The Korean Peninsula: Peace Regime Buildings and the Challenges Ahead

ASIA FORUM with Yang Xiyu

Senior Fellow at China Institute of International Studies (CIIS)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010, 10:00-11:30

The lecture will look at future solutions for the development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Recently we have seen a dramatic turn in the relation between North and South Korea, and as we are now facing a very unstable situation it is important to view constructive alternatives to create stability. In the Six-party talks, North and South and their neighbors have during several years tried to create a solution to the nuclear question and to construct a foundation for future peaceful coexistence. Prof. Yang will give us the Chinese perspective of these developments, and with his expertise, guide us through the possibilities of a future structure that is sustainable and has legitimacy among its neighbors.

Yang Xiyu is currently a Senior Fellow at China Institute of International Studies (CIIS). Before he joined CIIS, he was Pantech Fellow at Stanford University (2006-2007). He was the inaugural Director of the Office for the Korean Peninsula Issues at the Foreign Ministry of China between 2004-2005, during which he was heavily involved in the Six Party Talks negotiations, and composed the drafts of the 9.19 Joint Statement in 2005, which is a milestone of the Talks, as well as the guideline for denuclearization. He began his involvements in issues related to China’s policy toward the Korean Peninsula in 1994, and took part in preparations for the Four Party Talks among DPRK, ROK, USA, and China in 1997. In the Four Party Talks, he was the Representative for the Chinese side in the working level meeting, and a member, as well as the assistant to the head of the Chinese delegation at the plenary sessions in Geneva. He worked, as First Secretary at Chinese Embassy through 1994-1998, and Counselor in Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN between 2002 and 2003. Besides his diplomatic career, he also worked as a policy researcher in Chinese governmental think tank, Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) between 1999 through 2001. He was a recipient of the National Award for Distinguished Contribution to Social Science Studies in China.

Location: ISDP, Västra Finnbodavägen 2, Stockholm-Nacka. For a map and directions, please go here.

To attend: RSVP to Ms. Martina Klimesova at mklimesova@isdp.eu