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RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6176

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000269 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOJ FOR OPDAT LEHMANN AND CRAWFORD AND FOR OFFICE OF 
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS LATIMER 
NSC FOR WILDER AND TONG 
DOD FOR J. ANDERSON 
STATE PASS FOR USTR STRATFORD, WINTER< MCCARTIN, ALTBACH, READE 
TREAS FOR AMB HOLMER, WRIGHT, TSMITH 
TREAS FOR OASIA - DOHNER/HAARSAGER/KUSHMAN 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC - DAS KASOFF, MELCHER, MCQUEEN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  5/7/2017 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS ETRD EINV PHUM PINR CH
SUBJECT: DOD GENERAL COUNSEL'S RULE OF LAW MEETINGS 
 
REF: SHANGHAI 111 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Mary Tarnowka, Section Chief, Political/Economic 
Section  , U.S. Consulate Shanghai. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1. (C) Summary:  During DOD General Counsel William J. Haynes 
April 20-22 visit to Shanghai, he discussed rule of law issues 
with Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) Institute of Law 
Academics, expatriate and Chinese legal experts at a Consul 
General-hosted dinner, and at the New York University/Jiaotong 
University Law Center where he participated in a roundtable with 
approximately thirty Jiaotong students and professors.  SASS 
academics claimed that the government was committed to moving 
society towards a rule of law system, but that this process 
would take a long time.  Legal experts said that there had been 
progress on rule of law issues and ordinary Chinese people were 
becoming more aware of their rights.  Jiaotong University 
President Zhang Jie welcomed more rule of law cooperation with 
the United States.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------- 
SASS Institute of Law 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On April 20, DOD GC Haynes participated in a 
roundtable with SASS Institute of Law faculty, chaired by SASS 
Vice President and prominent U.S.-China bilateral relations 
scholar Huang Renwei.  According to SASS Institute of Law Deputy 
Director Lin Yinmao, the institute had conducted research on a 
wide-range of legal subjects including administrative law, 
criminal law, constitutional law and trade law.  It had 
submitted some of its reports directly to the National People's 
Congress and Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and, 
therefore, acted as an advisory body to both the local and 
national governments. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Lin said that its current research projects included 
topics such as judicial law enforcement, corporate crime, 
mechanisms to resolve WTO disputes and China's administrative 
litigation system.  She noted government had been focused in 
recent years on issues that affected ordinary people such as 
housing problems and how to manage migrants.  Lin said that the 
institute's future research emphasis would be on defining what 
role the government should and should not play in society.  She 
acknowledged that society was changing and moving from a central 
to a market economy.  Because of these changes, the government 
must adjust the way it managed society and limit its role. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) She added that China understood the importance of rule 
of law and that legal reform was connected to economic 
development.  Many academics in China were trying to define the 
rule of law, which in Chinese had the same sound as rule by law. 
 She said that China was gradually moving away from "rule by 
law", which was personality-based, to rule of law.  However, 
this process took time and every country had different 
conditions.  She emphasized, however, that the goal of 
establishing rule of law was there. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Haynes noted that, in the United States, everyone, 
even the Department of Defense, had to obey the law and asked 
what mechanisms the Chinese government used to govern its 
officials.  Lin agreed that all government officials must be 
accountable to the people and the government needed to 
compensate people whose rights had been violated.  In China, 
there were several laws governing officials, specifically the 
Administrative Review Law, Administrative Litigation Law, and 
Supervision Law.  She added that every government agency also 
had its own legal department which advised officials on the law. 
 In addition, think-tanks such as SASS also played an indirect 
role in supervising officials.  While SASS had no direct 
supervisory powers, it still "had a voice" and could write about 
 
SHANGHAI 00000269  002 OF 003 
 
 
issues and advise the government on legal issues. 
 
