Event

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China's Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order

Isaac Kardon, Senior Fellow for China Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

12:30pm - 1:45pm | CSCC Conference Room, Room 418, 133 S. 36th St.
Kardon

In his new book China’s Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order, Isaac Kardon examines China’s laws and policies to defend, exploit, study, administer, surveil, and patrol disputed waters. China’s Law of the Sea is the first comprehensive study of the law and geopolitics of China’s maritime disputes. It provides a rigorous empirical account of whether and how China is changing “the rules” of international order—specifically, the international law of the sea.

Conflicts over specific rules lie at the heart of the disputes, which are about much more than sovereignty over islands and rocks in the South and East China Seas. Instead, the main contests concern the strategic maritime space associated with those islands. To consolidate control over this vital maritime space, China’s leaders have begun to implement “China’s law of the sea”: building domestic legal institutions, bureaucratic organizations, and a naval and maritime law enforcement apparatus to establish China’s preferred maritime rules on the water and in the diplomatic arena.

China’s Law of the Sea is the first comprehensive study of the law and geopolitics of China’s maritime disputes. It provides a rigorous empirical account of whether and how China is changing “the rules” of international order—specifically, the international law of the sea.

Isaac B. Kardon is senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was formerly assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute. He is also a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an associate in research at Harvard’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

This event is held onsite with a Zoom session. Please register in advance here:

https://upenn.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvf--rrjMjHNL7gXPsurnZ-jF2aIzuP5zT

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Open to all, informal lunch provided.