China’s failure to expeditiously and transparently in accordance with the International Health Regulations constitutes an early and subsequently extended breach of its legal obligations (Article 14). 1/8 thread with excerpts from this on WOTR warontherocks.com/2020/03/china-…
2//n Consequently, China bears legal responsibility for its internationally wrongful acts (Article 28). The consequences include full reparations for the injury caused by the wrongful acts.
3/ No one expects that China will fulfill its obligations, or take steps required by the law of state responsibility. The legal consequences of an internationally wrongful act are subject to the procedures of the Charter of the United Nations.
4/ States could resort to self-help.The law of state responsibility permits injured states to take lawful countermeasures against China by suspending their own compliance with obligations owed to China as a means of inducing it to fulfill its responsibilities & debt (Article 49)
5/ The choice of countermeasures that injured states may select is wide open, with only minimal limitations. For example, countermeasures may not involve the threat or use of force or undermine the human rights of China (Article 50).
6/ Except for these limitations, however, injured states may suspend existing legal obligations or deliberately violate other legal duties owed to China as a means to induce Beijing to fulfill its responsibilities and address the calamitous damages it has inflicted on the world.
7/ Thus, action could include removal of China from leadership positions & memberships, as China now chairs four of 15 organizations of the UN. States could reverse China’s entry into the WTO, suspend air travel to China for a period of years..
8/ ..broadcast media in China & undermine China’s internet firewall that keeps the country sealed off from the rest of the world. Countermeasures permit not only acts that are merely unfriendly, but also licenses acts that would normally be a violation of international law.
