The Joel Toivola Foundation is an independent Finnish foundation supporting Finnish academic studies on China.
The Foundation awards grants for talented young scholars in the fields of humanities and social science research on China, as well as for Finnish students’ Chinese linguistic studies in China.
The last deadline for applying for grants, including Research Fellowship and travel funds, closed on 15 February 2018 at 16:00.
Further information on the grants and detailed application instructions can be found on the Foundation’s website.
For further information on the Joel Toivola Foundation, please contact Foundation’s Executive Director, Mr. Mikko Eskola at saatio@helsinkinet.fi.
About Joel Toivola
According to the website of the Joel Toivola Foundation, Ambassador Joel Toivola (1915-1999) worked for the Finnish Foreign Service in several important posts for more than three decades. He is especially remembered as a great friend of China and throughout his career encouraged relations between Finland and the People’s Republic of China. Mr. Toivola served as the Ambassador of Finland to Beijing from 1961 to 1967.
The purpose of the Rector’s visit was to underscore the significance the University of Helsinki attaches to its friends and partners in China.
During his visit, Rector Kola further developed the important relationship between the University of Helsinki and Peking University, a key partner institution in China of the Finnish China Law Center.
Rector of the University of Helsinki Jukka Kola speaking with Professor Chen Yifeng of Peking University at the China Alumni Club event held at the residence of the Finnish Ambassador to China on 14 October 2017 (Photo credit: Helsingin yliopiston alumniyhdistys)
More about Professor Chen’s engagement and research in the University of Helsinki and the Finnish China Law Center can be found in the recently published Report on the First Four Years of the Center.
Sanna Villikka, acting Head of Administration of the Faculty of Medicine, was also part of the Rector Kola’s delegation.
Ms Villikka visited China in her former capacity as Senior Advisor in Research Funding Services at the University of Helsinki’s City Centre Campus. The purpose of her trip was to develop staff exchange between the University of Helsinki and Peking University, to further enhance the University of Helsinki’s relationship with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and to emphasize the high esteem with which the University of Helsinki views its relationship with the Faculty of Law of Peking University.
Another important visit to China was by then Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Kimmo Nuotio.
Professor Kimmo Nuotio of the University of Helsinki speaking at the CASS Rule of Law Forum, Beijing, November 2017 (Photo credit: Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Professor Nuotio joined the Annual Meeting of the Silk Road Law Schools Alliance hosted by Wuhan University.
Professor Kimmo Nuotio and Doctoral Candidate Zhang Kangle of the University of Helsinki with representatives from other institutions involved in the Silk Road Law Schools Alliance, at the Alliance’s annual meeting in November 2017 (Photo credit: Wuhan University)
Professor Nuotio was invited to give public lectures at universities across the country, including Peking University, the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Wuhan University, Shandong University, and Wuhan University of Technology.
Professor Nuotio also gave a presentation at the Chinese Academy of Social Science’s annual international Rule of Law conference in Beijing.
Professor Sakari Melander of the University of Helsinki speaking at the CASS Rule of Law Forum, Beijing, November 2017 (photo credit: Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).
In addition to her many academic and professional responsibilities, including serving as a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, Professor Petman also visits and lectures at the prestigious Peking University Law School on a regular basis.
Senior Lecturer (att. to the duties of Professor) of the University of Helsinki / University of Turku and Sanna Villikka (University of Helsinki) in Beijing, October 2017 (Photo credit: Sanna Villikka)
The CIMO project, the result of an application made by Kangle Zhang, was jointly managed by several staff of the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki prior to its conclusion at the end of 2017.
During its two years of operation, the project facilitated a range of successful activities that deepened collaboration between the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki and Peking University Law School.
The end of 2017 also saw a flurry of visits from China to Finland.
These inbound visits included two delegations in November alone.
These include a China Law Workshop (Helsinki, April – tbc), the 9th Bilateral Comparative Law Seminar (Beijng, August – tbc) with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the 6th China-Europe Legal Forum with the China Law Society (Helsinki, November – tbc).
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Speeches during the event, which was organized by Professor Jan Klabbers and Post-Doctoral Researcher Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça, evoked Liu Xiaobo’s experience, investigated its legacy and reflected on broader themes of China’s constitutional, rights, ethics and international relations thinking and practice.
The event’s keynote speech was given by Jean-Philippe Béja of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique & Centre de recherches internationales, who spoke on ‘Liu Xiaobo’s Legacy: Life in Truth, the Magic Weapon Against Post-Totalitarian Lie’.
