Vol. III - Penn State Abington

LEGAL AID CLINICS IN CHINA:
BRIDGING THE DISCONNECT
By Ian Gross ∗
The University of Maryland
College Park
The past thirty years have been marked by tremendous economic progress in China.
Unfortunately, that economic progress has not been matched politically or socially. In terms of
socio-political standards, China is not a rule of law nation. The United States could stand to
benefit from a stronger rule of law climate in China. The question then becomes “how” How
does one nation go about improving the rule of law in another Unfortunately, there is no quick
fix. One of the ways the United States can accomplish this goal indirectly is to support university
legal aid clinics. By providing additional funding to university legal aid clinics, the United States
can hope to ensure that China’s economic rise is accompanied by an adherence to the rule of law
standards.
China’s economic growth numbers are staggering. For most of the decade, the country’s
growth rate in terms of GDP has averaged more than 10% a year (Keidel, 2008). This breakneck
growth is unmatched by any other country during the same period. Even amidst the current
financial crisis, China is still expected to maintain growth, in terms of GDP, in excess of 6% for
this year (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2009). Compare that to the expected negative growth
rates in Europe, the United States, and Central Asia (World Bank, 2009). Should China’s level of
increasing prosperity continue, a reshuffling of the rankings of the most prosperous nations will
occur. By 2035, China will have overtaken the United States as the largest country in terms of
GDP (Keidel, 2008).
Yet, China’s exponential economic growth has failed to give rise to an increased
adherence to international rule of law standards. Rule of law is commonly understood as a legalpolitical
regime that restricts government action while preserving certain individual liberties. In
theory, the rule of law is a system that ensures that the rights of citizens are protected from
arbitrary and abusive use of power from the government (Yu, 2009). Unfortunately, continuing
crackdowns on China’s ethnic minority citizens, ongoing manipulation of the media, and more
severe repression of human rights defenders indicate that China is not a rule of law nation.
Even the Chinese government itself acknowledges this critical shortcoming. In a recently
published White Paper (2008), the Information Office of the State Council of the People’s
Republic of China wrote, “The development of democracy and the rule of law still fall short of
the needs of economic and social development.” In other words, the government knows the
country is being hurt by the lack of rule of law.
While the lack of the rule of law in China may not be hurting the United States, the
United States certainly could benefit from a stronger rule of law climate in China. A stronger
rule of law could lead China to become a world power within the existing international
∗ Ian Gross is a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, with a major in
philosophy and a minor in Chinese language. Upon graduation, he plans to use his
interest in the rule of law to pursue a career in international governance.
THE DIALECTICS ▲ 2009
www.abington.psu.edu/dialectics
14