In his book, Revitalizing the World Trading System, published in 2023, Alan Wolff guided readers through the past, present and potential futures of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In this talk and subsequent conversation, he will update his prescriptions for WTO reform in light of the recent turn to unilateral tariffs, bilateral trade deals concluded under their threat, and reforms to the multilateral trading system now being proposed by both the Trump Administration and the EU.  Mr. Wolff, one the leading trade experts of our time, will also consider the implications for Asia of these unprecedented challenges (and opportunities) for the world trading system.

The Trump administration’s efforts to secure more control over Greenland have put China’s activities in the Arctic under a spotlight. Since 2018 when China declared itself to be a “near-Arctic state” with strategic interests in the region, it has expanded its Arctic research activities, acquired more icebreaking vessels, conducted Arctic patrols with Russia, and sent a ship from Asia to Europe through the Arctic Ocean along Russia’s northern coast – a route China has dubbed the “Polar Silk Road.” But is any of this activity contrary to international law or dangerous to the US? Professor Yuanyuan (Kate) Ren at the University of Dayton School of Law, an international law scholar who formerly worked at the Polar Research Institute of China, will explain how China interprets international law at the polar regions and what is publicly known about its Arctic goals.  

Ever since elections in 2024 gave the presidency to one party and the legislature to its rivals, Taiwan’s political arena has been the scene of non-stop drama. When the Nationalist Party and its ally in the legislature tried to expand their power to oversee the executive branch, the Constitutional Court ruled them out of line and the legislature responded by shutting down the court. When the Democratic Progressive Party-led executive branch claimed power to exercise a pocket veto of legislation it didn’t like, the opposition in the legislature began a process to impeach the president even though they lack the numbers to achieve their goal. Nathan Batto, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Political Science in Taiwan’s Academia Sinica and expert on Taiwan’s elections, will explain how Taiwan’s government structure, political culture, and other factors have contributed to the current crisis, how the Taiwanese public is responding, and the possible impact on Taiwan’s delicate international standing. 

The path to global sustainable development is participatory democratic global governance – the only truly effective path to confronting pandemics, military conflict, climate change, biodiversity loss, and potential overall ecological collapse. So says James Bacchus in his new book, Democracy for a Sustainable World: The Path from the Pnyx. Bacchus argues that global democracy and global sustainable development can only be achieved jointly. Beginning with a visit to the birthplace of democracy in ancient Athens, a hillside called the Pnyx, Bacchus explores how the Athenians practiced democratic participation millennia ago. He draws on the successes and shortfalls of Athenian democracy to offer specific proposals for meeting today’s challenges by constructing participatory democratic global governance for full human flourishing in a sustainable world.

The value chains for critical raw materials (CRM) used in electric vehicle (EV) batteries often involve mining in the Global South, Australia and Canada, production in Asia, and consumption in the Global North. Starting in 2027, EU law will require a ‘digital product passport’ (DPP) for market entry. These passports will provide EU consumers, investors, regulators and others with products and sustainability data throughout the entire value chains. Professor Luke Nottage will explore how such a system could function, with varying degrees of decentralization, inspired partly from private international law mechanisms that have evolved to handle cross-border traceability of documents. Examples include systems for recognizing marriage and other personal or commercial certificates, arbitral awards and foreign judgments.

The contested polity of Taiwan is poor in official diplomatic relationships but rich in economic ones. Although the Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan’s government, has diplomatic relations with only twelve states, it has investment agreements with thirty-three states and free trade agreements with nine. It’s also a member of the WTO and several multilateral economic rule-setting bodies. In this installment of our occasional speaker series, “Taiwan Legal,” Professor Pasha Hsieh of Singapore Management University will discuss whether trade and investment agreements convey “implied recognition,” and whether Taiwan’s strong economic ties make its legal identity more robust.

In January, the United States inaugurated restrictions on U.S. investment in certain Chinese advanced technology sectors. At the time, the Outbound Investment Rule was portrayed as an incremental measure, a modest extension to fill loopholes in the existing investment screening regime. But while perhaps the logical next step in the securitization of the economy, Professor Harlan Cohen of Fordham Law School argues that the Outbound Investment Rule actually reflects a momentous shift in the relationship between governments and business, one playing out in the United States and around the world and worth attention. Unlike traditional investment screening, he explains, the Outbound Investment Rule operates like a sanctions regime, designed not to protect the U.S. economy, but to hamper the advancement of another.

Singapore now ranks with Paris and London among the top-3 venues for international arbitration, despite being much newer on the scene.  Lucy Reed, President of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre Court, a prominent arbitrator and international lawyer, will explore the reasons, which include government commitment, supportive legislation, first-rate courts, Maxwell Chambers, SIAC, and a truly international outlook.

The United States and other countries that engage in friendly but unofficial relations with Taiwan generally maintain “strategic ambiguity” on the question of whether they would help Taiwan defend itself against a possible armed attack by China. Their decision would undoubtedly be affected by many factors, including how the world would regard third-party intervention (especially military intervention) in a China-Taiwan conflict. Would the United Nations, and international law more generally, view third-party military intervention in a cross-Strait conflict as an illegal use of force? In this installment of our occasional speaker series, “Taiwan Legal,” Professor Julian Ku of Hofstra University School of Law will explain what international law says about the use of force for self-defense and collective self-defense.

