International Law

EU Grant Opportunity for Training and Research in China

Posted on June 20, 2008
Editor's Note: This grant appears to be a superb opportunity for "cultural immersion," followed by hosted research. Click the link below to go to the EuropeAid page. On the left frame, select "By Country" from the drop down box. Then click the "Open" and "Grants" check boxes...

Chinese Pirates in Spanish Waters

Posted on June 19, 2008
Spanish Police Crack Down on CD/DVD Piracy Operation Involving Chinese Labor Spanish police have disrupted an organized criminal syndicate based in Madrid that was producing counterfeit CDs and DVDs on an industrial scale. The group operated burners that could produce 150,000 CDs and DVDs each day, worth an estimated ?600,000 daily (US$ 920,577) or ?219 million annually (US$ 336 million)...

Chinese Corruption and School Construction -- No Longer A Suitable Media Topic

Posted on June 17, 2008
Here is Caijing magazine's attempt to explain in English the causes of the collapse of school buildings during the Sichuan earthquake. Yes, construction standards existed, goes the article, but weren't implemented. That English language translation -- intended to be the magazine's face to the world -- appears to be a compilation of several articles, including this, originally in Chinese, but the thrust of the pieces is consistent: ??????????????????????????6?2??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? [Editor's note: Subscription required...

Direct Flights from Taiwan to Mainland China

Posted on June 13, 2008
In the mid-1980s, Taiwanese businessmen, at least those of a cautious nature, were too frightened to participate in the triangle trade ??????. That business moved product under the radar from Taiwan into China, when direct trade was prohibited with major consequences for Taiwanese (imprisonment and fines) and Chinese (who knows? execution, probably)...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Football Really Means Something in Texas

Posted on June 05, 2008
Now, here is a court order worth reading. Texarkana? [Many thanks to James Tyre and Peter Shafran, attorneys, for this file.]

First-hand Account from Chengdu

Posted on May 26, 2008
Editor's Note: Tony (Yixing) Zeng, a Canadian student, has graciously allowed us to reprint his email below, originally sent to a friend from an internet cafe in Chengdu just after the first earthquake. Major foreign media have covered this story upside and down, with the American National Public Radio's Robert Siegel and Melissa Block -- who by sheer happenstance had been posted to Chengdu at the time of the quake -- providing some of the most extraordinary coverage...

???????? -- Photos of Sichuan Before the Earthquake

Posted on May 23, 2008
I spent much of 2005 traveling throughout China on a consulting contract, taking in the sights when I could. Let us not forget what Sichuan offers, once rebuilt. As a reminder to those focused on destruction, here are a few photos I took at ??? (Mount Emei) and the ???? (the great Le Shan Buddha, carved into the rock of a riverbed...

Gray Market Imports -- Recent U.S. Court Ruling

Posted on May 22, 2008
In law, are gray market imports equivalent to pirated works? [Read this journal article on the implications for American libraries of imported pirated works from China.] Gray market imports are lawfully produced with the permission of the copyright holder, sold to a customer in a foreign country and then imported into another, often the country of origin, at far lower prices than new product on the shelves...

Teach English in North Korea!

Posted on May 21, 2008
If I were in my 20s, I'd jump on this opportunity. Visit this webpage of the British Council for more information. English Teacher Trainers, DPRK-based Pyongyang, reference OA08007 Senior English Teacher Trainer - £29,361 a year English Teacher Trainer (three posts) - £25,772 a year Contract from 1 September 2008 to 31 August 2009 (with the possibility of extension) Benefits including free accommodation, pension provision, medical insurance and regular flights to Beijing and the UK JOB SUMMARY The British Council/Foreign and Commonwealth Office English language project in the DPRK aims to deliver high-quality programmes in teacher/trainer training and to develop the curriculum and related materials as well as assessment systems at three leading institution in Pyongyang...

New York Times At It Again: This Time, The Sichuan Earthquake

Posted on May 15, 2008
DONATIONS If you can afford something, donations may be made by following the links in this page. [Thanks to China Law Blog for the tip.] Your prayers for the living and the dead are also a valuable contribution. TODAY'S POST This op-ed piece in the New York Times -- printed just days after the almost unfathomable suffering in Sichuan -- is more than just shocking...

Martin Luther King Statue Built in China Must Be Reworked

Posted on May 09, 2008
It is shocking enough that a Chinese national, rather than an American, won the commission to sculpt the body of Martin Luther King. Even more outrageous that the model of the sculpture is fashioned in Changsha. But look at it! An aggressive, unsympathetic posture -- arms crossed! Not representative of the inspirational Reverend leader, but of a Communist war-hero...

Bus Explosion on Shanghai Street

Posted on May 05, 2008
Amid concerns for terrorism during the Olympics, the cause of this explosion is as yet uncertain. A woman on the bus is quoted as having said, "??????????????????????????????????" [ Editor's translation: The door of the bus had just opened and suddenly I smelled a strange odor, and then a seat in the center of the bus burst into flame...

