Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs: Contributing to the Grotian Moment in Asia

Abstract

The contribution examines critical developments of the Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs and its contribution to the ‘Grotian moment’ in Asia. The Yearbook is the first publication specialized in international law in Greater China, a Chinese-speaking region that includes Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. The founding of the Yearbook in 1981 was a response to the unique status of the Republic of China (ROC) rendered after its loss of representation in the United Nations under General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. Over the past 40 years, the Yearbook has become an intellectual depository of research on the Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands, the Taiping Island (known as Itu Aba in the West), and related territorial and delimitation disputes in the East and South China Seas. It also provides a scholarly forum for discussions on the ROC’s state practice, concepts of recognition in divided states, cross-Taiwan Straits relations and the status of Hong Kong. To foster dialogues on transnational legal issues related to the Asia–Pacific region, the Yearbook has published papers selected for presentation at research forums jointly organized by the International Law Association and the American Society of International Law. The Yearbook will further digitalize its contents and enhance collaboration with academic societies around the globe in order to galvanize the understanding of international law from Asian perspectives.