In America, mediation is viewed as the art of negotiation and compromise facilitated by the mediator's skill in guiding dispute resolution. Mediators in the American Neighborhood Justice Centers are trained to avoid using law and legal concepts in mediation, since it implies coercive legal authority that inhibits the creative resolution of disputes in a manner satisfactory to both parties. In China, on the other hand, mediators are trained in the knowledge and application of the law. This is based in the belief that all disputes must be resolved in compliance with the law if society is to be built upon the proper values. Although Chinese mediators read the laws for disputants and apply them to various situations, they do not have the power to enforce the law; this is reserved exclusively for the police. Should disputants refuse mediators' persuasion, mediators must use administrative mechanisms or social pressure to gain disputants' compliance with the law. Chinese mediators are hampered by the lack of connection between mediation and the legal system, however, since disputants know mediators' authority to enforce settlements in accordance with legal principles is limited. 21 references