An Old Scam, But with a Twist -- China

Posted on April 30, 2008
Keep your eyes peeled for what looks to be an old scam decked out in sexier apparel. What appears to be a persuasive e-mail, purportedly from the Shanghai Representative of a Hong Kong machine-tool company, is making the rounds of some American attorneys...

Sensitive University Research and Export Control Laws

Posted on April 17, 2008
You learn something everyday. Throughout the United States, university science departments perform sensitive research with military applications. The first case of spying I'd become aware of involving Chinese graduate students occurred at Cornell University in the early 1980s, evidently involving satellite imaging technology...

Shipping Container Shortage in the United States -- What Gives?

Posted on April 10, 2008
Just a few years ago, container ships returned to China with much of their capacity unfilled. This situation has apparently changed. Does a shortage of containers used to export product from the US imply a notable change in the balance of trade, as this article posits? or, is it simply that, as the article states: Many shipping lines, including Maersk, have shifted container capacity away from the U...

A Little Black Humor Never Hurts

Posted on April 02, 2008
China Celebrates Its Status As World's Number One Air Polluter

Guest Post: Security, Chinese Imports and American Ports: the Current Status of the American C-TPAT Initiative

Posted on March 21, 2008
[Editor's note: The safety of consumer products imported from China now makes national news. But what of national security? Directly after 9/11, news reports on poor security oversight of major American ports flooded the media. Many federal programs, it seemed, were proposed to combat the gaping hole in American armor...

Avoid Easter Eggs -- Lead Paint Contamination Likely

Posted on March 18, 2008
Plastic Easter eggs from China have been found to be contaminated with lead paint. Why not make your own with non-toxic dye? Fun and educational for both you and the children.

?????????????? (Part 2): ???

Posted on March 11, 2008
[Editor's Note: I'm pleased to post the second of a two-part article I wrote for ???? (World Weekly), the Sunday magazine section of the widely circulated ???? (World Journal). It was originally published on page 80 of the Sunday, February 12, 2008 edition...

Currency Redux, Again

Posted on March 06, 2008
Once again. Hope springs eternal. But by this time -- after years of negotiations, promises and punditry -- no one should be surprised and none should claim that it will happen soon.

Two New (Free) Publications from FLJS

Posted on February 26, 2008
Phil Dines has graciously sent me a copy of two publications on China, issued by the Foundation for Law, Justice and Society at Oxford. They are free of charge and available to the general public, but it is not solely for that reason that I recommend them to readers...

?????????????? (Part I)

Posted on February 20, 2008
[Editor's Note: I'm pleased to post the first of a two-part article I wrote for ???? (World Weekly), the Sunday magazine section of the widely circulated ???? (World Journal). It was originally published on page 80 of the Sunday, February 12, 2008 edition...

WTO Rules against China in Auto Parts Dispute

Posted on February 13, 2008
Someone has leaked this supposedly confidential WTO decision.

It's Not Outsourcing!

Posted on February 12, 2008
Just as we see in television commercials, Robert Ruyak insists that margarine is butter: "It's not outsourcing," insists Robert Ruyak, managing partner and CEO of Howrey, describing his firm's new office in India. Of course, it's not lawyering, either, since an American firm practicing in India would violate Indian law...

Federal Indictments in the "Melamine in the Pet Food" Scandal

Posted on February 07, 2008
An update on this story from 2007. Claiming thousands of pet deaths on Chinese imported gluten, adulterated with melamine, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas City has indicted three companies on a variety of counts. Two are Chinese; one is a Nevada company located in Las Vegas...

Legal Outsourcing -- Several Ethical Dilemmas

Posted on January 25, 2008
Where is the American Bar Association to nip legal outsourcing to India, such as this, in the bud? As of May, 2007, an ABA spokesman told LAW.com that no statement would be issued on the topic. [See that article's penultimate paragraph.] Certainly, the ethics opinions issued by the Bars of several major markets are an indication that this is a hot-potato topic which the ABA may not wish to touch...

Legal Outsourcing to India and Its

Posted on January 23, 2008
More on the nascent outsourcing of legal work to India. One shudders to see it, if only for reasons of professional ethics. Gregg Kirchhoefer, an outsourcing lawyer with Kirkland & Ellis who spoke at last week's LPO summit, said there were still no industry standards for how a mishap or mistake would be handled...

Job Posting

Posted on January 14, 2008
The Eurasia Group is looking for a China Analyst to be based in New York or DC. More on this page.

Illegal Securities Activities Targeted in New Year's Regulatory Action

Posted on January 09, 2008
Investors should note the following article, detailing "illegal securities activities," this past week made the target of apparently concerted regulatory enforcement. Specifically, activities include the issuance of stock as well as the offering of brokerage and investment research services without prior government approval, 90% of which are allegedly carried on with criminal intent to deceive...

Editor Profiled By World Journal ??????

Posted on January 04, 2008
I am honored to have been profiled by World Journal ??????, a newspaper with the largest circulation among Chinese readers in North America, in their Sunday magazine section article on the teaching of Chinese in the U.S ???????????????? written by Jeff Han ?? ?...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.