The subject of this book is far-reaching, its importance with respect to fundamental questions of comparative constitutional research even more. Han Zhai’s profound understanding of China’s constitutional history merges in this book with her account of the constitutional identity of multi-layered states in other parts of the world, which she explored during her years of research at Tilburg University. The distinctive Chinese vision on decentralisation, formed during a long history, is the key to understanding not only its contemporary design, but also crucial constitutional and conceptual accounts of the nature of political parties, the position of religious communities and the rejection of separatism. The current Chinese constitutional arrangements reflect clearly the tenets of the Chinese Communist Party, and these tenets are conversely also rooted in the historical steadiness of Chinese constitutional identity.

This book, originally written as Han Zhai’s PhD dissertation at Tilburg University, speaks of a rich methodological design in discovering the constitutional identity of China. The departure point of the research is essentially semantic by focussing on various seminal constitutional texts, while also incorporating China’s political reality in configuring the constitutional role and influence of the Chinese Communist Party. This comparative research on China’s constitutional identity, with a focus on the logic and legitimation of the unitary state allows the reader to arrive at a deeper understanding of some of the ideas that have shaped China’s history and its view on the future, including developments concerning parts of China that in the course of recent history were separated from the centre of the state.

As the author explains, the overlay between text and political reality, resulting in what may be termed China’s constitutional duality, is what is called for in providing the necessary context for effective analysis. To this framework another perspective is added, that of the institutional relations between the central and local governance levels in China with an emphasis on fiscal decentralisation. Importantly, China’s constitutional identity is positioned with due regard to questions of national sovereignty covering the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in particular, but also the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland. Han Zhai not only mastered China’s complex and rather unique constitutional system by charting its essence, or identity, as expressed and developed through successive constitutional reforms properly contextualised, but also refined her conclusions by comparing what she found with other systems.

Constitutional comparison with China raises challenging questions about selecting suitable comparative materials. However, the reader will not be left disappointed, given the work’s treatment of especially the Kingdoms of Spain and the Netherlands. The product is a rich study that brings China’s constitutional identity to life, while also showing that meaningful comparison is possible even though the construction of the country’s identity is a decidedly national process. This work is a suitable illustration of what the emerging field of constitutional identity research is about, as it uncovers constitutional essence based not only on the law in books, but also the law in action, while configuring past, present and future dimensions of constitutionalism in the process. Whoever is interested in the constitutional backbone of a country with a rapidly growing influential role in international relations, should seek guidance in this book.

Ernst Hirsch Ballin

Gerhard van der Schyff

Tilburg, January 2019

Hirsch Ballin and Van der Schyff are faculty members at the Department of Public Law and Governance of Tilburg University. They acted as supervisors of the PhD research project from which Han Zhai’s book originated.