Upon the invitation of the St Antony’s College of University of Oxford, President Wu Shicun attended the international workshop “New Approaches to the South China Sea Conflicts” hosted by the University of Oxford from 19-20th October, 2017. At the symposium, President Wu delivered a speech on the current situation of the South China Sea and the way forward, in which he conducted in-depth analysis on regional and extra regional factors impacting the development of the South China Sea issue in spite of the current détente.

Co-sponsored by the St Antony’s College and University of Oxford China Centre, the workshop focused its discussion on topics including the development of South China Sea situation, management of and resolution approaches to the South China Sea disputes, and cooperation mechanism for South China Sea littoral countries. NISCSS Senior Advisor Zou Keyuan, Adjacent Professor Vivian Forbes and Research Fellow Hong Nong also spoke at the workshop. There were more than forty participants at the symposium, including scholars and experts from China, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Belgium, France and the United States, as well diplomats from Embassies of China, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippine in UK.

Established in 2008, the University of Oxford China Centre has been the largest institute for China Studies in UK and Europe. Its research on China covers a broad range of disciplines. The Asian Studies Centre at St. Antony’s College was founded in 1982, as the successor to the Far East Centre which was established in 1954. The Centre predominantly covers South, Southeast and East Asia.