China’s legal service sector is growing rapidly, including not only commercial law offices but publicly funded legal aid. In this Feb. 21, 2025 talk at NYU Law School, Hualing Fu, dean of the law faculty at the University of Hong Kong and visiting professor at NYU Law, shares his research into the emerging new sector of “public legal services,” in which the government funds lawyers to resolve social disputes at an early stage. Dean Fu argues that pro bono work in China can serve as a tool of political control, allowing the government to frame disputes in its preferred terms and ensure they are resolved quickly, without any group mobilization.
Talking Points: What Does US Law Say About Taiwan?
One of the most complicated issues in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and its government in Taipei, formally called the government of the Republic of China. During the 2024-2025 academic year, the U.S.-Asia Law Institute is hosting a series of speakers to address Taiwan’s status. We began with a talk by Richard Bush, a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution who led US engagement with Taiwan from 1997 to 2002 as chairman and managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan. In his October 30, 2024 online talk at NYU Law, Bush explains the genesis and significance of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
Talking Points: Taking Stock of Law and Development with Chinese Characteristics
By Matthew S. Erie
In 2019, Matthew S. Erie, an associate professor of modern Chinese studies and member of the law faculty at Oxford University, began an ambitious project called China Law and Development in an effort to understand the role that law plays, directly or indirectly, in China’s outbound investment. As he wraps up the project in 2024, the U.S.-Asia Law Institute invited Professor Erie to share some of what he has learned.