This book provides a comprehensive history of the emergence and the formation of the concept of sovereignty in China from the year 1840 to the present. It contributes to broadening the history of modern China by looking at the way the notion of sovereignty was gradually articulated by key Chinese intellectuals, diplomats and political figures in the unfolding of the history of international law in China, rehabilitates Chinese agency, and shows how China challenged Western Eurocentric assumptions about the progress of international law. It puts the history of international law in a global perspective, interrogating the widely-held belief of international law as universal order and exploring the ways in which its history is closely anchored to a European experience that fails to take into account how the encounter with other non-European realities has influenced its formation.

The concept of sovereignty -- Sovereignty in ancient China -- The emergence of modern sovereignty in the Late Qing Dynasty -- Nationalism in China -- Sovereignty and human rights in China -- China's contemporary perspective of sovereignty.

The One-China Policy: State, Sovereignty, and Taiwan's International Legal Status examines the issue from the perspective of international law, also suggesting a peaceful solution. The book presents two related parts, with the first detailing the concept of the State, the theory of sovereignty, and their relations with international law. The second part of the work analyzes the political status of the Republic of China in Taiwan and the legal status of the island of Taiwan in international law. Written by a leading international expert in international law, this book provides approaches and answers to the question of Taiwan and the One-China policy. - Responds to a key international issue of our time - Takes a legal perspective on Taiwan and the One-China policy - Considers the definition of a nation State from first principles, also offering new definitions - Applies international law on territory to draw conclusions on Taiwan and its relation to the People's Republic of China - Systematically critiques the role of the UN and other global actors in relation to Taiwan

China’s rise has aroused apprehension that it will revise the current rules of international order to pursue and reflect its power, and that, in its exercise of State sovereignty, it is unlikely to comply with international law. This book explores the extent to which China’s exercise of State sovereignty since the Opium War has shaped and contributed to the legitimacy and development of international law and the direction in which international legal order in its current form may proceed. It examines how international law within a normative–institutional framework has moderated China’s exercise of State sovereignty and helps mediate differences between China’s and other States’ approaches to State sovereignty, such that State sovereignty, and international law, may be better understood.

-- Daniel Deudney, Johns Hopkins University, coeditor of Contested Grounds: Security and Conflict in the New Environmental Politics.

This book analyzes China’s attitude to international law based on historical experiences and documents, and provides an explanation of China’s approaches to international legal issues. It also establishes several elements for a possible framework of Chinese theory on international law. The book offers researchers, university students and practitioners valuable insights into how China views international law and why it does so in the way it does.

Withdrawing from international organizations / Niels Blokker -- Sovereignty as responsibility exercising permanent sovereignty over natural resources in the interest of current and future generations / Daniëlla Dam-de Jong -- Non-state actors and human rights obligations perspectives from international investment law and arbitration / Eric De Brabandere and Larissa van den Herik -- Global threats and fragmented responses climate change and the extra-territorial scope of human rights obligations / Helen Duffy -- What is a state in international law? How is this to be determined? / John Dugard -- The role of customary international law as a tool for the progressive development of international criminal law undermining the sovereignty of states for the sake of humanity? / Robert Heinsch -- The responsibility of the Netherlands for its nationals abroad / Erik Koppe -- How about consolidating the frontiers but furthering the effectiveness of human rights? Lessons from Yerevan / Rick Lawson -- Shifting the frontiers of International Human Rights Law / Titia Loenen -- Waters rising possible effects of sea level rise on the legal regime of baselines and delineation of maritime zones / Xuechan Ma -- The International Criminal Court and human security looking ahead complementarity? / Andrea Marrone -- The establishment of flight information regions and Air Defence Identification Zones Air Law is Air Law and Maritime Law is Maritime Law; shall the twain ever meet? / Pablo Mendes de Leon -- Maritime security and sustainable development and the coastal communities of India an empirical analysis / Bimal N. Patel -- To speculate or not? On determining adequate remedies for denial of justice and other judicial wrongs / Vid Prislan -- Human Rights Law and the return of stolen assets / Cecily Rose -- Principles for the sustainable governance of shared natural resources / Nadia Sánchez Castillo-Winckels -- Economic, social and cultural rights and customary International Law / William A. Schabas -- World law's modern master builders / Otto Spijkers -- The world in disarray. Great-power competition and the decline of multilateralism / Alfred van Staden -- How can we justify international criminal justice? / Carsten Stahn -- China's perception of state sovereignty in international dispute settlement / Linlin Sun -- Public administration and ordinary virtues the Venice principles on the ombudsman Institution / Luc Verhey -- The right to marry as a right to equality about same-sex couples, the phrase "men and women", and the travaux préparatoires of the universal declaration / Kees Waaldijk.