Press interview on OBOR launch event: OBOR Summit 2017
环球时报驻英国特约记者专访牛津大学“一带一路”高峰论坛发起人与项目副主任于颖,法律系首位中国籍学者
A correspondent from The Global Times’ UK Bureau on 11 August, 2017 interviewed Dr Ying Yu, Deputy Director of the Oxford University One Belt One Road Programme and founder of the OBOR Summit, on the rationale behind the international conference on 13-14 September, 2017.
The event, hosted by the Oxford Law Faculty, provides an international forum where world leading scholars, industry professionals, and policymakers can come together to discuss the most pressing issues concerning OBOR’s present development and its future. Dr Yu identified three aspects of OBOR development the summit aims to address: physical infrastructure, legal framework, and its soft dynamic.
The transmission and exchange of the arts and cultural heritage are much more effective as a method of promoting cross-cultural communication and in overcoming our differences than a mere focus on developing physical infrastructures; this is what we mean by our characterisation of OBOR soft dynamic.
“The transmission and exchange of the arts and cultural heritage are much more effective as a method of promoting cross-cultural communication and in overcoming our differences than a mere focus on developing physical infrastructures; this is what we mean by our characterisation of OBOR soft dynamic," says Dr Yu. For example, as the cultural relics and historical remnants of the Old Silk Road make way for curations from the New Silk Road, how do we preserve the ancient artefacts to ensure that they do not disappear with passing time, she asks.
As OBOR involves more than 70 countries and jurisdictions, the success of the initiative depends not only on bilateral agreements but also on multilateral agreements between countries, so as to form a comprehensive legal framework within which these countries can operate.
On the legal risks greatly underestimated by some businesses in China seeking to expand their operations beyond domestic borders and to export their products and services internationally, Dr Yu comments: “As OBOR involves more than 70 countries and jurisdictions, the success of the initiative depends not only on bilateral agreements but also on multilateral agreements between countries, so as to form a comprehensive legal framework within which these countries can operate.” One such example is the 2015 United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection, for which she represented the International Law Association as an Observer of the Guidelines’ revisions since 2012.
Dr Yu explains that interest in OBOR is finally gaining momentum among governments, corporates, think-tanks and NGOs, and academia across Europe, the UK, and even amongst her colleagues from India. This recognition of the collaborative potential OBOR holds brings them hope and promise, she notes.
Online registration for OBOR Summit 2017 is now open and all are welcome to attend. For enquiries, contact obor@law.ox.ac.uk