On May 30, the 16th Wuhan University International Law Forum 2018 was successfully held in Room 323 of Law School. The speaker was Prof. ZOU Keyuan who was the Harris lifetime professor in University of Central Lancashire and the dean of the International Law and Comparative Law while the host is Prof. Yang Zewei.

Prof. ZOU specialises in international law and Chinese law. His main academic part-time jobs are: members of the jury of the UK Economic and Social Research Council; members of the IUCN Environmental Law Committee; academic advisor to the China South Sea Research Institute; academic advisor to the Center for Marine Law and Policy Research, Shanghai Jiaotong University; He is also the editing committee member of International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, Ocean Development and International Law.

According to the international treaties and conventions ZOU analyzed the existing situation of the South Sea Order and pointed out the disadvantaged and the weakness of it. He thinks that United Nations convention on the law of the sea is a general convention which has so much ambiguity, so much space for interpretation and is the result of compromise. But among the global and regional treaties the majority is about the specific functional cooperation while there are few regulations for principal like peace and stability.

Then he talked about the adverse impacts the South China Sea Case had on South China Sea Order. First it denied China’s historic rights; Second the redefinition of island and reef is unfavorable to China. For instance if they are recognized as low-tide elevations, then this will cause the armed conflicts and tension relationship between China and the Philippines. The award of the case ensure the US to have the maximum freedom of navigation which also pose a threat to the South Sea Order.

In the end, Prof. Zou came up with 3 key questions : 1. Whether a code of conduct in South China Sea be regarded as a legal document with legal binding force, and should the code contain not only the risk controlling mechanism but also the disputes resolution mechanism; 2. How to react with the freedom of navigation of the US; 3. How does China take the advantage of the international custom law.

In the Q & A part, he answered the questions about the relationship between historic rights and exclusive economic zone, different meanings of the word “order” in the field of international law and relationship, the impact of the book criticizing the South China Sea Case by many Chinese scholars.