In the afternoon of June 16, the 2nd "Frontier Forum on International Rules in Cyberspace", jointly organized by Wuhan University Law School, Wuhan University Institute of International Law, Wuhan University Institute of Network Governance and the International Law Committee on Cyberspace of Chinese Society of International Law, was held at Wuhan University Law School. Experts and scholars from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other practical departments, as well as relevant universities and research institutions, and a number of PhD and Master students from Wuhan University Institute of International Law attended the forum.
At the beginning of the forum, Prof. Huang Zhixiong, Vice Dean of Wuhan University Law School, Executive Director of Wuhan University Institute of Network Governance, delivered a warm welcome speech. He believed that, against the complex background, it was timely to hold this forum. He pointed out that the purpose of the Forum was to break down the barriers between academics and practitioners, between international law and other disciplines, and between teachers and students, so as to bring together the strengths of all parties.
The first module of the forum was chaired by Professor He Zhipeng, Dean of the Law School of Jilin University.
Ambassador Huang Huikang, member of the UN International Law Commission, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on International Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Distinguished Professor at the Wuhan University Institute of International Law, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Building China's Global Network Governance Discourse System under the Guidance of Xi Jinping's Thought on the Rule of Law". Ambassador Huang pointed out that different value standards can lead to differences in perceptions of the same thing, and thus differences in the positions of countries are rooted in conflicting values. The essence of the discourse on international rules in cyberspace is the strength of the state in this particular area.
Lang Ping, Director of the National Security Research Office, Institute of World Economics and Politics Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, spoke on the topic of "New features of the international rules game in cyberspace". Citing her own experience of participating in international conferences, she said that the issue of cyber security is gaining wider and wider attention from the international community. She argued that the current rules in cyberspace has shown three new features: firstly, the driving force of the development of the cyberspace governance process has shifted from being driven by technology to being driven by competition among major powers; secondly, the focus of the discussion on international rules in cyberspace has shifted from cyberspace governance to the field of digital technology; and thirdly, the game of major powers in international rules in cyberspace has become more complex. In addition, Director Lang Ping discussed the importance of strengthening communication and coordination with the EU on cyber issues.
Li Yan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Cyber Security of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, spoke on the topic of "The latest game situation and inspiration of international rule-making in cyberspace". She took the position paper released by the German government in March this year as an example, pointing out that the paper has the following common features compared with the UN GGE report and the Tallinn Manual Version 2.0: firstly, it believes that there is no specificity in the application of international law in cyberspace; secondly, it tends to classify state responses to malicious cyber actions; thirdly, the scale of application of international law is generally loose; fourthly, the understanding of the precautionary principle needs to be based on case-by-case analysis.
Yue Ping, Director of the Office of Cyber Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke on the topic of "The Global Data Security Initiative and the Outlook for International Rules on Data Security". Afterwards, Director Yue further outlined China's overall position on cyber diplomacy and important events, and introduced to the experts the main history of our delegation's participation in the UN GGE and OEWG negotiations, suggesting that mutual support between academia and the practical sector should continue to be strengthened.
The second module of the forum was moderated by Li Yan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Cyber Security of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Ye Wei, Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Division of the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke on the topic of "Some Perspectives on the Negotiation of the UN Convention on Cybercrime". He reviewed the main work of the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Cybercrime and pointed out that as the call for a global convention on cybercrime grows louder and louder, the US and Western countries are trying to elevate the status of the Group in order to delay the process, while emerging countries such as China and Russia believe that the Group's historical mission has come to an end. He said that we would work hard to promote a positive outcome to the negotiation of the convention and also hoped to continue to receive strong support from the academic community
Professor Huang Zhixiong spoke on 'The Tallinn Manual, the Oxford Process and the French White Paper: Scholarly Initiatives and Reflections in the Game of International Rules in Cyberspace'. He compared and analyzed the development and main achievements of three international rules discussion platforms, such as the Tallinn Manual, the Oxford Process and the French White Paper, which are mainly promoted by international law scholars, and pointed out that Chinese scholars should learn from the useful experience of Western scholars in integrating academic resources and leading discussions on the topic.
