Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

6-2023

Abstract

This article argues that the dovetailing economic, geopolitical, and security interests that underpin the Belt and Road Initiative demands a dispute resolution mechanism that focuses on broader interests and legal rights. Using the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a case study, it identifies the conditions in which Chinese investors could have initiated an investment arbitration but did not. This can be explained by the rights-based orientation of investment treaties failing to reflect the interests of multi-project initiatives. Instead, alternative methods of home state intervention, such as state-funded political risk insurance, are used to protect investors. In other words, the political economy of CPEC investments refuses to utilize hard law mechanisms. Given this context, mediation may be a viable alternative. These circumstances accelerate the trend towards "de-legalization", which is often cited as an inevitable consequence of the emerging "geoeconomic order" but suggests that reasons other than national security are the cause.

Keywords

Belt and Road Initiative, geoeconomics, investor-state dispute settlement, investor-state mediation

Discipline

Asian Studies | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | International Law | International Trade Law

Publication

Asian Journal of International Law

First Page

1

Last Page

29

ISSN

2044-2513

Identifier

10.1017/S2044251323000176

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Copyright Owner and License

Authors-CC-BY

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1017/S2044251323000176

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