China’s Law of the Sea

This event was recorded on April 24, 2023

About the event

Conflicts over specific rules lie at the heart of the narrative of China's island disputes with its neighbors in the East and South China Seas. But the main contest concerns the strategic waters associated with those islands. To consolidate control over this vital maritime space, China's leaders have begun to enforce "China's Law of the Sea" by building domestic legal institutions, bureaucratic organizations, and a naval and maritime law enforcement apparatus that overmatches regional challengers and imposes costs on naval powers around the globe. Dr. Kardon and Dr. Dutton will explore questions such as, will states choose to acquiesce to China's preferences? Will there be conflict? Or will states find peaceful ways to overcome China's challenge to the international maritime order? Use discount code: Y23Kardon for 30% off Dr. Kardon’s new book, China’s Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order (Yale University Press, 2023).

About the speaker

Dr. Isaac B. Kardon, Ph.D. is a senior fellow for China studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was an assistant professor at the US Naval War College in the China Maritime Studies Institute, visiting scholar at NYU Law’s US-Asia Law Institute. Isaac’s scholarship centers on China’s development of maritime power, with research on China’s maritime disputes and law of the sea issues, global port development, and PLA overseas basing published in International Security, Security Studies, and Foreign Affairs. Isaac’s book, China’s Law of the Sea: The New Rules of Maritime Order (Yale, 2023), analyzes the extent to which China is “making the rules” in regional and global orders. At Carnegie, Isaac studies PRC practice on “frontier issues” of international law and governance in the global maritime commons. The emerging regimes for deep seabed, high seas, and space are key sites to observe China’s influence on critical global rules, norms, and standards. Isaac earned a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University, an M.Phil in Modern Chinese Studies from Oxford University, and a B.A. in History from Dartmouth College. He studied Chinese (Mandarin) at Peking University, Tsinghua University, Hainan University, and National Taiwan Normal University. He was a China & the World postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University. Prior to joining the Naval War College, Isaac held visiting appointments at NYU School of Law, Academia Sinica, and the PRC National Institute for South China Sea Studies. He was also a research analyst and adjunct fellow at the US National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Public Intellectuals program fellow with the National Committee on US-China Relations, and an associate in research at the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies.

About the moderator

Peter Dutton is a professor of international law in the Stockton Center for International Law at the U.S. Naval War College. He served formerly as interim dean of the college’s Center for Naval Warfare Studies and as director of the China Maritime Studies Institute. His research focuses on international law of the sea, Chinese views of sovereignty and international law, and China’s maritime expansion. A retired Navy Judge Advocate and former Naval Flight Officer, he holds a Ph.D. from King’s College London, a J.D. from the College of William & Mary, an M.A. from the U.S. Naval War College, and a B.S. from Boston University. He is an adjunct professor at NYU School of Law and a faculty advisor to NYU’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute.