Chinese Law and Society Talk Series
Book Talk: The New Dual State: Judicial Autonomy and Political Control in China
Date & Time: March 3, 2026 (Tuesday) 10:30-11:30
Venue: Room 901, 9/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, The University of Hong Kong
Language: English
Abstract:
The book offers an empirical analysis of how authoritarian regimes can institutionalize judicial autonomy without relinquishing political control. Advancing the dual state theory beyond its original and contemporary formulations, Yueduan Wang theorizes how regime strength—especially centralized political authority—can clarify and stabilize the boundary between legal order and prerogative power. Using China under Xi Jinping as a case study, the book shows how the Chinese Communist Party centralized the judiciary, launched political campaigns to suppress unsanctioned extrajudicial interventions, and diverted politically sensitive cases away from formal legal channels. The result is a system in which courts demonstrate growing professionalism and autonomy in routine matters, while the regime retains decisive control over politically salient disputes.
Speaker:
Professor Yueduan Wang is Assistant Professor at Peking University and holds a JD and SJD from Harvard Law School. A leading scholar of authoritarian law and politics, he is the author of Experimentalist Constitutions (Harvard, 2024), with widely cited work on China’s political-legal system and its comparative significance in top law and area studies journals.
Chair:
Professor Cora Chan, Professor and Director of Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong
This is an in-person event. Prior registration is required. Please visit https://bit.ly/4bA98a8 to register. For inquiries, please email Louisa at .
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