International law and the international order are currently challenged on two fronts: externally, by the Global South; and internally, by the United States under its own leadership. What does this mean for the future? In his new book, The Law and Politics of International Legitimacy (Cambridge University Press, 2025), Jean-Marc Coicaud explores this question by examining the role of legitimacy in international life. Drawing on his first-hand experience in Asia, where he lived for nearly a decade, Coicaud also considers how regional powers—particularly China and Japan—may influence the reshaping of international law and the global order.

As political and economic trust between the United States and China deteriorates year by year, some non-profits and scholars in both countries continue to swim against the tide, organizing exchange programs designed to build mutual understanding and trust. One of these is the U.S.-China Education Trust (USCET), a non-profit founded by former US Ambassador Julia Chang Bloch that supports American studies and other education programs at Chinese universities. Last May, when the US State Department announced that it would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,” USCET issued a public statement decrying what it called a threat to the “broader foundation of US-Chinese relations.” Ambassador Bloch and USCET Executive Director Rosie Levine will explain why they continue to believe in the value of bilateral education exchanges, drawing on USCET’s more than two decades of experience.

intensifying rivalry between the United States and China is reshaping the international order. The transactional diplomacy of the Trump administration is accelerating the erosion of established institutional guardrails. In this challenging moment, University of Tokyo Professor Ryo Sahashi says that Japan is working to reinforce global stability. Through careful management of its alliance with the US, proactive engagement with European and Indo-Pacific partners, and cooperation with Global South nations, Japan is trying to maintain regional balances, prevent conflict escalation, and preserve economic networks and free trade. Professor Sahashi will share his policy recommendations for how Japan and like-minded nations can collaboratively navigate the shifting global landscape.

Military drills by the People’s Republic of China around self-ruled Taiwan are larger and more frequent than ever. Chinese warplanes, drones, balloons, and naval ships now enter Taiwan’s airspace and waters on a daily basis. At the United Nations and other international venues, Chinese authorities never overlook an opportunity to reiterate their message: Taiwan belongs to the PRC. In this installment of our occasional speaker series, “Taiwan Legal,” we ask what PRC law says about the status of Taiwan, and how the Chinese party-state bases its claim in history and international law. Professor Bing Ling of University of Sydney will explain why Taiwan is so important to the PRC that China might risk a costly war to retake it.      

The international legal order is fragmenting into multiple “geo-legal orders,” in which the interpretation and operation of international law will increasingly depend on the spheres of influence of leading states and political groupings. This raises a basic question: how will a multipolar international order work? What normative constructions will emerge to bind the new geo-legal orders together? Dr. Malcolm Jorgensen, a senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, will share his current research in progress.

Japan’s post-World War II constitution has never been amended, but it has been reinterpreted in light of changing needs and understandings. This includes the constitution’s unique Article 9, in which Japan forswears military action except in self-defense. Changes in Japan’s national security environment in recent years –  including the rising military strength of its neighbor, China; Russia’s belligerence in Ukraine (relevant because of a longstanding territorial dispute between Japan and Russia); and developments related to the US security umbrella under the new administration – are increasing pressure on Japanese leaders to further evolve their understanding of Art. 9. A panel of three experts will discuss how Japanese politicians, policymakers, and scholars today think about Japan’s expanding security and defense cooperation with Europe while maintaining its identity as a pacifist country.

Since the Chinese government carried out full-scale privatization of the urban housing market nearly three decades ago, private home ownership in cities has soared and tens of millions of home-owning Chinese have joined home ownership associations. In his new book, The Authoritarian Commons: Neighborhood Democratization in Urban China (Cambridge University Press, 2025), Shitong Qiao argues that homeowner associations (HOAs) have fundamentally changed how Chinese urban neighborhoods and cities are governed. Drawing on six years of fieldwork, he finds that local governments have come to rely on homeowners to help govern their own neighborhoods, and homeowners have become accustomed to the democratic ritual of electing HOA leaders. Does the rise of HOAs have any wider significance for China’s political future?

In February, President Trump signed an executive contemplating formation of a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) for America, and he also issued a National Security Presidential Memorandum titled the “America First Investment Policy”. These two major initiatives reflect two important trends of global dealmaking: First, the public investment funds of numerous nations, as a major source of strategic capital, are becoming a dominant force for cross-border investments; Second, the global markets have entered a period of heightened geopolitical economic tension and uncertainty, especially for investments in the AI digital economy. With the TikTok drama in the backdrop, join the panel discussion by the NYU law school and Latham & Watkins LLP: cross-border investments have led to tightened cross-regulations, high profile legal battles, and even geopolitical tensions. Is this the new normal of global capital markets?

