A forgotten proponent of a league of nations and his contributions to international law

Abstract

AbstractAround a century ago, Zhou Wei became the first Chinese francophone international lawyer. Yet his contributions to international law are often overlooked in academic literature even though he was the first Chinese member of the renowned Institute of International Law, and he had proposed a nascent concept of a ‘League of Nations’ even before Woodrow Wilson did. However, there has been no study on Chinese members of the Institute of International law, and even less research about Zhou. This article aims to piece together his life and work. It begins with a detailed account of Zhou’s education and work from Beijing to Paris, Geneva, and Fribourg. It then uncovers how he managed to shatter the racial ‘glass ceiling’ by being elected to the Institute while China was still a geopolitically weak country, shackled by numerous ‘unequal treaties’. It also recounts his contributions to the study and development of international law. Above all, this article argues that Zhou’s career epitomized the pioneering spirit of his generation of Chinese international lawyers who put their legal and foreign language skills to the benefit of China, and assiduously guarded against any encroachment of Chinese sovereignty. This article will examine and assess Zhou’s two most significant contributions to public international law.