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The contemporary world is witnessing an interesting and seemingly contradictory phenomenon. At the same time that globalization continues to develop, the World Trade Organization (WTO), itself a direct result of globalization, can make no progress in the negotiations on its Doha Development Agenda—a perceived further step of globalization. Since deeper integration cannot be achieved at the multilateral level, regional and especially bilateral arrangements for liberalizing trade and investment, most of which are in the form of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), have become increasingly common. Notwithstanding their bilateral nature, FTAs are often referred to as regional arrangements (RTAs) since WTO members have an obligation to report such agreements to that multilateral system, where they are reviewed by the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements.

The Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), since its unveiling by China in 2013, has attracted much attention in the international community. As the B&R involves extensive government to government, enterprise to government and enterprise to enterprise relations and transactions, disputes are unavoidable. This article examines the existing mechanisms for resolving such disputes by pointing out their shortcomings and rooms for improvement. It then appraises an alternative dispute resolution mechanism proposed in a Blue Book by the International Academy for the Belt and Road.

The Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation announced the establishment of the International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement Organization (ICDPASO) in 2019. The ICDPASO was coordinated by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of International Commerce, together with industrial and commercial organizations and legal service agencies from over thirty countries and regions including the European Union, Italy, Singapore, Russia, Belgium, Mexico, Malaysia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Myanmar. It was launched on 15 October 2020. As its title indicates, ICDPASO's mandate to provide dispute resolution services is not confined to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries but includes resolving any disputes that the parties entrust to its jurisdiction. The ICDPASO aims to serve as a “legal hub” to resolve commercial and investment disputes effectively, efficiently, and practically. Unlike other multilateral dispute resolution forums, it is intended to provide an Asian-centric multilateral dispute resolution forum. This essay, the first on the subject of the ICDPASO, discusses how the ICDPASO can serve as a global laboratory for experimenting and innovating in dispute resolution with the potential to impact the landscape of international law, in particular its innovative use of mediation, good offices, and appeal processes to prevent and resolve disputes arising from the BRI. As BRI projects aim to establish infrastructure and digital connectivity within BRI countries and regions for trade and development, this essay argues that the dispute resolution process under the ICDPASO should take into account the overall development of a country or region. The essay concludes that the ICDPASO will be a game changer by introducing an Asian way of resolving disputes.

The unprecedented transformations of the world order, propelled by unparalleled extreme political and economic ideologies, that we are experiencing today violate the obligations under the World Trade Organisation. Recognising \"the dignity and worth of the human person\" as the core objectives that are intended to ensure world peace, The United Nations Charter mandates that nations \"live together in peace\", \"maintain international peace and security\", and refrain from the \"use of force\" in their mutual relations. Faced with this devastating global transformation, especially the threat to world peace, it is imperative for the international community to review and optimize the existing international order. This article proposes an effective approach to renewing and reforming the contemporary international order, rooted in Eastern culture and wisdom: \"Yi Ziran\", a theoretical framework and research methodology for international law centred on the cosmic view of the \"Way of Nature\" (Tiandao Ziran) which encompasses many philosophical thoughts such as Confucianism and pre-eminence of law and legal order. Specifically, this paper will analyse the essence and trajectory of the extremism promoted by the United States, as well as the potential choices for the international community, from the perspective of \"Yi Ziran\". As a strategy to counter the American extremism, it proposes that the international community should reaffirm the right to peace as a fundamental human right. Recognition of the right to peace, not only as an individual right but also a collective right under international law, will advance the realization of \"the dignity and worth of the human person\" under the United Nation Charter.

