Chinese officials remember diplomat who helped shape ‘Law of the Sea’
Li Shengjiao was regarded as China’s top expert on international maritime law and boundary demarcation issues
Foreign affairs officials and observers have remembered a Chinese diplomat who was involved in the creation of an international treaty on the use of the world’s seas and oceans on the first anniversary of his death.
Li Shengjiao, who served as Counsellor of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), died on August 6, 2017 at the age of 82 from an unspecified illness.
He was regarded as China’s top expert on international maritime law and boundary demarcation issues. In a 40-year career he was also involved in China’s border negotiations with Myanmar, India, North Korea and the Soviet Union.
The negotiations for the UNCLOS, of which China was a signatory, took place between 1973 and 1982, and Li was an important member of the Chinese team.
Nowadays, as a permanent member of United Nations Security Council, China is involved in negotiations for all manner of international laws and treaties. Its role was much smaller in Li’s time, and he is regarded as a pioneer, especially as he suggested to then premier Zhou Enlai that China should distinguish 12 nautical miles of territorial sea and a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone within the UN law.