July 1st marked the implementation of the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of the Aged added provision on “visiting aged parents regularly.” This law triggered wide debate and rethinking over the science used to justify legislation. There is a realistic and understandable reason to use the law to guide young people to respect filial piety. However, it is difficult for many to imagine that putting legal provisions to paper will play a significant role in adjusting the individuals’ behavior.

Currently the concept of “rule of law” is being vigorously promoted. Many people mistakenly believe that “rule of law” is the universal application of law to fix a wide variety of social behaviors. They place a one-sided emphasis on the “legal basis” for social conduct and seek a specific legal provision for every potentially controversial issue. However, history and reality teach us that a society under the “rule of law” should be based on sound scientific principles which are rigorously tested. “Good laws” should be complemented by formal administrative rules which are ideally guided by ethical rules.

Of course, the overall situation of China’s existing legal system is that “there are too few rather than too many laws.” There is a great deal of social misconducts in need of remedy through clearly written laws and regulations. These problems are mainly concentrated in the commercial field, but they can lead to serious social problems beyond commercial law. The cover story of this issue focuses on “merchandising rights,” which is one of the typical problems that needs to be addressed and protected through the creation of rules from the legal system.

China’s current law does not clearly define “merchandising rights,” which has resulted in a great deal of social chaos. It reflects that there are frequent conflicts between private rights and public interests in the development of a modernized market economy. It is unlikely that these conflicts can be solved through a single unified approach which will be embraced by all citizens entirely fair for everybody. No single solution will please everybody, but something must be done. If this situation is allowed to continue, even more significant social and economic problems will develop and may significantly impact China’s overall social progress. Merchandising rights are in urgent need of proper protection from relevant laws.

There are many approaches to establishing a protection mechanism for merchandising rights at the legislative level. There are several choices, such as defining the right to commercialize, clarifying what the law covers, or authorizing reasonable public access to this information. The final choice in legal provision will be another examination on the scientific bases for legislation.