66|avril 2026
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Contradictions and Post-colonial Dualities in the Chinese Approach to International Law: A Missed Dialogue with Third World Critiques

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  • Binxin Zhang
Binxin Zhang
Sciences Po, Centre de recherches internationales (CERI)
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/spc-20420

Published 2026-05-14

Keywords

  • China,
  • Chinese approaches to international law (CAIL),
  • developing country,
  • double identity,
  • major power,
  • Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL),
  • approche chinoise du droit international,
  • approches tiers-mondistes du droit international,
  • Chine,
  • double identité,
  • grande puissance,
  • pays en développement
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

Zhang, B. (2026). Contradictions and Post-colonial Dualities in the Chinese Approach to International Law: A Missed Dialogue with Third World Critiques. Sociétés Politiques comparées. Revue européenne d’analyse Des sociétés Politiques, 66. https://doi.org/10.36253/spc-20420

Copyright (c) 2026 Binxin Zhang

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

In recent years, Chinese international law scholars have increasingly articulated the idea of a sui generis Chinese approach to international law (CAIL), one notable feature of which is a critique of Western dominance and Eurocentrism. These concerns closely echo those of Third World approaches to international law (TWAIL), thus raise the question of why CAIL has shown only limited engagement with the extensive TWAIL scholarship. Existing explanations for this lack of engagement have largely focused on shifts in China’s material interests and geopolitical positioning. This article argues that such accounts are incomplete. CAIL’s ambivalence is indeed linked to China’s double positioning as a “developing country” and a “major country” at the same time, but this double positioning cannot be explained solely by rational or material considerations. It is rather underpinned by deeper socio-psychological dynamics, notably a dual identity of victimhood and triumphalism, inferiority and superiority. It is these enduring identitarian and psychological tensions that lie beneath CAIL’s limited engagement with TWAIL.

 

Contradictions et dualités postcoloniales dans l’approche chinoise du droit international : un dialogue manqué avec les approches critiques émanant du tiers-monde

Ces dernières années, les spécialistes chinois du droit international ont de plus en plus revendiqué une approche chinoise sui generis du droit international dont l’une des caractéristiques notables est une critique de la domination occidentale et de l’eurocentrisme. Ces préoccupations font écho à celles émanant des pays du tiers-monde, ce qui soulève la question suivante : pourquoi l’approche chinoise ne s’est-elle pas davantage intéressée aux travaux universitaires produits dans les pays en développement ? Les explications qui ont cherché à comprendre ce désintérêt mettent l’accent sur les nouveaux besoins matériels de la Chine comme sur le changement de son positionnement géopolitique. Le présent article soutient que celles-ci sont insuffisantes. L’ambivalence de l’approche chinoise est certes liée au double positionnement de la Chine comme « pays en développement » et comme « grande puissance », mais ce double positionnement ne peut s’expliquer uniquement par des considérations d’ordre rationnel et matériel. Il repose plutôt sur des dynamiques socio-psychologiques plus profondes, notamment une double identité pétrie à la fois de victimisation et de triomphalisme, d’infériorité et de supériorité. Ce sont ces tensions identitaires et psychologiques persistantes qui expliquent l’engagement limité de l’approche chinoise envers celles émanant des pays du tiers-monde.

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