NEO-DAOISM ON DEVELOPING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

Abstract: How the right to development came into being, evolved into its present status and what are likely to be its future directions may be explained by reference to Neo-Daoism, a methodology introduced and articulated by this article. This article argues that the Neo-Daoist concepts of Dao, De, Wu, Shi and Xing are apt to explain the occurrence and progression of the right to development in international law: Dao (the law of the universe) is the mother of all things: as a matter of nature everything emerges from a state of nothingness. De (virtue) is what gives something its birth. Wu (material or things) makes up the form of a thing; and Shi (circumstances) enables a thing to enter into being. Through this process, everything has its own Xing (characteristics or nature) and therefore is unique and different from the things that are of the same category or kind. This article uses Dao to explain how the right to development was born, De to explain how the right to development evolved as a right different in its nature from other rights in international law, Wu to explain how human dignity under the UN Charter constitutes the contents of the right to development, and Shi to explain how changing circumstances in the international community’s needs and aspirations, particularly of the developing nations, require further refinements of the right to development. This article identifies effective enforcement of the right to development as the most important change that today’s world demands. The article also argues that human dignity under the UN Charter and the values deeply ingrained in the Chinese traditional culture such as good faith, tolerance, selflessness, quest for justice and respect for the righteousness should be incorporated into the contents of the right to development.

Keywords Chinese traditional culture, human dignity, human rights, Neo-Daoism, right to development, role of the United Nations