On the night of March 29th, Huang Huikang, former Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia, member of the United Nations International Law Commission and Director of the International Law Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, visited the CIBOS and held a seminar: “An ambassador’s view on China’s neighborhood diplomacy”.

“Five years away from my beloved Luojia (Wuhan University), and now I finally return.” Ambassador Huang Huikang talked about his days as a student and then a professor at Luojia with our faculties and students. Ambassador Huang expressed his sincere appreciation to the CIBOS and Institute of International Law at Law School for their enormous contribution made in the legal battle of the “South China Sea Arbitration”. He praised the academic community for actively supporting the legal struggle against the “South China Sea Arbitration” by writing a great number of articles. As a result, China’s position was expressed clearly and accurately in legal language, and the legitimacy of this arbitration was fundamentally negated, thus providing a strong legal support for China’s diplomatic struggles.

（ Huang Huikang）

Ambassador Huang Huikang emphasized the importance of the neighboring countries in China’s diplomacy: the periphery is not only the foundation of China’s survival and prosperity, but is also important as foreign trade markets, investment destinations, and major sources of energy resources. Now our country is enjoying the best surrounding circumstances since the modern times as it is generally stable. Good-neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation have become the mainstream of China’s relationship with neighboring countries. But at the same time, we should also understand that risks and challenges still exist. In the future, neighborhood diplomacy shall focus on deepening the pattern of mutual benefit and win-win situation, actively participating in regional economic cooperation, accelerating the interconnection of infrastructure facilities, building the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”, and promoting the regional economic integration to a new level. At the end of the seminar, Ambassador Huang Huikang encouraged young students to choose diplomats as their future career, so they can make contribution to the great rejuvenation of China.

(Rewritten by Yang Jingjie)

(Edited by Fu Shanshan)