On December 17, 2016, “China's participation in the formulation of international cyberspace rules research” the National Social Science Fund of China major project opening meeting cum&network sovereignty seminar was held in Wuhan university school of law. There were more than 20 experts and scholars gathering together who have been respectively from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Central Cyber Affairs Commission, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Affairs, China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, Institute of Law&Institute of International Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing Normal University, Sichuan University, Wuhan University and other university and practice departments, having an in-depth discussion around China’s participation in formulation of international cyberspace rules, network sovereignty and other important issues.
Speaking on behalf of School of Law, professor He Ronggong, Vice President of School of Law, Wuhan University, expressed thankfulness to the experts and scholars at the meeting for their support to the School of Law and professor Huang Zhixiong. Vice President professor He Ronggong introduced the basic conditions of Wuhan University School of Law and the Institute of International Law to all guests and hoped the research team that they could achieve iconic accomplishment when completing various reseach tasks in the following researches under the lead of the chief expert professor Huang Zhixiong.
Xu Anjun, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Network Affairs Office and Long Zhou, the Second Secretary on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director-Generals of the Department of Arms Control and Ministry of Foreign Affairs network affairs coordinator made a speech. Mr.Xu Anjun expressed that the topic selection of 'China's participation in the formulation of international cyberspace rules research' is theoretically exceptional and practical as well. It is the important support for network multilateral diplomacy. He thinks, the network diplomacy of big countries is the diplomacy of thought. The penetrating intellectual products are of great significance to the diplomacy of big countries. It is expected that this topic can serve China's interests and the common interests of all countries around the world and provide Chinese wisdom to relevant international fields.
Reseacher Yang Jian, Vice President of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, made a speech on behalf of project partners. Vice President Yang Jian said that the members of the research team are both scholars in the academic institutions and experts in the substantive departments. They are a " knowledge in accord with conduct community". He hoped that this topic can help decision-making through system design and analysis, using members' ideas, visions and technical means. It can set the future path of the field for the future of the nation and mankind. Vice President Yang Jian said that he would fully cooperate and support the progress of the project, work together, and live up to the mission.
Professor Huang Zhixiong, the chief expert of the project, reported the basic situation of the project from the research background and research purposes, the main research contents, the organization and assumptions of the research work. Professor Huang Zhixiong believed that this research has had both basic theoretical research and applied countermeasure research. The topic is aimed to deepen the theoretical research on China's participation in the formulation of international cyberspace rules and promote the growth of the new field of " international cyberspace law" Mature; at the same time, it tracks the major problems in the formulation of international rules for cyberspace and proposes China's countermeasures to solve the problems and challenges of China's participation in the formulation of international rules for cyberspace. He also reported on the project schedule, research tasks, publication of results, and use of funds in conjunction with the relevant requirements of major projects of the National Social Science Fund of China.
The second module of the conference was hosted by Guo Feng, an Internet researcher at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and Vice Chairman of the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee.
Researcher Yang Jian, Vice President of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said in his speech that jumping out of the network issue and first analyzing China's attitudes toward security and rules since the reform and opening up may be an effective perspective for the research of this topic. Vice President Yang Jian believed that in the process of globalization, cybersecurity pursued a kind of "he has me" security. In the past, China maintained its learining and critical attitude towards order and rules. By now, China has had the ability to participate in the formulation of international rules, and it should also have such strategic thinking. In a new field like network rules, China should take one step ahead.
Xu Feng, Deputy Director of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, congratulated Wuhan University Law School and Professor Huang Zhixiong, and believed that the theme, objectives and research ideas and methods of the project are in line with the spirit of the central government's active participation in the formulation of international rules and needed by diplomatic practice, which were not only conducive to enriching academic thinking, theoretical construction and teaching and research on international cyberspace law, but also can provide solutions for international space governance and enhance national soft power. Deputy Director Xu Feng pointed out that it is necessary to pay special attention to the particularity of international law on cyberspace and the reality of China's participation in the development of international law on cyberspace.
In the speech, the Deputy Researcher of the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Global Law Review, Zhi Zhenfeng, affirmed the question orientation of the subject and the rationality of the team organization. He expected the research team to solve similarities and differences of the international rules and traditions of cyberspace so that they can lay the foundation for the project. Deputy Researcher Zhi Zhenfeng said that how the international rules of cyberspace hinder the militarization of cyberspace and how to coordinate network military conflicts are also important aspects of the subject. He welcomes team experts to work with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to support national decision-making in a variety of ways.
