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4.
Underlying many of these problems is the traditional Chinese legal view that "law" exists to punish the disobedient rather than to protect individual rights. I well remember Bernard Levin's characterisation, many years ago, of the difference between the Soviet and Chinese outlooks on the rule of law: in Russia there is a long list of things you may not do, which is frequently added to, but if something is not on the list you can do it; in China there is no need for long lists because you may do nothing unless told to. Exaggerated no doubt, but it suggests that China will be a harder nut to crack than the Soviet Union.
5.
Our
The PRC's legal system has of course been revived for only a little over ten years, and there are many people in the system who wish to push reforms faster. Not all judges are PLA pensioners. Legal scholarships in the West are important. own training scheme for young Chinese lawyers has been very encouraging so far.
6.
To take the abuses in paragraph 3 head on, in any discussion between experts, might not lead far quickly. But I wonder if it might not be worth highlighting some of the important values in China's constitution (eg. Articles 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42) and contrasting these with the way the criminal justice system operates in practice ie. totally contrarily. That might at least provide the basis for pressure over the years.
7.
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We have in Hong Kong a considerable expert on Chinese law, Michael Palmer, the head of our China Law Unit. He will be visiting the UK in January and would be happy to discuss some of the above ideas further with others, including Jill Barrett. You may wish to meet him yourself.
8.
As I say, we in Hong Kong are not about to launch any initiatives on human rights in China, but we do have an interest in them, and I offer the above personally for what it is worth.
Yours
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c.c.
(WG Ehrman)
Political Adviser
AGC, China Law Unit (Mr Michael Palmer)
BE Peking (Mr David Coates)
UKREP JLG (Mr Alan Paul)
HD/HKD, F C O (Mr Peter Ricketts)
HSG PS/GH
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