Contemporary trends suggest a sea change in the international order as the US reverses its longstanding commitments to free trade and liberal democracy. Based on a forthcoming book titled Chinese Developmentalism in the Global Legal and Economic Order, co-edited with Jacques deLisle and Jaclyn Neo, our speaker, Matthew Erie, says that China promotes a novel ordering they call “Chinese developmentalism,” which favors state-led economic growth, industrial policy, technological innovation, and illiberal governance. Chinese developmentalism is complex and still evolving, but Erie says while its aspirations are far-reaching, the magnitude and direction of its impact are far from inevitable.
Is Japan Back? Growth and Corporate Governance
Dr. Paul Sheard will join Professor Bruce Aronson for a discussion about Japan’s economic growth strategy and corporate governance, with a particular focus on the Takaichi Cabinet’s growth agenda, sometimes called “Sanaenomics,” and how it compares with “Abenomics.” They will also discuss how Japan’s broader strategic priorities are evolving in response to shifting domestic and global economic conditions.
Please note that the location of this event has changed to Furman Hall 212
Inside North Korea: Delivering Aid in the World’s Most Isolated Country
North Korea is one of the world’s poorest countries, but also one of the most challenging places to deliver humanitarian aid. For years at a time, its government has barred foreign aid workers, suspicious of their intentions. Swiss aid worker Kathi Zellweger, one of the very few Westerners to have lived in North Korea, and who visited the country seventy-five times over three decades, will share her experiences working with local medical experts, negotiating with suspicious government officials, and finding ways to help thousands of people, most of them children. She is joined by Mike Chinoy, a former CNN correspondent and repeat visitor to North Korea, with whom she wrote the book, Miss Kathi: Saving Lives in North Korea.
AIIB: Ten Years On
As the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) launched in 2016, many wondered how this new China-led multilateral development bank (MDB) would fare. Natalie Lichtenstein, AIIB’s founding lawyer takes a look at AIIB in context, surveying 100 years of MDB legal genealogy. What does AIIB’s first decade tell us about the combination of heritage and innovation in AIIB’s 21st century charter?
New Additions to USALI's China Wrongful Convictions Case Archive
Over the summer, we added two new cases to our archive: the Liu Zhonglin Murder Case and the Xie Zhehai Murder Case. Both convictions relied heavily on contested confessions with little to no corroborating evidence; both defendants maintained their innocence and pursued relief for many years; and both spent more than two decades in prison before their convictions were overturned due to insufficient evidence. Both cases also occurred in rural areas at a time when rural police had very low investigatory capacities and DNA testing was not yet available. Check out the new additions and browse other entries in the first English-language archive of Chinese wrongful convictions.
Workshop report: Decoding China’s Foreign-Related Rule of Law
Chinese Communist Party (CCP or Party) General Secretary Xi Jinping first mentioned FRROL in an internal Party meeting in 2019 in the context of discussing law’s role in economic development. Over the past five years alone, Chinese scholars have produced more than 2,000 articles on various aspects of FRROL, yet English-language treatment remains sparse and fragmented. To assess how this agenda is taking shape across legal domains, the U.S.–Asia Law Institute (USALI) at NYU School of Law and NYU Shanghai Professor Marie Adele Carrai convened the “Decoding China’s Foreign-Related Rule of Law” workshop on November 21–22, 2025. The gathering followed an initial workshop on FRROL at NYU Shanghai in April 2025.
Japan Global: Japan’s Nuclear Arms Dilemma
During the postwar period Japan was well known for its active role in promoting nuclear disarmament and its anti-war constitution. However, increasing security threats from China and North Korea caused a reevaluation of Japan’s security needs and a new emphasis on deterrence. How can Japan support both nuclear disarmament and nuclear deterrence? Nobumasa Akiyama, professor at the School of International and Public Policy and the Graduate School of Law at Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo), director of the Center for Disarmament, Science and Technology at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, and a leading expert on Japan’s nuclear arms policy, will discuss how Japan’s policy might reconcile these conflicting interests and the likely effect of Japan’s nuclear policy on regional and global efforts aimed at both nuclear arms control and collective security.
Rethinking the Teaching of International Law
The Teaching and Researching International Law in Asia (TRILA) programme, based at the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore, builds on a decades-long tradition of advancing and enhancing the teaching and researching of international law in Asia. More than the strengthening and fostering of teaching and research cultures, TRILA also aims to cultivate a vibrant community of international law scholars across the Asian region. Tony Anghie, the head of TRILA will reflect on the evolution and impact of TRILA and explore the changing landscape of legal academia in Asia. The conversation will situate TRILA within the broader Global South and international efforts to rethink the teaching of international law and the role of Asian scholars in changing and reshaping international law.
Note: This event was originally scheduled for April 3.
Taiwan Legal: How Does the EU Engage with Taiwan?
We continue our speaker series about Taiwan’s status in the world with a look at its relationship with the European Union. None of the EU’s twenty-seven member states has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but nineteen member states and the EU itself have opened quasi-embassies there and the EU holds a ministerial-level trade and investment dialogue with its government. In recent years, as tensions with China have heightened over trade disputes and the war in Ukraine, the EU Parliament has increasingly emphasized Taiwan’s shared democratic values and their similar experiences living with a powerful, authoritarian neighbor. Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, a scholar who divides her time between Brussels and Taiwan, will unpack the drivers and limitations of Europe’s affinity for Taiwan.
*Please note this event was originally scheduled for March 10.
Can U.S. Courts Provide Remedies for Forced Labor in Asia?
In 2003, the U.S. Congress added a civil liability provision to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) permitting victims to seek damages from those who engaged in or benefitted from forced labor and human trafficking. Over the last 20 years, labor advocates have sought to use this statute to hold accountable companies who rely on forced labor inside the United States or occurring overseas, including in Asia. Cases have been filed against U.S. companies using workers trafficked from China or importing shrimp peeled by Cambodian migrants in Thailand, tuna caught by Indonesian fisherman, and equipment made by Chinese prisoners. Three experts will discuss recent cases brought under the TVPRA based on forced labor in Asia, and will explain the debate among federal courts over extending civil liability under the TVPRA to overseas actions.
The NYU School of Law held Memorial Service for Professor Jerome A. Cohen
On March 23, 2026, the NYU School of Law held a memorial service for Professor Emeritus Jerome A. Cohen in the Greenberg Lounge. The program can be found here. Click here to watch the recording.
[Recording] Liberation Day in East Asia: One Year Later
Twelve months ago, President Donald Trump declared “liberation day” and launched a tariff war against the entire world, including key American trade partners in East Asia. Over succeeding months, additional tariffs were announced, modified, and withdrawn against countries and specific goods, such as steel and aluminum. Henry Gao, law professor at Singapore Management University and a trade expert, will take stock of the lasting impact of Trump’s weaponization of tariffs on East Asia and the global trading system. He also will ask whether the tariff war could bring a silver lining: the opportunity to finally address long-festering problems with the old trade system.
[Recording] China’s Role in the Arctic
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.
[Recording] Taiwan’s Deeply Divided Government
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 US in the World Trading System: The Tariffs and WTO Reform
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.
[Recording]Democracy for a Sustainable World
Recorded on January 21, 2026.
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. Learn more.
USALI Hosts Global Scholars to "Decode China's Foreign-Related Rule of Law"
Tributes to Jerry Cohen
USALI Visiting Scholars Program: Now Accepting Applications
[Recording] Taiwan Legal: What Do Trade Agreements Say About Taiwan?
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.