not to join the RCEP. The study explores scholarly literature and analyzes key imperatives such as integration in global value chains, consolidation of existing trade agreements and shaping global rulemaking for India to reconsider joining the RCEP agreement in the context of India’s new FTA strategy. The study findings demonstrate that India’s recalibrated strategy toward FTAs has significantly changed in terms of its geographical orientation, shift to bilateral trade deals, and geopolitical orientation. However, India is unlikely to consider joining the RCEP even under its new FTA strategy.

This integrative review introduces the correlative and evolutionary perspective of SWOT as a strategic analysis mechanism of geoeconomics. We use the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as a case study. Thus, we establish the emerging challenges and threats by correlating the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the RCEP, its members, and the global system. We conclude that this evolutionary approach of SWOT in geoeconomics can contribute to a holistic understanding of the current phase of the new globalization. It appears that evolutionary geoeconomics studies dialectically opposing views and interests. In this direction, we find that the vision and ambitions of the RCEP do not delve into significant socioeconomic depth compared to other multilateral organizations. This fact poses strategic risks to this new trade bloc’s longevity and socioeconomic sustainability. At the same time, we examine how these geostrategic dimensions are linked to the gradual construction of the broader framework of the new perspective of global socioeconomic development.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) is the world's largest free trade agreement. The RCEP has significant implications for China’s agricultural trade especially in the ASEAN region which is China’s top export market, the second-biggest source of imports for Chinese agricultural products, and largest trading partner in the agricultural sector. To boost trade development, this paper presents a detailed SWOT analysis of China’s agricultural trade with the ASEAN using the RCEP as the research background. Through the RCEP, China’s agricultural products are expected to achieve not only growth in trade scale and trade facilitation, but also stronger economic ties in East Asia. However, the RECP also poses new challenges to China’s agricultural trade structure, core competitiveness, and quality and safety system. Therefore, China should reinforce its brand building, optimize its trade layout, deepen its agricultural transformation, and improve its cooperation to better enjoy the trade dividends brought by RCEP.

Professor Sienho Yee has recently published a paper in Chinese Journal of International Law, entitled, “Unilateral Sanctions: Kind and Degree; Long-arm and Strong Arm Jurisdiction; Real Intent and ‘Could-be’ Intent.” Yee has ably elaborated that to assess the conduct of unilateral sanctions, there is a need to consider a question of “kind” so as to a question of “degree.” Further, the so-called “long-arm jurisdiction” should be better phrased as “strong-arm jurisdiction” since sometimes long-arm jurisdiction may be lawful, whereas the current version of the long-arm jurisdiction asserted by the United States is so extreme that it is no longer lawful. To this end, attention should be paid to the level of scrutiny or standard of review that a decision-maker would apply to the assessment of intent. Following from Yee’s thoughts, this note would like to elaborate further on another aspect, namely, the proportionality and necessity of unilateral sanctions.

One of the overwhelming issues in the global economy has been China-US trade war. The edited book by Rahul Nath comprises of chapters on different dimensions of the trade war. AS the crisis emerged between two economic powers of East (China) and West (US), it had substantial consequences on South Asian economies. The chapters identify key challenges as the outcome of China-US trade war. While building on the consequences of the conflict, the book traces on the impact on trade barriers, both tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers. The empirical evidences examined identify the spill over effects on the South Asian economy. Amid China-US trade war, the litmus test has been for the WTO as there has been rise in preferential trade agreements. The authors have examined these issues in detail.

This research will examine how the Indonesian constitution can effectively protect the indigenous people’s rights to customary land when the land is under construction for infrastructure building. The authors will mainly discuss the relevance of justice for ensuring the rights to live and property of indigenous people under the Indonesian constitution. In this essay, the authors examine how constitutional and human rights protections interact with one another to ensure the security of customary land in Indonesia. The analysis will be carried out by two methodological approaches. One is the statute approach which is based on laws and regulations being specifically targeted. To implement the statutory approach, all Indonesian laws and regulations concerning the constitutional relationship and human rights to protect customary land will be reviewed. The other is the conceptual approach to identify the ideas that give rise to legal notions, the legal principles or legal arguments for solving the problem.

The article provides a comparative analysis to modern employment contract formation. It focuses on promises made unilaterally by an employer to its employees in formal statements such as manuals and handbooks, and argues that such promises, once capable of conferring entitlement, must be protected and employers must not treat them as illusory. It further argues that while under English law an employer would be in breach of the implied duty of trust and confidence if a decision to withdraw from discretionary promises was irrational or disproportionate; in the United States, an employer’s irrational or disproportionate withdrawal from discretionary promises could be regarded as a breach of the duty of good faith. Either approach can be internationally or globally adopted to ensure a fair balance between protecting business efficiency and respecting employees’ dignity.

Contemporary environmental issues require the joint actions of the global community, which may assume many forms but always depend on developed and harmonized national legislations. States develop environmental law by implementing provisions of multilateral environmental agreements into national legislation. However, the implementation process sometimes prevents the effective adaptation of international legal norms. While the structure and mechanism of the implementation process have been frequently discussed from the relationship between international and municipal law, few studies have been dedicated to the implementation process of international environmental norms. Consequently, this study will analyze the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements with special references to the Republic of Kazakhstan. The article will present cases of implementation and the resulting issues in the national environmental legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Moreover, it will examine national measures to solve these issues that will be relevant for all countries with similar ecological questions.

This paper summarizes and assesses the international trend, both in doctrine and in legal provisions dealing with conflict of laws in intellectual property field and reviews the relevant provisions in the Part 5th on applicable law to civil relations evolving foreign elements of the Vietnam’s 2015 Civil Code. The author shows that the two new provisions of the Vietnam’s 2015 Civil Code, namely Article 679 and Article 683, has partly caught up with the international trend in recognizing conflicts of laws and providing choice-of-law rules for resolving these conflicts in the intellectual property relations. The shortcoming of the Vietnam’s 2015 Civil Code is the absence of a particular provision dealing with the conflict of laws in case of infringement of intellectual property rights. On that basis, the paper offers comments and suggestions on the need to make the provisions of the Vietnam’s Civil Code more specific in the future.

An efficient protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPs) has a positive impact on the economy as it can help attract foreign investment and encourage the advancement of science and technology. There has been much discussion among the ASEAN member States in harmonizing their IP systems to encourage registration and utilization of IPRs among them. However, many legal infrastructures should be prepared in each of the ASEAN member countries and at the ASEAN level before the harmonization of the IP system. In the patent area, the harmonization idea requires more effort since there is also a huge difference in technology development among them. This article discusses various strategies in harmonizing the patent system in the ASEAN member states. This author would look into similar regional organizations, such as the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization and the African Intellectual Property Organization to compare their patent systems to those of the ASEAN to promote the utilization of patents in the ASEAN region.

This article provides an analyses the implications of China’s constitutionally proclaimed notion of “Community of Shared Future for Mankind” (CSFM), which reveals the stance of the PRC party in promoting so-called “Chinese wisdom” and a “Chinese solution” to address common issues in global governance and in pursuing China’s global leadership in President Xi Jinping’s “New Era.” The author explores the possibility for China and the West of reaching a normative consensus in terms of standards set by the CSFM vision and human security in light of the current global pandemic. The author advocates pursuing a pragmatic, problem-solving approach to international engagement with China without advancing a particular political agenda based on broad ideological presumptions, namely by encouraging and facilitating China’s further participation in international institutions and treaties. This approach may establish an increasing convergence and resonance of local and nonlocal norms to reach a normative consensus and, ultimately, to influence treaty performance incrementally and gradually.