Guo Feng, Internet Researcher of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and Vice Chairman of ICANN's governmental advisory committee, introduced the origin of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and the basic situation of ICANN. Researcher Guo Feng said that China needs to learn, adapt and improve the existing international rules system from the network power to the network superpower. It is expected that the subject will provide theoretical support for the substantive departments and stakeholders to participate in the formulation of international rules. Considering that a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation are developing rapidly, the era of intelligence has arrived. He suggested that the research of the subject can have a certain dynamic perspective and prospectiveness.
In the process of free discussion, Deputy Researcher Zhi Zhenfeng expected the expert group to transcend personal likes and dislikes and personal interests in the research process, and analyzed the legal basis of cyberspace sovereignty from the perspectives of space philosophy and sovereignty. For the rationality of ICANN's organization, Deputy Researcher Zhi Zhenfeng and Researcher Guo Feng started exchanges and discussions. Hong Yanqing, the Deputy Researcher at Sichuan University Cyberspace Security Institute, said that the difference in the interests of state and private companies is the main reason for the lack of impetus for ICANN's international organization.
The third module of the meeting was presided by Mr. Xu Anjun, Network Affairs Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Professor Xie Yongjiang, Vice President of the School of Humanities at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, suggested that the topic could add a perspective, that is, analyze the differences between the parties in the process of formulating international cyberspace rules. Professor Xie Yongjiang agreed with the view of Deputy Researcher Zhi Zhenfeng that cyberspace is a real space and requires the management of the national government. In response to the discussion in the free discussion of the previous unit, Professor Xie Yongjiang used "international socialization" to define ICANN's transformation in personnel composition and structure.
Researcher Tang Wei, deputy director of the Institute of Information and Social Development of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said that China is ready to participate in the formulation of international rules on cyberspace. Is China going to participate in the development of international rules for cyberspace or to set up a new series of new Rule system, this is the problem that needs to be analyzed first. Tang Wei believes that the primary goal of the research is to establish a theoretical framework. The topic should not only study the American model, but also include theories and practices of countries such as Europe, Russia, and Japan. Finally, the topic should play a guiding role in practice.
Professor Hong Yanqing Deputy Researcher of the Institute of Cyberspace Security of Sichuan University suggested that the topic should first determine the extension of international rules. The research of the subject should not only pay attention to traditional security fields such as cybercrime, rules of wartime, rules of state actors in peacetime, but also focus on the field of technological innovation in the network industry. In order to achieve domestic policy objectives and demands on an international scale, the attention paid to rules should be more comprehensive.
Professor Yang Zewei from the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University believes that the subject is of great significance, the research team has a strong lineup, and the vision is broad and high. These are the main features of this project. He suggested that the topic further strengthen the theoretical study of cyberspace, thus promoting the development of the discipline of international law. At the same time, we should attach importance to the positioning of China's international status and identity to enhance the forward-looking research. Finally, Professor Yang Zewei believes that the subject should promote the governance of cyberspace by domestic law, thus enabling domestic and international law to promote each other.
In the process of free discussion, Professor Nie Jianqiang proposed that the topic should not only focus on security issues, but also on network operations. Vice President Yang Jian believes that the relationship between internationally accepted industry rules and international law needs to be seriously considered. Professor Yu Minyou believes that after the emergence of new technologies, the original legal system should be adjusted in accordance to promote common interests.
On the afternoon of the 17th, the "Network Sovereignty Seminar" was divided into two modules. Professor Xu Jinghong, deputy director of the New Media Communication Research Center of Beijing Normal University, served as the host of the first unit.
Professor Huang Zhixiong, deputy director of the Institute of International Law at Wuhan University, first introduced the background of the issue of cyber sovereignty, the origin of the conference and his ideas. He believes that in the various issues of cyberspace rules and order construction, the issue of cyber sovereignty has special importance and complexity. I hope that the symposium will be discussed jointly by experts from different fields to provide the exploration of the issue of cyber sovereignty with a rich perspective.
Researcher Yang Jian, Vice President of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, gave a speech entitled "Extension, Mapping and Special Logic of National Sovereignty in Cyberspace." He believes that in the ever-changing environment of information technology development, the stagnation and delay of cyberspace sovereignty is not conducive to the construction of cyberspace order. The establishment of national cyber sovereignty faces many challenges. The ambiguity of space boundaries and the cross-border capabilities of information technology, the rapid development of online communities, the erosion of state power by information technology culture and hacker ethics are all important aspects to consider.
