Foreword by Simon Chesterman.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-351) and index.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- A Critique of Western Discourses of International Law and State Sovereignty through Chinese Lenses -- China’s Approaches to International Law since the Opium War -- Human Rights and Democracy with Chinese Characteristics? -- Self-Determination in Schizophrenia -- A Keen Observer of the International Rule of Law? -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.

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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.