Other speakers included Hermann Aubié (Aston University), who spoke on ‘Unlearning Enmity and Hatred: Listening to Liu Xiaobo’s Voice of Conscience by Revisiting his Struggle for Human Dignity and a Future Free China’ and Fu Hualing (University of Hong Kong), who spoke about public interest lawyering in China.
Professor Jan Klabbers speaking on ethical leadership in Helsinki, 12 January 2018
Professor Panu Minkkinen of the University of Helsinki spoke about the significance of human rights in the context of critical legal theory, after which Eva Pils (King’s College, London) discussed ‘China’s Dual State And Its ‘Enemies’ Under Xi Jinping’.
Professor Fu Hualing speaking during the ‘The Legacy of Liu Xiaobo’ conference in Helsinki, 12 January 2018
Professor Jan Klabbers of the University of Helsinki discussed ethical leadership, drawing upon his research on virtue ethics, and Post-Doctoral Researcher Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça’s (University of Helsinki) talk covered values and China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’.
Presentations were also given by Associate Professor Michael W. Dowdle (National University of Singapore), Professor Ralph Weber (University of Basel) and Professor Justin Tiwald (San Francisco State University), and the morning and afternoon sessions were chaired respectively by Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Maria Varaki and Associate Professor Pamela Slotte.
Dr Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça, an organizer of the event, speaking on values and China’s Belt and Road Initiative, University of Helsinki, 12 January 2018
The 2017 conference, held on 17–18 November in Beijing, was divided into five thematic areas.
Professor Viljanen spoke on the theme ‘The Rule of Law, Constitution and State Governance’.
In his lecture, Professor Viljanen discussed the Finnish experience on amending the constitution, noting that Finnish constitutional laws were extensively reformed in 1980-90’s.
This progress was illustrated by the drafting of the 2000 Constitution. The Constitution was planned to endure over time and as the Constitutional Law Committee has stated, there should not be constant demand to review the Constitution.
Professor Jukka Viljanen speaking at CASS Rule of Law Forum, Beijing, November 2017 (photo credit: Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).
Professor Viljanen outlined how the threshold to make changes to the constitution has increased. In order to make changes a wide societal consensus must be achieved. In Finnish political history, there has been a tradition of coalition governments and a requirement that approval by two parliaments, with general elections between them, is required. This ensures that all parties are involved in the drafting process of the Constitutional amendments.
‘The contemporary approach connects each review of the constitutional provisions to fundamental principles of the Constitution’, Professor Viljanen observed.
‘At the same time, it also highlights the need to follow our international human rights commitments’.
As Professor Viljanen explained, even in the case of surveillance laws, there are no ‘free hands’. Rather, national application of laws goes hand-in-hand with European supervision. The level of scrutiny is, of course, different in each specific circumstance.
A session during the CASS Rule of Law Conference, Beijing, 17–18 November 2018 (photo credit: Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).
In his talk, Professor Viljanen also explained the pending process of amending the constitution in relation to surveillance laws, a ‘hot topic’ in Finland at the moment. The review was founded on the requirements set out by the European Convention on Human Rights.
‘National security as a legitimate aim traditionally affords a wide margin of appreciation to national authorities’, Professor Viljanen said.
‘However, there are also limits to this margin’.
In order to make the working proposal to be in line with the European case law, the failures that took place, for instance, in the Russian case of Roman Zakharov, serve as a telling reminder for the Finnish legislator.
‘This means that in addition to the textual re-formulation of the Constitution, the practice of the Constitutional Law Committee should follow closely the standards set out by the Strasbourg Court’, Professor Viljanen said.
‘The idea of the constitutional amendment is not to provide unrestricted mandate’, Professor Viljanen argued during his talk.
‘Rather, it is to seek a solution to questions regarding surveillance that are in accordance with European standards. This doctrinal link sets out certain detailed requirements that should be taken into account while preparing ordinary legislation regarding the surveillance’.
‘The Strasbourg Court’, Professor Viljanen said in closing, ‘acknowledges efforts to follow the established case law by stating that there needs to be “strong reasons” to substitute views of domestic authorities with its own views’.
The international scope of the conference was reflected in the breadth of participants, with scholars in attendance from Peru, Russia, Italy, Poland, Brazil and other countries.
China’s new Food Safety Law was issued in 2009 and revised in 2015. For Post-Doctoral Researcher Harriet Lonka, the chance to be a visiting scholar at Peking University Law School and research this important legislative reform was an opportunity not to be missed.
Dr Harriet Lonka, from Finnish China Law Center member institution the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), was a visiting Post-Doctoral Researcher at Peking University from 1 October to 17 November 2017.
The highly respected Peking University is a key strategic partner of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, as detailed in the recently published Report on the First Four Years of the Center.