Professor Xie Yongjiang, Vice President of the School of Humanities at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, gave a speech entitled "The Opinions on the Connotation of Network Sovereignty". He interprets the characteristics of cyberspace and the basis of its existence from the three aspects of the virtuality of cyberspace, the reality of cyberspace and the sociality of cyberspace. He points out that the traditional global domains and cyberspace have obvious differences which can't be equal to each other. Cyberspace requires certain national controls. Without government dominance, cybersecurity issues are difficult to resolve. Professor Xie Yongjiang advocated the extension of traditional national sovereignty to cyberspace rather than establishing a new sovereignty.
Professor Hong Yanqing, Associate Reseacher from the Institute of Cyberspace Security of Sichuan University gave a speech entitled “Sovereign Regulation Space under the WTO: Taking Key Information Infrastructure as an Example”. He started with the specific scenarios of the application of sovereignty theory, and analyzed the connotation and characteristics of network sovereignty by analyzing the provisions of Article 37 of the Network Security Law. He pointed out that different countries have different criteria for judging risks. The state's control over data requires a certain amount of space from international organizations and regulations. To implement Article 37 of the Cyber Security Law, it is necessary to achieve a balance between the localization of network data and cross-border needs.
Xu Feng, Deputy Director of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gave a report entitled "Analysis of the Network Sovereignty of the Tallinn Manual Version 2.0". Deputy Director Xu Feng analyzed the contents of the Tallinn Handbook Version 2.0 on network sovereignty and put forward relevant evaluations and reflections. He believes that the Tallinn Manual 2.0 version of the cyber sovereignty is more systematic and specific, but the shortcoming is the mechanical copying of the current international law for the definition of cyber sovereignty and it fails to elaborate on special issues such as data sovereignty, jurisdiction, data cross-border flow. At the same time, the Tallinn Manual 2.0 lacks the support of state practice, and the external sovereignty part is relatively weak with double standards.
Professor Huang Zhixiong, Deputy Director of the Institute of International Law at Wuhan University, gave a speech entitled "Network Sovereignty: The Cornerstone of the Construction of Cyberspace Order." He analyzed the consensus and main differences that have been reached by major countries on the issue of cyber sovereignty. He believes that the legal connotation of cyber sovereignty also includes a country's sovereignty over its domestic tangible network infrastructure and sovereignty over intangible network information and data; We should vigorously strengthen the theoretical research on the relevant claims of China and other major countries. It is necessary to oppose various viewpoints of negating and weakening cyber sovereignty. It is also necessary to avoid some radical, one-sided, specious and groundless concepts and propositions.
During the free discussion, Researcher Tang Wei, Deputy Director of the Institute of Information and Social Development of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, believes that the current concept of network sovereignty is gradually clear, but the problem is more than the answer. The connotation and legal basis of cyber sovereignty is to some extent an extension of the doctrine of international law. The reproducibility and separation of network carriers leads to more complicated network security issues. China should understand the connotation of cyber sovereignty from the perspective of development. Guo Feng, Internet Research Fellow of China Institute of Information and Communication, Vice Chairman of ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee, Dr. Sacura, Secretariat of the Expert Committee of the Office of the Central Cyber Affairs Commission, Sun Nanxiang, Associate Researcher from Institute of International Law at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Dr,Fangfang, Associate Professor of Shanghai Institute for International Studies expressed their own views on the relationship between the formulation of international rules for cyberspace and China's Internet strategy.
Professor Yu Minyou, Executive Vice President of Wuhan University China Institute of Boundary and Ocean Studies, said in a summary of the meeting that sovereignty is a right and a responsibility. Sovereign countries should have equal qualifications to participate in the formulation of international rules. The inequality of the capabilities of sovereign countries to participate in it also needs the attention of the international community. In the context of the return of nationalism, sovereignty and international cooperation may be subject to certain restrictions. How to break through the traditional concept of sovereignty and how it will affect further research needs further studying.
So far, “China's participation in the formulation of international cyberspace rules research” Opening Meeting & Network Sovereignty Seminar have been successfully concluded.
(Ceng Weiwu, Wu Liuqing)
