【Luojia Forum】Jiang Bixin: Chinese Path to Modernization and China under the Rule of Law

On the morning of February 28, 2023,oneof the series academic events for the 130th anniversary of Wuhan University and the 365th lecture of the Luojia Forum, hosted by Wuhan University and organized by theInstituteof Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Law, were successfully held. The theme of this lecture is "Chinese path to modernization and China under the rule of law". The keynote speaker is Professor Chang Bixin, Vice Chairman of the Constitution and Law Committee of the National People's Congress and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Law Society. Shen Zhuanghai, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuhan University, attended the event and awarded Professor Jiang Bixin a commemorative certificate for the Luojia Forum. Qin Qianhong, a professor at the School of Law of Wuhan University and editor in chief of "Law Review", Professor Huang Zhixiong, Vice Dean of the School of Law, and Tao Jun, Vice Dean of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, attended this lecture. This event is hosted by Professor Feng Guo, Dean of the School of Law at Wuhan University.

Focusing on the theme of "Chinese path to modernization and China under the rule of law", Professor Jiang Bixin gave a lecture on the relationship between Chinese path to modernization and China under the rule of law. He stressed that in the context of Chinese modernization, China's rule of law faces dual tasks of building a rule of law in China and building a modern socialist country under the rule of law. China's progress of the rule of law shares the same breath and common destiny with the development of Chinese modernization. The development of Chinese modernization must be carried out on the track of the rule of law, which puts forward higher requirements for the development of the rule of law in China, and needs to realize the rule of law in many fields and at many levels. At the same time, the further development of Chinese modernization also requires a new form of human legal civilization at a higher level.

Professor Jiang Bixin believes that to develop Chinese path to modernization and build a rule of law in China, we must adhere to Chinese characteristics, and Chineserule of law, highlighting practice and the features of the times. He stated that Chinese characteristics should be reflected in adhering to the leadership of the Party, putting the people first, adhering to the socialist system and to the theory of rule of law with Chinese characteristics, adhering to the core socialist values and to solving Chinese problems with China's practice. We should adhere to the rule of law by safeguarding the supremacy of the Constitution and the law, realizing fairness and justice in the whole society, adhering to the equality of the rule of lawand to the restriction and supervision of public power, respecting and protecting human rights, and adhering to the independent exercise of functions and powers by the judiciary according to law. Chinese path to modernization is a great practice. The basic connotation of the great practice includes progressiverule of law, the rule of law for common prosperity, comprehensive rule of law, green rule of law, peaceful rule of law, and coordinated rule of law. Professor Jiang Bixin also talked about the features of the era from six aspects: humanism, democratization, systematization, intelligence, utility, and globalization.

During the Q&A session, Professor Jiang Bixin exchanged his ideas with some students and teachers. He answered the questions raised by students, such as "how to critically absorb Western legal theory and critically inherit traditional Chinese legal thought" and "how to handle the conflict between the goals of the rule of law and the practice of the rule of law".

Professor Qin Qianhong shared his experiences and his takeaway from this lecture from two perspectives: the relationship between democracy and the rule of law, and a dialectical understanding of institutionalization. In the end, Dean Feng Guo gave a concluding speech and expressed gratitude to Professor Jiang Bixin for giving a speech at the Luojia Forum.

Contributor: Yizhou; Photographer: Cui Yunjie