‘My research in China focused on the new Chinese Food Safety Law. This legislation is an important milestone in China’s legislative reforms and also a key issue concerning trade policy and China’s relations with its international trade partners, especially the WTO’.
During her time in Peking University Law School, Dr Lonka worked closely with Chinese legal scholar Professor Chen Yifeng.
Dr Lonka has a long background in the field of risk management studies, and during her PhD studies she studied the Finnish government’s Security Strategy work and how it effects the shaping of legislation.
‘Chinese Food Safety legislation is comparable in its target and format to the risk regulation tradition in Europe and in Finland’, Dr Lonka says.
‘In my current research, I focus on the aspects of the implementation of the law that have been identified as potential ‘Achilles heels’ of enforcement of the Food Safety Law in China’.
Dr Lonka believes that there are new and interesting challenges in applying measures of risk surveillance, risk management and risk communication at different levels of administration in China.
Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr Harriet Lonka (University of Eastern Finland), during her study visit to Peking University Law School, 2017
Given the angle of her research, she envisages many more opportunities for fruitful research cooperation with Chinese colleagues in the future.
Dr Lonka’s research was also supported by the fact that she had contacts to the local level administration and foodstuff producers in Hunan Province, which enabled useful data collection in the field.
The opportunity to conduct research not only in Beijing, but also in Hunan Province, was beneficial in many respects, Dr Lonka says.
‘My study visit provided me a lot of important background knowledge and new understanding of Chinese legislation, how it is created and implemented. This is of great interest to me as my own research field is legislative studies. Legislative studies concentrate on how laws are drafted and implemented and what defines their effect’.
One area of particular interest to Dr Lonka is the question of ‘decentralized development’ in China.
‘I would wish to better understand the structures and mechanisms for guidance and supervision from the central government level to provinces and further to the local level in China’.
‘The study of Chinese Food Safety Law provides an excellent case study to scrutinize these phenomena. I think this research focus can help us in general better understand the ‘many faces of China’ and how that effects the legislative processes and implementation of the administrative laws in the country’.
A six-person delegation from Beihang University, headed by Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Law School, visited Helsinki last month to sign an MOU with the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki and to discuss future collaboration.
(Left to right): Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki; Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center; and Dr Zhang Yihong, Post-doctoral Researcher in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki during talks with Beihang University Law School.
‘The establishment of a Nordic Law Center in Beihang University Law School is an excellent idea. It provides an opportunity to build on our common interests, and we look forward to a fruitful collaboration’ , Professor Nuotio says.
While in Finland, the delegation also met with the University of Turku, another member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, and Pekka Hallberg, Emeritus President of the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland and the founder of Rule of Law Finland (ROLFI). Justice Hallberg has been long involved in China and Chinese law, and earlier this year the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki hosted the launch of Justice Hallberg’s book, ‘Rule of Law and Sustainable Development’.
Based in the Faculty of Law of the University of Eastern Finland, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, Professor Hakalehto gave a presentation titled ‘From Social Problem to Rights Holders: Development of Children’s Rights in legislation and in legal research in Finland’.
According to Professor Hakalehto, the conference proved an excellent opportunity to discuss in-depth a range of issues of critical, and growing, importance to both China and the Nordic countries.
‘China is grappling with many of the same challenges as Finland the Nordic countries, including how to fully respect the rights and interests of children’, Professor Hakalehto says. ‘The chance to meet and share knowledge with Chinese colleagues working on these issues proved beneficial to both sides, and provided an enlightening comparative framework through which to develop the law and policies of our respective countries’.
This year’s conference was a part of the Finland 100 festivities and was organized by the Finnish member universities of the Nordic Centre Fudan University.
Fudan University, a key partner in China of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture.
International and comparative child protection research is in great demand in China, as the country continues to develop its child welfare policies and child protection practices.
The Center’s main goal is to promote interdisciplinary research and education in the fields of child welfare and child protection, says Associate Professor Suvianna Hakalehto.
A child law and education law scholar, Professor Hakalehto is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Center and one of her forthcoming projects with the Center concerns the position of migrant children in China.
‘Contemporary Chinese welfare ideology and policies aim at negotiating and merging the traditional family concept and beliefs expressing a hundred years’ development and the modern civilization of late’, Professor Hakalehto says.
‘In research concerning the rights of children, and the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is important to pay attention to cultural aspects’.
‘For me, learning about the Chinese legal system and the country’s child protection paradigm has been personally enriching and professionally rewarding’, says Professor Hakalehto. ‘I hope to contribute to the Chinese discussion about the legal position of children’.
