The cross-strait judicial agreement: A study of bilateral agreements regarding trade and investment matters in China

The third round of talks between Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation, and Chen Yunlin, president of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, established an institutionalized platform for legal cooperation by concluding the Agreement on Joint Cross-Strait Crime-fighting and Mutual Judicial Assistance (hereafter, the Cross-Strait Judicial Agreement). This study will focus on Article 10 of the Cross-Strait Judicial Agreement, which contains the only reference in international law to Taiwan's and China's responsibility to recognize arbitration awards. This article will examine international rules for recognizing judgments and will make reference to other similar agreements in China that provide models for a future agreement with Taiwan. It is concluded that the form of Article 10 of the Cross-Strait Judicial Agreement can only be regarded as a first step toward judicial cooperation. A further and detailed bilateral agreement would provide safeguards for this preferential treatment. The need to avoid controversy cannot be used as an excuse for ignoring certain important matters.