Zhou Xuefeng, Professor of the Law School of Beihang University and Executive Deputy Director of the Research Base for International Governance in Cyberspace, spoke on the topic of "The Game of International Rules in Cyberspace through Mass Network Surveillance". He pointed out that in recent years, the US government has advocated that the issue of cyber espionage be viewed in two ways, i.e. cyber political and military espionage is not prohibited by international law, while cyber commercial espionage violates international law. However, the nature of the former remains controversial in the view of the US academic community or the EU, and the international community has not yet reached a broad consensus on it. China should consider increasing the transparency of its policies and make efforts to improve its current passive status in the battle for international opinion in the cyber domain.
Xu Peixi, Professor of Communication University of China, spoke on the topic of "Evolutionary clues of the core rules of non-interference in the Internet public". He pointed out that the core rule of non-interference in the Internet public was proposed by The Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace, but its specific connotation has not been clearly defined. He believes that China should participate more actively in the discussions on the relevant platforms to avoid the power of issue setting and rule making falling further into the hands of Western countries.
Sun Yunyun, a PhD student at Wuhan University Institute of International Law, spoke on the topic of "Application of the Principle of Sovereignty in Cyberspace: Key Differences and Main Positions". She pointed out that the international community is widely divided on the obligatory attributes of the principle of sovereignty in cyberspace, it can be seen that China's basic position can be attributed to the affirmative camp, but the theory of cyber sovereignty, which is widely accepted by most countries, is still missing. She believes that we should strive to build a view of cyber sovereignty that has both Chinese characteristics and a global pattern.
The third module of the forum was chaired by Professor Xu Peixi.
Zhang Hua, Associate Professor of Nanjing University Law School, spoke on the topic of "International Law Issues in EU Cyber Sanctions". He pointed out that the EU has established a sanction mechanism against malicious cyber actions under the framework of cyber diplomacy. At this stage, China can exercise a moderate degree of restraint and vigilance towards the EU's cyber sanctions regime, as long as the EU's cyber sanctions have not been extended.
Chen Hui, a PhD student at Wuhan University Institute of International Law, spoke on "Divergence and Cooperation: Recent Developments in Supply Chain Security Rules in Cyberspace". Starting from the recent ransomware cyber attacks such as SolarWinds, he pointed out that countries have gradually realized the need for rules to strengthen the security protection of software supply chain, and the UN GGE and OEWG reports have also focused on the relevant norms. However, there are still obvious differences in the understanding of responsible state behavior norms, the perception of supply chain security threats, the emphasis on supply chain security flanks (stability/resilience), the elements of judging supply chain security risks and the route to solve supply chain security issues between the U.S. and Western countries and emerging countries such as China and Russia, there is still a long way to reach a concrete consensus.
In the free discussion session, participating experts and scholars also had in-depth exchanges on the principle of sovereignty in cyberspace and the impact of the consensus reached by the Chinese and U.S. heads of state in 2015 on the relevant positions of China and the U.S. in the cyber domain.
Finally, Professor Huang Zhixiong summarized the forum. It can be summarized by five "degrees": Firstly, it was "high", especially Ambassador Huang Huikang explained the leading role of Xi Jinping's diplomatic thought and rule of law thought on international governance in cyberspace with his rich experience in diplomatic practice, which made everyone deeply inspired. Secondly, there is "depth", the participating experts discussed important topics such as Internet public core, network monitoring and network sanctions, which have high academic value; thirdly, there is "heat", which is concentrated on the UN negotiations on a global convention against cybercrime. The fourth is "brightness", which provides valuable opportunities for young scholars to show their work; the fifth is "intensity", which is demonstrated by the ability of the participating scholars to conduct academic discussions with enthusiasm. Prof. Huang Zhixiong once again expressed his thanks to the experts and scholars who contributed to this sumptuous "academic meal", and the forum came to a successful end with warm applause.
Edited by Wang Yuting & Wu Liuqing