Taiwan’s status as a state is often challenged not because it fails to meet the criteria for statehood, but because of its ambiguous legal relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). We continue our “Taiwan Legal” speaker series by asking how Taiwan, functioning as the Republic of China (ROC), defines its relationship with the PRC in legal terms. Yu-Jie Chen, an assistant research professor at the Institutum Iurisprudentiae of Academia Sinica, will explain what the ROC Constitution says and how Taiwan engages with and distinguishes itself from the PRC.

Japan's regulatory system for hostile takeovers remains incomplete, complicated, and uncertain. As the government seeks to reignite economic growth and attract foreign investment, there is new urgency to promote best market practices and reform the system for adjudicating hostile takeover bids. Bruce Aronson and Andrew McDermott will share their insights.

The promulgation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011 helped focus attention on the need for companies to develop responsible and sustainable approaches to business activities, including their distant supply chains. More than a decade later, severe human rights violations such as forced labor still persist. A distinguished panel of experts will discuss what investors, corporations, NGOs, and government policymakers in the US and Japan are doing now to fulfill their responsibility to protect human rights in supply chains.

China’s legal service sector is growing rapidly, including not only commercial law offices but publicly funded legal aid and innovative free legal advice platforms. At the same time, the regime has largely suppressed the country’s human rights lawyers. What is going on? Hualing Fu, dean of the law faculty at the University of Hong Kong and visiting professor at NYU School of Law, will share his research into an emerging new sector that he calls “public legal services,” which the party-state is developing in order to ensure that social disputes are resolved speedily in line with regime interests. In the process, Chinese lawyers may be transitioning backward from legal professionals to state legal workers.

We continue our “Taiwan Legal” speaker series by examining the United Nations’ position on the legal status of Taiwan. In 1971, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 2758 declaring that the “representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations,” displacing the Republic of China, which had held the “China” seat since the UN was founded. Jacques deLisle, a professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania, will explain the background and legal effect of the resolution, how the PRC reads--and misreads-- it and why this 54-year-old resolution matters today.   

Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought a massive acceleration of the trade war with China that he began during his first term and that President Biden deepened. So far, Trump’s focus has been on tariffs, not exclusive to China. Biden introduced a complex array of US export, import, investment, and sanctions regimes more narrowly targeting China, each with distinct but overlapping rules. The resulting trade regime is difficult for American companies to follow and also increasingly relies upon cooperation and enforcement by other countries. Transshipment restrictions have become an onerous element of both US and Chinese measures. Particularly affected are East Asian countries that are usually regarded as US partners but rely on trade with both superpowers. Christina Davis, a professor of Japanese politics at Harvard University and director of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, and Pasha Hsieh, professor of law at Singapore Management University, will discuss the economic and political impact that US-Chinese rivalry is having on these countries, how much agency they have to comply or abstain from the superpower struggle, the impact on regional trade patterns, and whether these smaller countries may help lead the way back to a more unified rules-based trade order.

The Constitutional Courts of South Korea and Taiwan have been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks as they are asked to arbitrate bitter power struggles between the elected branches – power struggles in which the justices themselves have been targeted. Two eminent constitutional scholars – Chaihark Hahm of Yonsei Law School and Jiunn-rong Yeh of National Taiwan University – will explain the background to the current crises and reflect on the role of courts in protecting democracy at times of deep partisan divisions.

he U.S.-Asia Law Institute celebrated the forthcoming publication of Professor Emeritus Jerome Cohen’s memoirs with a book talk and reception attended by dozens of colleagues, students, and mentees from across his lengthy career, along with several generations of family members.

Beginning in the 1950s, Japan’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) has been an important instrument for Japanese diplomacy.  However, this cold war strategy has evolved over the past two decades, in large part due to the rise of China, to include both national security challenges and the promotion of universal values.  How will Japanese ODA policy respond to the current challenge of striking a balance between promoting universal values and avoiding offense to recipient governments?  Can Japan play a special role as the developed world’s “ambassador” to the Global South? 

Nippon Steel’s planned purchase of former giant U.S. Steel is currently the most important and controversial topic in US-Japan economic relations.  Regardless of whether the purchase is ultimately allowed to proceed, the public opposition from leaders of both American parties raises important questions for the future. What effect could this have on other Japanese FDI into the US and broader US-Japan cooperation? Is there a risk of reciprocity when US companies seek to make acquisitions in Japan? To what extent does it represent a significant broadening of the definition of “national security” against the background trend of de-globalization and the reshoring of supply chains? William Chou, deputy director of the Japan Center at the Hudson Institute, and Hiroyuki Nishimura of Nikkei will put the Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel acquisition in context in a panel discussion with NYU Law Adjunct Professor Bruce Aronson and NYU Law Professor Jose Alvarez (moderating).

What is the status of Taiwan under international law? In the second of our speaker series “Taiwan Legal,” Peter Dutton, senior research scholar at the Paul Tsai China Center of Yale Law School, will unpack arguments about who has sovereignty over the island of Taiwan and adjoining small islands that its government controls. If Taiwan’s status is unsettled, does international law still recognize its government’s right of self-defense and the right of its friends to defend it?