While living in Shanghai from 2007 2014, US lawyer Matthew Szymanski volunteered time teaching USstyle law courses at five Chinese universities. His students included Chinese graduate law students and American undergraduate exchange students. His main teaching partner was Sun Chao, a former law professor who was the top official for central Shanghai s Minhang District until he became chief judge of Guizhou Province in 2014. Partnering with the US-Asia Institute, Matthew developed a summer program for his top Chinese law students to observe the US system in Washington, DC. Since 2008, a total of 35 students have met over 1,000 US hosts, including 62 judges, 95 Members of Congress, and over 100 administration officials. Before meeting with students, some US hosts request background or context for this program. The purpose of this pictorial is to provide that context. For more information about this DC program, please visit our program Web page by clicking the link in the footer, below. Above is the Minhang District Courthouse, where Sun and Matthew often took their students for tours and classes. Below, our students toured some of the courtrooms when court was not in session. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 1 of 14
Above and below, our students viewed live legal proceedings in the courthouse video room while judges, prosecutors, law professors, and courthouse staff explained those proceedings. Such experiences supplemented their course work at East China University of Political Science & Law (ECUPL), East China Normal University (ECNU), and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). We also held classes at the nearby Minhang District Government Center, below. On its front steps, we assembled for this photo with some of our US undergrads from ECNU and law students from SJTU. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 2 of 14
Inside the Government Center (this page and next), we oversaw a mock hearing with our Chinese law students from ECUPL (above & below left), as part of their regular course in Legislative Procedure. On another occasion (above right & below), we hosted a joint class with our Chinese and American students from ECUPL, ECNU, and SJTU, followed by a banquet-style luncheon (four tables below). China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 3 of 14
The Government Center campus has a range of facilities suitable for education. Above, we hosted Q&A with some of our American students in a conference room in the main building, and below, we taught joint classes for our ECUPL and SJTU students in one of the seminar rooms in Building 4. Our main theme was the rule of law i.e., government according to law with each office and official performing their duties according to published rules. Below, we discussed a basic framework. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 4 of 14
On this page and next are scenes from our weekend classes at ECUPL, where Sun earned his LL.B. and LL.M. and taught law full-time for many years before entering full-time public service in 1998. After his full-time academic career ended, Sun taught at ECUPL on weekends. During Matthew s seven years in Shanghai (2007 2014), he joined Sun regularly. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 5 of 14
During his past academic career, Sun studied law at Georgetown University from 1989-1991 and taught for short periods at the University of Sydney, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Washington University in St. Louis, and Yale University before earning his LL.D. from Wuhan University. At ECUPL, we taught Legislative Procedure and Constitutional Law from a Western perspective. Our weekend courses tended to be informal. Sun gave examples from his experience with legal reform in district government. See A Leader Who Listens, within Changing the Game in China, Time Magazine (June 27, 2005) (http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/timearticle.pdf). Matthew added anecdotes from his career in government service and corporate and law firm practice. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 6 of 14
Above left, we were joined by Professor Chris Marquis of Harvard Business School, during one of his frequent visits to China. Above right, Sun keynoted a health care forum sponsored by Harvard Medical School at the Harvard Shanghai Center, a state-of-the-art educational facility. Sun mentioned his plans for international medical and educational centers in Minhang District. Above and below, we also periodically held classes at Matthew s workplace (SMIC) and his home. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 7 of 14
At the end of each spring semester, we hosted an American-style BBQ at Matthew s home. It was a real cultural experience for our Chinese students, who were always puzzled by the American passion for cooking outdoors and consuming large quantities of meat and ice-cold drinks. For the first few years, the Spring BBQ was just for our Chinese graduate law students. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 8 of 14
Later we added Matthew s US exchange students: undergrads from Davidson, George Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Penn, Penn State, Texas, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, etc. While on semester abroad at ECNU, these students took International Business Law with Matthew, who was an adjunct professor for the Council on International Educational Exchange from 2009-2011. Our American and Chinese students always mixed easily, whether in conversation or backyard sports. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 9 of 14
Above left, we opened a dialogue with and between our American and Chinese students. Afterward, the students formed smaller groups for break-out sessions or just casual conversation. Above, Matthew and his son (and co-host) Jack took on the Chinese students in badminton, and lost miserably, as Sun and some of our students watched. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 10 of 14
Teaching with Sun at ECUPL provided Matthew with additional opportunities. For two of Fudan University s summer sessions, Matthew lectured at Fudan (above) and at his workplace (below). Matthew also taught periodically at the Minhang and Xujiahui campuses of SJTU, which certified him as a part-time professor of law in 2010. Below are pics from classes at SJTU s Minhang campus. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 11 of 14
Another opportunity came with Peking University s School of Transnational Law (STL), the only USstyle law school in China. Situated on Peking U s southern campus near Hong Kong, STL was founded in 2008 by Jeff Lehman (above with Matthew), the former president of Cornell Univ. and law dean at Univ. of Michigan, aided by a dedication keynote from US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. For its American-law-focused Juris Doctor program, which is taught in English, STL has a highly regarded faculty. See http://stl.pku.edu.cn/en. It also welcomes volunteers like Matthew and David Schroeder (above and below), a lawyer and US Foreign Service Officer who co-taught with Matthew in 2011 and 2013 and helped him choose the STL students for those two summer programs in DC. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 12 of 14
To provide additional practical training, STL has a deep bench of visiting professionals, including many US judges. STL also partners with Matthew and US-Asia Institute to add top STL students to the DC program. See http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program for program summary, host list, photo gallery, and support letters from US officials (e.g., Sen. Richard Durbin, Sen. Thad Cochran, Sen. Daniel Inouye, Sen. Mike Enzi, Rep. John Boehner, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. Jim Moran, Secretary Ray LaHood, Ambassador Gary Locke, Ambassador Clark Randt). Each summer program includes 5 or 6 students. For one busy month, they meet US officials, observe congressional and judicial proceedings, visit historic landmarks, and attend social events. The 2012 program was typical, with 3 students from STL, 2 from ECUPL, and 1 from SJTU. See below. Above are the 8 finalists from ECUPL who competed for 2 slots in the 2012 program. Helping Sun and Matthew with selection was visiting Harvard Business School Professor Chris Marquis (below left). Our decision was unanimous: Tony Shen (above right and below middle) and Julia Yuan (below right) would represent ECUPL in the 2012 DC program (which ran from June 25 to July 20, 2012). China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 13 of 14
Prof. Marquis led some of the many MBA groups that Matthew hosted at SMIC, whose sprawling Shanghai campus resembles an American Sun Belt suburb, per The Wall Street Journal. The above Harvard MBA group was divided in half for a factory tour and then reunited for lunch at one of SMIC s 14 restaurants. Below right, a Harvard research team had lunch at Matthew s home to sample campus life. For more info, see SMIC s CSR Reports at http://www.smics.com/eng/about/csr.php. Below, Matthew and Sun stroll the ECUPL campus. In January 2014, Matthew repatriated to the US, where he continues to manage the DC program as a senior advisor to the US-Asia Institute. China Context for http://usasiainstitute.org/programs/j-matthew-szymanski-rule-of-law-program Page 14 of 14