I am delighted to present Volume 35 of the Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs. This volume includes articles and selected documents on the Asia-Pacific region and the state practice of the Republic of China (Taiwan, ROC) in 2017.
Invited by the editorial board, Professor James Nafziger of Willamette University contributed a stimulating and practical essay on his extremely broad personal experiences of being a law clerk, a law professor, and working as a researcher in international academic institutions and in the greater China region. Our paths crossed several times in the last three decades through our common mentors, Professors. Louis Sohn and Jerome Cohen at Harvard Law School, and our common friend, Professor Chun-i Chen of National Chengchi University. His essay could serve as a useful career planning guide to many promising young lawyers and law students.
The following articles were selected from papers presented at the 2017 International Law Association-American Society of International Law Asia-Pacific Research Forum in Taipei. In the first article, Dr. Michel Hwang and Mr. Lim Si Cheng analyze controversial Singapore Airlines cases relating to Taiwan’s state immunity. The authors provide insight into the common law approach to state immunity in British, Canadian and Singaporean courts. Professor Hyun-Jin Park of Yonsei University in the second article examines sovereign disputes over Dokdo (獨島)/Takeshima (竹島) on the basis of the Korean-Japanese exchanges of notes verbales from 1952 to 1965.
In the third article, Professor Yasue Mochizuki of Kwansei Gakuin University surveys transitional justice mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on the practice of international and regional tribunals, she argues for enhancing human rights and procedural fairness. In light of the South China Sea Arbitration, Dr. Brian McGarry of the University of Geneva explores the legal capacity of the ROC and the scope of third-party interventions in international judicial proceedings. In the final article, Dr. Agata Kleczkowska of the Polish Academy of Sciences discusses and criticizes the collective recognition of governments by international organizations.
This volume also contains a Special Report, in which Mr. Wei Zheng Toh of National University of Singapore explains legal and policy issues on Taiwan’s participation in the US Visa Waiver Program. The Contemporary Practice section includes selected government statements and judicial interpretations on the ROC and international legal issues. In particular, these documents elaborated the government’s positions on the New Southbound Policy and the
Notably, a constitutional interpretation issued by the Council of the Grand Justices, the highest judicial organ charged with the power to interpret constitutional law will likely make the ROC the first Asian country to legalize same-sex marriages. In fact, Taipei City, the ROC’s capital, has long been regarded as the Asian city most friendly to homosexuals. The last section includes a chronological list of Taiwan’s treaties and agreements in 2017 and reproduces selected instruments that Taiwan signed with countries, such as Finland, The Holy See, Japan, Palau and St. Vincent and the Grenadine.
I would like to express my gratitude towards my colleagues on the editorial board, including Professors Chun-i Chen (陳純一), Pasha Hsieh (謝笠天) and Pei-Lun Tsai (蔡 沛倫 ), Dr. Kai-Chih Chang (張愷致), Judges Chun-Liang Lai (賴淳良) and I-Hon Hsiao (蕭一弘), and Ms. Chun-li Ouyang (歐陽純麗). I also acknowledge the contribution of our referees, including Marco Benatar, Chao-Tien Chang, Yen-Chiang Chang, Winnie Ma, Alina Miron, Wim Muller and Chen-En Sung. The long-standing support from Lee & Li Attorneys-at-Law (理律 法律 事務所) and the Research Center for International Legal Studies of National Chengchi University (政大國際法學研究中心) is likewise much appreciated.
Ying-jeou Ma (馬英九), S.J.D.
Editor-in-Chief
June 2018