- DATE & TIME
December 11, 2015 4:00―6:00pm - Venue
Multipurpose Lecture Room, Okuma Memorial Tower(Bldg.#26),Waseda Campus - Speaker
Kazuko MOURI (Professor Emeritus, Waseda University)
Hikota KOGUCHI (Professor, Faculty of Law) - Language
Japanese
How to understand China, a country emerging as a superpower with economic grow and military extension? In order to answer to the general questions as such, this seminar took two-way approach, from the perspective of Politics (including Japan-China relations) and that of legal system, to understand the reality of contemporary China.
In the presentation “On China’s politics”, prof. Mouri firstly examined the several views of the China-specialists and scholars toward contemporary China, then refereed to Communist Party of China’s handling of the economy as the key to stabilize China. Prof. Mouri emphasized the correlativity between the increasing defense spending of China and its growth as economic power as an alarming phenomena. She also introduced her analysis with mixed connotation of welcoming and anxiety that the domestic political actors in China had become more diversified and the variety of political actors in China has been starting to recognize their country as superpower. She especially pointed out the “post-80s” generation as emerging power that has strong influenced on the new Japan-China relationship. In her observation the alternative factors such as regional, private and grass-root network, the maneuver of which cannot be explained by the existing inter-governmental negotiation, have ambiguous possibilities that might give good and/or bad effect on the Japan-China relationship.
In the presentation “On China’s legal system”, Prof. Koguchi introduced the fact that, with looking back to his own academic experience, the vast amount of primary documents of verdicts has been unclassified recently in the field of civil legislation in China, which made it possible for the researchers to examine China’s law system empirically. He also pointed out that China’s civil legal system has been based on the most advanced examples around the world while the characteristics of Chinese constitution is to impose on people the obligation that is completely different from the idea of constitutionalism.
Most of the questions in the Q and A session were casted from the younger, oversea students. From the intensive dialogue between the two veteran professors and the junior researchers and students I could sense hope and passion for the new Japan-China relationship.
