The Conflict Between RCEP Contracting Status And RCEP Article 11.9 And Its Resolution Path

The RCEP,which came into force on January 1,2022,is the largest regional trade agreement in terms of trade.According to the eligibility provisions of the Agreement,individual customs territories,including Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan in China,are eligible to apply for membership and become parties to the RCEP.Currently,the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has submitted its application to join the RCEP to the Secretariat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in January 2022.Article 11.9 of the RCEP,however,provides for rights and obligations that only sovereign States or intergovernmental organizations are entitled to but individual customs territories are not.If asking them to join the RCEP,shall be governed by the article 11.9 of the regulation,to perform "approved or joined" listed multilateral treaty obligations,which means in law indirectly admitted that they’s status as a "sovereign state",a serious violation of the "one China" principle in international society,could provide available for "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces "legal evidence".Therefore,how to resolve the above legal conflicts in RCEP has become an urgent topic that must be studied by academia and relevant government departments in China.This paper adopts the methods of text interpretation,normative study and causal analysis to systematically study the conflict between RCEP contracting Party qualification and RCEP article 11.9 and its resolution path.In addition to "Introduction" and "conclusion",this paper consists of the following three parts:The first part,"Conflict between RCEP Contracting Party Qualification and RCEP Article 11.9",firstly interprets the provisions of RCEP concerning Contracting Party qualification and considers that,according to articles 1.2 and20.9 of RCEP,individual customs territories are eligible to join RCEP.Secondly,it analyzes the rights and obligations stipulated in Article 11.9 of RCEP,and combs the membership provisions of multilateral agreements listed in this article one by one.It is concluded that the separate customs area can not fulfill the obligations stipulated in article 11.9 of RCEP.Not entitled to article 11.9 of the RCEP.Finally,this paper analyzes the essence of the conflict between the two,and holds that this conflict is essentially the conflict between the qualification of contracting and the qualification of performing the contract of the separate customs area.The second part,"Consequences of the Conflict between RCEP Contracting Status and Article 11.9 of the RCEP",first explores the legal consequences of such conflict,arguing that if it is not resolved,it will lead to the accession of individual customs territories to international liability for failing to fulfill their obligations under the agreement and to charges by other Parties to the RCEP.Secondly,analyzed the political consequences of this conflict,think if required as a separate customs territory of China from Chinese Hong Kong,Chinese Macao and Chinese Taipei after joining RCEP fulfill the obligations as stipulated in the article 11.9 of the RCEP,is legally indirectly admitted that they’s status as a "sovereign state",a serious violation of the international community generally accepted "one China" principle.The third part,"settlement of the conflict between RCEP contracting status and RCEP article 11.9",firstly puts forward three basic principles to resolve the conflict between RCEP contracting status and RCEP article 11.9,namely :(1)adhere to the "one China" principle and exclude the application of separate customs territories to RCEP article 11.9;(2)Taking into account the balance of rights and obligations of RCEP Parties,and not derogating from the rights and obligations of other Parties under RCEP;(3)Respect the equal status of separate customs territories under the RCEP system,and do not add the rights and obligations of separate customs territories to the RCEP.Then,on this basis,three alternative paths are proposed.First,as a long-term plan,Article 11.9 of RCEP is amended to apply only to separate customs territories.Second,as a case-by-case approach,in the terms and conditions of accession negotiated,the special provisions "to be followed" by separate customs zones are proposed.Third,the Chinese government has submitted a unilateral interpretive declaration on the application of Article 11.9 of RCEP by Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan.Finally,the paper concludes that the conflict between RCEP contracting status and RCEP article 11.9 is an international legal issue as well as an international political issue.Therefore,the correct and reasonable settlement of this conflict is of great significance for the maintenance of the "One China" principle,and on this basis,the establishment of closer economic and trade relations between the mainland and Hong Kong,Macao and Taiwan,and the promotion of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides of the four places.Moreover,in the context that China has applied to join the CPTPP,it also has important reference value for dealing with Chinese Hong Kong,Chinese Macao and Chinese Taipei,and how to apply relevant provisions similar to article 11.9 of the CPTPP and RCEP.