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Confucius Institute Distinguished Speaker Series

September 19th, 2007: China Modernizes: Threat to the West or Model for the Rest?

[.pdf flyer] [Report on Sing Tao Daily]
Special guest speaker: Randall Peerenboom
Plaza Club, Honolulu

Two sharply contrasting views of China exist today -- on the one hand a rising superpower predicted to have the largest economy in the world by mid century, on the other a brutal, authoritarian regime that is a threat to the geo-stability of the industrial world. So which is the real China? Randall Peerenboom addresses this question by exploring China's economy, political and legal systems, and most controversially, its record on civil, political and personal rights in the context of the developing world. He highlights the often hypocritical stance of an international community which demands standards from others that it does not match at home. He also critically evaluates the benefits of globalization and democratization and the normative values of the West set against Beijing's determination to retain its cultural and political integrity.

Randall Peerenboom is based in Beijing. He is the Director of the China Rule of Law Program for the Oxford Foundation for Law, Justice and Society; Associate Research Fellow at the Center for Socio-Legal Studies Oxford University; and Professor of Law at La Trobe University in Melbourne. He obtained a BA in Philosophy from the U-Wisconsin Madison, an MA in Chinese Religion and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Hawaii, before obtaining a JD from Columbia Law School. In addition to serving as an expert witness on PRC legal issues, he has been a consultant to the Ford Foundation and the Asian Development Bank on legal reforms and rule of law in China.

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Video courtesy Confucius Institute,
Videography/Editing by Constantinos Vrakas