Abstract
The People’s Republic of China (“P.R.C.”) is in selective default for refusing to pay back private investors from the Hukuang Railway Bond default of 1911. The P.R.C. is the successor government to the Republic of China (“R.O.C.”) and Qing Dynasty. This Comment argues that though it is the successor government, the P.R.C. retains the legal rights and obligations of the former government and is the legal inheritor of these debts. This Comment takes this syllogism one step further and argues that the successor government doctrine is customary international law—applying the lessons from the Russian bond default of 1918. Finally, this comment argues that because the successor government doctrine is customary international law, the P.R.C. is in violation of the 1980 U.S.-Sino investment treaty. This Comment recommends that the U.S. government purchase the debt from private investors and force the P.R.C. to arbitration