The Chinese View of the Rights of the Child

This article aims to identify the nature of the interpretation of children’s rights in China. More specifically, it seeks to increase the understanding of the characteristics of the national perspective on children’s rights by examining and analysing the key issues relevant to the Chinese legislation. Using the concept of legal culture, the article offers a hermeneutic analysis of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, in which the Chinese view of the rights of the child is explained in the light of a cultural background. The analysis shows that the Chinese view of the rights of the child is culturally coloured. In particular, the influence of the Confucian conception of family and the corresponding paternalistic social theory can be identified.