-------------------- 
Legal Experts Dinner 
-------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) At the Consul General-hosted dinner, Shanghai expatriate 
and Chinese legal experts briefed CG Haynes on the state of rule 
of law in China.  The dinner guests said that there had been 
some rule of law progress in China.  Jiaotong University Law 
School Deputy Dean Zhou Wei said that while one could not 
publicly advocate for democracy or an end to the one-party 
system, academics were free to discuss this issue among 
themselves and to publish articles about political reform in 
scholarly journals.  He added that there had been some 
experiments that increased public participation and democracy in 
small towns.  (Note: He did not provide specifics. End Note.) 
The government was moving cautiously because of concerns about 
stability.  According to Zhou, people were feeling increasingly 
uneasy because the crime rate had increased throughout the 
country and there continued to be poverty in the countryside. 
Beijing was worried that political reforms could lead to 
instability and before implementing any new reforms wanted 
guarantees that reforms would be successful, which was 
impossible of course. 
 
¶7.  (C) Clifford Chance Partner Stephen Harder said that people 
in China were becoming increasingly aware of their legal rights. 
 For example, there had been more and more stories of ordinary 
people sticking up for their rights.  In addition, there were 
more avenues for people to express themselves.  For example, 
many Chinese people were shareholders and understood that they 
had shareholders' rights.  Another illustration, he said, was 
that ordinary Chinese people were learning about voting as they 
cast votes for contestants in the "Supergirl" TV program.  He 
also noted that there were already in existence some structures 
that could support democracy.  For example, the National 
People's Congress (NPC) voted on legislation.  While the NPC 
currently acted as a rubber-stamp, one day the delegates might 
become more independent and cast independent votes.  Zhou agreed 
that ordinary people were becoming more aware of their rights. 
He noted that the government had recently reduced the fees paid 
by plaintiffs to file suits against the government.  This would 
allow more people to file suits and press for their rights. 
 
¶8.  (C) Jiaotong Professor and Fulbright Scholar Dan Guttman 
attributed the increased awareness to the proliferation of 
magazines and newspapers in China.  He said that these 
newspapers and magazines must all make a profit and had been 
more active in reporting on issues.  In addition, Chinese people 
were traveling more and becoming exposed to how things worked in 
the West.  Consulate FSN Rule of Law Coordinator noted that many 
people of her generation (early 30's) were able to get 
information about events and issues because they had access to 
the Internet. 
 
¶9.  (C) Harder noted China's increased activity in the 
international arena and said that China appeared to be courting 
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  Jiaotong 
Professor, Squire Sanders Counsel, and environmental lawyer 
Charles McElwee added that many complained that China was "on a 
race to the bottom".  China was undermining international 
environmental efforts by ignoring these standards when it signed 
deals with these countries.  Guttman noted that China had become 
a major player in the assistance arena.  According to Guttman, 
the China Export Bank would soon overtake the World Bank in the 
amount of loans it distributed worldwide.  He said the China 
Export Bank had provided USD 15 billion in loans, while the 
World Bank had provided USD 23 billion. 
 
------------------------ 
Jiaotong University Visit 
------------------------ 
 
SHANGHAI 00000269  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) During DOD GC Haynes' visit to the Jiaotong/NYU Joint 
Law Center, he was warmly greeted by Jiaotong University 
President Zhang Jie.  Zhang noted that the Jiaotong's law school 
was relatively new.  He welcomed more cooperation between the 
United States and Jiaotong University on rule of law issues. 
DOD GC Haynes also participated in a roundtable with 
approximately thirty Jiaotong students and professors.  The 
students probed DOD GC Haynes on his position and the role of 
military lawyers in the United States.  DOD GC Haynes stressed 
to the students that every government official, civilian or 
military, had made a vow to the constitution.  No one was above 
the law and all officials were accountable for their actions. 
He also noted the importance of legal aid and encouraged the 
students to participate in legal aid or pro bono projects. 
 
¶11.  (C) Bio Note: Jiaotong President Zhang appeared to be very 
comfortable during his meeting with DOD GC Haynes.  He spoke 
excellent English and was able to joke easily.  Zhang is a 
Physicist and considered to be a leading academic in China. 
According to contacts at Jiaotong, he perfected his English 
during his eight-year stay in England as a visiting scholar. 
Zhang said that since becoming Jiaotong President five months 
ago, he has had no free time.  He longed to return to his 
laboratory to continue his research on nuclear fusion. 
 
¶12.  (U) This message was cleared by DOD GC Haynes' staff. 
JARRETT