Van Bylandt lecture
UGlobe, in cooperation with the Gravin van Bylandt foundation and the Nederlands Genootschap voor Internationale Zaken (NGIZ), organized on 9 November the annual Van Bylandt lecture.
The topic of the lecture was one of the most contested disputes in current world affairs: the South China Sea dispute. The evening, taking place in a fully packed Raadzaal, was opened by the moderator, dr. Steffen Rimner. He then introduced our two distinguished speakers: prof. dr. Alex Oude Elferink, who holds the chair in international law of the sea at Utrecht University, and sinologist and accomplished writer Henk Schulte-Nordholt.
First, prof. dr. Oude Elferink shared with the public his insights on the legal aspects of the dispute, after which Mr. Schulte-Nordholt addressed the question whether or not China and China’s actions in the South China Sea form a threat to world peace. After these lectures, there was ample room for discussion in which many interesting topics, such as the roles of Russia and the United States in the dispute, were discussed. UGlobe would like to thank both speakers, Mr Rimner and of course the public for another interesting night on the contested global order.