On 11 December 2018, NISCSS President Wu Shicun attended the roundtable discussion on the South China Sea at renowned European think tank “Friends of Europe” in Brussels, Belgium. He gave a keynote speech on Sino-US relations as well as the South China Sea issue, and engaged in in-depth discussions with European scholars on topics including bilateral relationship between China and the United States, China and the European Union (EU), and EU’s South China Sea policy.

In his speech, Dr. Wu briefed the audience on the current South China Sea situation and potential factors influencing its future prospects, such as the US Freedom of Navigation Operations, the progress of South China Sea Code of Conduct consultation and negotiation, China’s development of the Nansha islands as well as unilateral activities of other disputant countries. He also responded to European scholars’ concerns, such as the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as well as China’s “militarization” of South China Sea islands.  He pointed out that the regional freedom of commercial navigation has never been interfered, while how China deploy civilian and military facilities on Nansha islands depend on its assessment of threat posed to territorial sovereignty and national security.

During his visit to Brussels, Dr. Wu also visited Mr. Cao Zhongming, the Chinese Ambassador to Belgium, and had talks with Mr. Fu Jing, China Daily Staff Reporter in Belgium, Mr. He Liqin, General Manager of Bank of China Brussel Branch, and Professor Men Jing from College of Europe.