Abstract

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Title:: Negotiations on the Extradition of War Criminals between China andFrance after World War II

Author(s):: LIU Ping; LIU Ping is Professor of Editorship at Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy ofSocial Sciences ( Beijing 100006 ).

Abstract:: After the establishment of the United Nations War Crimes Commission in January 1944, the firstconvention of international war criminals’ extradition was set up in modern times. The Convention eliminatedthe clause of“ political offenders” in the traditional extradition system to ensure thorough investigation andpunishment of war criminals. After the end of the Second World War, China and France reached a consensuson extraditing the war criminals based on the provisions of the Convention, which marked the turningpoint from conflicts to cooperation on the handling of war criminals, and also guaranteed the smooth trialof war criminals. The preliminary practice of the extradition of war criminals between China and Francecomprehensively interpreted the main principles and spirit of the Convention. It also became the precedent inthe modern international society for punishing the war crimes through judicial cooperation. Furthermore, itwas also a successful case of Chinese government’s dealing with foreign affairs in the process of restoring itsdiplomatic sovereignty after the abolition of extraterritoriality. The case is instructive in today’s society for howto successfully handle international affairs.