How the right to development came into being, evolved into its present status and what are likely to be its future directions may be explained by reference to Neo-Daoism, a methodology introduced and articulated by this article. This article argues that the Neo-Daoist concepts of Dao, De, Wu, Shi and Xing are apt to explain the occurrence and progression of the right to development in international law: Dao (the law of the universe) is the mother of all things: as a matter of nature everything emerges from a state of nothingness. De (virtue) is what gives something its birth. Wu (material or things) makes up the form of a thing; and Shi (circumstances) enables a thing to enter into being. Through this process, everything has its own Xing (characteristics or nature) and therefore is unique and different from the things that are of the same category or kind. This article uses Dao to explain how the right to development was born, De to explain how the right to development evolved as a right different in its nature from other rights in international law, Wu to explain how human dignity under the UN Charter constitutes the contents of the right to development, and Shi to explain how changing circumstances in the international communitys needs and aspirations, particularly of the developing nations, require further refinements of the right to development. This article identifies effective enforcement of the right to development as the most important change that todays world demands. The article also argues that human dignity under the UN Charter and the values deeply ingrained in the Chinese traditional culture such as good faith, tolerance, selflessness, quest for justice and respect for the righteousness should be incorporated into the contents of the right to development.

COVID-19 has posed unprecedented challenges to the international public health order which could be traced to mid-nineteenth century. With the establishment of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the conclusion of international treaties relating to human rights, the right to health has been recognised as an essential component of human rights. This article will analyse the contents and characteristics of the right to health. Then it will examine the challenges of globalisation to the functions of the WHO, including interpretation of treaty obligations of reporting infectious diseases, the causes for the less effective functioning of the international public health order and improvements that may be made. This article argues that to meet the challenges, the WHO and the international community must take measures to reform the international public health order, which should include paying more attention to the experience and needs of developing countries. In the author's view, globalisation is still the grand trend today and as such, every country is easily affected by actions and inactions of other countries. This article suggests that before consensus can be reached at the multilateral level, bilateral and regional arrangements, including the Belt and Road Initiative promoted by China, should be considered as alternative forms for international cooperation in the area of public health.

Cyberspace is open and operates across borders. Aware of significant challenges that this poses to the international community, the UN has adopted several resolutions calling for the use of cyberspace in accordance with the UN Charter. It also set up a government expert group to deal with cyberspace issues. Yet, due to a lack of consensus, reports of the expert group could not be endorsed by the UN. The rapid integration of cyberspace into our lives necessitates regulation of its operation. The question is which rules may govern the cyberspace. This article argues that the UN Expert Group's reports clearly show that there is a consensus among the international community that cyberspace is subject to international law including the UN Charter. It also argues that agreements reached by states at regional and bilateral levels, customary international law and existing rules of international organisations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) constitute a body of cyberspace governance rules. In accordance with the relevant International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgments and International Law Commission's (ILC's) conclusions on identification of customary international law, it is the view of this author that customary norms applicable to cyberspace may be constituted through practices of the user states as special customary international law rules and that practices of Internet companies and entities, despite their nonbinding nature on states, may contribute to the confirmation of the existence of such customary rules.

Globalization has brought about an unprecedented degree of interaction and interdependence, not only between nation states but also between states and other entities, ranging from international organizations to individuals. A major consequence of international interaction is cultural exchange; therefore, any legal or social theory which has evolved in a particular society must take account of the socio-cultural context of other societies for it to be meaningfully applied elsewhere. This article argues that this is true of the New Haven School, a policy-oriented perspective on international law, which is rooted in American culture. This article takes the Chinese cultural context as a point of reference for comparative purposes. Traditional Chinese culture is one of the most profound cultures in the world. The influence of traditional Chinese culture on decision making and human behaviour is still obvious in modern China despite the fact that the study of traditional Chinese culture has experienced some setbacks in recent times. This article will examine some aspects of the New Haven School in the context of the values of traditional Chinese culture with a view to determining whether and in what aspects they may complement and supplement each other.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) resulted from globalization, through which national law provisions are internationalized and international norms are domesticated. The WTO does not permit reservation by its members who are obliged to ensure the compliance of their laws, policies and other measures.

At a time of rising protectionism and increasing undermining of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international community has welcomed the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) as an admirable initiative to strengthen economic globalisation. The B&R, a new platform for economic cooperation, promises world-wide economic cooperation, in particular trade liberalisation and sharing of benefits of globalisation. This article argues that the United States' repudiation of international obligations and withdrawal from some international organisations will severely harm the basic principles of international law, multilateralism and the framework of global governance. In this backdrop, it is argued that the B&R should proceed on a bottom-up, rule-based governance, adhering faithfully to the essential principles of international law. These are important not only in the context of the B&R but also in general, to advance multilateralism and reap the benefits of economic globalisation.