During her visit in October 2017 to the Center, Professor Hakalehto met Professor Lu Zhian, a Professor of Law at the Fudan University School of Law.
One of China’s leading scholars in the field, Professor Zhian invited Professor Hakalehto to Fudan University in 2018 to lecture on human rights in the school environment.
(Left to right) Professor Juha Hämäläinen, Professor Suvianna Hakalehto and Professor Lu Zhian
‘This is a great opportunity, and I look forward to another exciting visit to China and to learning more about the Chinese legal system and Chinese cultural generally’, Professor Hakalehto says.
Logo of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights, University of Helsinki
Finnish China Law Center member institution, the University of Helsinki, will hold a day-long conference ‘The Legacy of Liu Xiaobo’ on 12 January 2018.
The life and choices of Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and recently deceased, stand as an example of political and ethical activism in a world yearning for such examples.
This event evokes Liu Xiaobo’s experience, investigates its legacy and reflects on broader themes of China’s constitutional, rights, ethics and international relations thinking and practice.
9:30 – 10:10 Key note speech:Jean-Philippe Béja (Centre national de la recherche scientifique & Centre de recherches internationales): “Liu Xiaobo’s Legacy: Life in Truth, the Magic Weapon Against Post-Totalitarian Lie”
10:10 – 10:30 Hermann Aubié (Aston University): “Unlearning Enmity and Hatred: Listening to Liu Xiaobo’s Voice of Conscience by Revisiting his Struggle for Human Dignity and a Future Free China”
Coffee Break until 11
1. Rights, Constitutionalism, Democracy (Chair: Maria Varaki)
11:00 – 11:20 Fu Hualing (University of Hong Kong): “Public Interest Lawyering in China: Escalation and Backlash?”
11:20 – 11:40 Panu Minkkinen (University of Helsinki): “Why Are Human Rights Important (Even For A Crit)?”
11:40 – 12:00 Eva Pils (King’s College, London): “China’s Dual State And Its ‘Enemies’ Under Xi Jinping”
12:00 – 12:20 Michael W. Dowdle (National University of Singapore): “China and Dual Constitutionalism”
Discussion until 13
Lunch 13:00 – 14:30
2. Ethical Leadership and Chinese Ethics (Chair: Pamela Slotte)
14:30 – 14:50 Jan Klabbers (University of Helsinki): “On Ethical Leadership”
14:50 – 15:10 Justin Tiwald (San Francisco State University): “Character-centered Theories of Governance in Confucian Political Thought”
15:10 – 15:30 Ralph Weber (University of Basel): tbd
15:30 – 15:50 Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça (University of Helsinki): “Values and the Belt & Road Initiative”
Discussion until 16:30
Conference Dinner
Further information
Please contact Project Coordinator Hector Nystedt at hector.nystedt (at) helsinki.fi.
The signing paves the way for cooperation on legal research and education between the two institutions, and opens the door to collaboration between Beihang University and the other nine members of the Finnish China Law Center.
A six-person delegation from Beihang University, headed by Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Law School, visited Helsinki to sign the MOU and discuss future collaboration.
Given the Center’s role in supporting China law-related initiatives across the Nordic countries, the establishment of relations with Beihang University Law School and creation of the Nordic Law Center opens up new avenues across the region for China law and comparative law activities.
Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, and Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Beihang University Law School, signing an MOU at the University of Helsinki on 29 November 2017.
Beihang University Law School houses a number of specialty units concerning areas of potential Sino-Nordic collaboration, including:
Internet Information Security & Rule of Law Research Center
Law and Technology Development Center
IP Law and Law of Science and Technology Institute
Space Law Institute
Aviation Law Institute
Spectrum Law and Standard Research Center
Insurance Law Institute
Scientific Evidence Law & Experiments Research Center
Another institution of the Law School is the Research Base of Beijing Technology Innovation Center (Beijing Social Science Base).
On Wednesday 29 November 2017, the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture hosted a guest lecture by Professor LONG Weiqiu of Beihang University, China.
Professor Long, a Fulbright Scholar and Dean of the Law School of Beihang University, gave a lecture on ‘Codification of Civil Law in China: Recent Developments and Future Prospects’.
Dean Long’s lecture introduced the motivations, conditions and bases of the current codification of civil law in China, and discussed the controversies regarding the framework and other crucial matters.
Dean Long also commented on the relationship between the new civil code and the existing civil law system in China, and shared his thoughts on the prospects for future codification.
Professor Matti Mikkola commenting on Dean Long’s guest lecture in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki on 29 November 2017.
University of Helsinki
Finnish China Law Center member institution, the 
