Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 3, 2003|Volume 32, Number 5

Ambassador Clark T. Randt Jr. '68 speaks to students and faculty members after his talk at the Law School. He has lived in Asia for nearly 20 years.

Rule of law is slowly advancing
in China, ambassador asserts

Slowly but surely, the rule of law is taking hold in the People's Republic of China, said Clark T. Randt Jr., U.S. ambassador to that nation during a recent talk at the Law School.

Randt spoke to the Workshop on Chinese Legal Reform, a program of Yale's China Law Center about "U.S.-China Relations and Rule of Law Developments" on Sept. 17.

The ambassador, who is also a Yale alumnus (B.A. 1968), is at the center of not only the negotiations between the two nations but also issues of concern to the whole world -- from the recently concluded six-nation talks about the status of North Korea's nuclear weapons program to disputes over the value of China's currency to concerns about China's human rights record.

A lawyer himself, Randt brings a wealth of experience to issues of Chinese law and policy. He is fluent in Chinese Mandarin and has lived in Asia for nearly 20 years. He served as first secretary and commercial attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and as a partner and head of the China practice in the law firm Shearman & Sterling, among other positions.

In assessing China's legal environment, Randt said, "We're in a phase now where ... many things that seemed impossible now are possible. At the same time, so much needs to be done."

Randt identified four areas in which progress has been made in advancing the rule of law in China.

First, the elimination of China's "notorious" custody and repatriation system of administrative detention has been a positive step, said Randt, who noted he was particularly encouraged that the government's action had come about in response to public outcry, after one highly publicized case. This change seemed to have energized the legal reform movement, he said.

Randt also pointed out that the Chinese constitution contains many excellent provisions. "Despite those lofty sentiments, no one paid much attention to the provisions of the constitution," he said. However, he noted, there has been a recent increase in attention to the constitution, including efforts to amend it and include the notion of private property in it.

In addition, joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 has had "a profound effect on rule of law in China," according to the ambassador. In order to be part of the WTO, China had to agree to strict standards of transparency, consistency and fairness in its legal system. Since then, Randt noted, China has revised or abolished over 2,000 laws and 1,200 judicial decisions. "We've also seen steps toward improved transparency," he said, adding that there are still a few areas in which the United States would like to see further improvements, such as the lax enforcement of intellectual property laws.

Finally, Randt said, China has instituted uniform standards and raised the education requirements for people who serve as judges in China. However, he added, "the judicial system in China is still broken." Many judges are appointed locally and have conflicts of interest, and defendants in criminal trials need greater rights to cross-examine witnesses and call their own witnesses, he said, noting that the United States is still pressing China to eliminate forms of administrative detention and provide better oversight of the police power of detention.

-- By Jonathan T. Weisberg

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