Fundamentally Conflicting Views of the Rule of Law in China and the West & Implications for Commercial Dispute

Abstract

This paper is an examination of the notions of law, the Rule of Law and commercial practice in the West and China. The paper outlines the basic philosophical principles and legal concomitants of the Rule of Law, and the corollary Chinese principles and concomitants. It examines the traditions and differences and similarities in thinking about the issues in each tradition. It then examines the implications of these differences in the traditions of commercial dispute resolution. After this discussion of traditions, similarities and differences and their impact on commercial dispute resolution, the paper turns to address how the discrepancies could be dealt with in the FTA.