Reviews for Remolding and Resistance Among Writers of the Chinese Prison Camp: Disciplined and Published

The average rating for Remolding and Resistance Among Writers of the Chinese Prison Camp: Disciplined and Published based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-03-29 00:00:00 Mary Fromson A good read to take a look into how bilingual common law operates in Hong Kong. It is a theme rarely explored in the publishing world, especially in Korea where I live. Bilingual legal system is what we cannot really imagine yet. The work is also a great combination of topics I enjoy very much─Hong Kong, law and politics, language and sociology. Since Hong Kong's handover in 1997, Cantonese inevitably permeates into Hong Kong's legal system as an official language. Meanwhile, as guaranteed by 'one country, two systems' principle, Hong Kong maintains its common law system where legal terms and precedents are firmly based on English language and British history. Through discourse analysis, this book portrays the division of labor between English and Cantonese in Hong Kong courts where Cantonese is preferred for swift fact check while English stands still as the backbone for legal reasoning and conceptualization. The use of Cantonese in Hong Kong courts encourages public access to legal service, which is a major stride in light of Hong Kong democracy. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's English common law system, which is both a colonial legacy and a symbol of autonomy from the mainland, faces an unprecedented challenge. What does it mean that Cantonese made its way into Hong Kong courts? There is still a far way to go before the advent of such a thing as 'Chinese common law.' To base a legal system upon, Cantonese is too colloquial a dialect that does not seem to be able to replace English sooner or later. The recent advance of Putonghua, however, is expected to be a major challenge for the legal system of Hong Kong. Others see it as a chance for Hong Kong to be the leader to help mainland China improve its legal system to meet the global standard. Hong Kong's common law system is a major watershed that separates Hong Kong from mainland China where socialist civil law is applied. Thus, common law is regarded as the last bastion of Hong Kong's autonomy and democracy. Rule of law is also a hot topic and a central value that recent Hongkongers hold onto against the CCP rule. For a practical cause also, Hong Kong would not be able to easily give up the English common law system that attracts foreign investment. Try flipping through the book to witness the intriguing irony of Hong Kong where the introduction of local language in courts both boosts democracy by lowering the hurdle of legal service and at the same time poses certain threats to the city's autonomy.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-03-09 00:00:00 Trisha Phillips It was interesting to know that how the United Nations wanted to make China understand the importance of human rights in their country.