International law

Author: Bai Guimei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Preface
Now you are reading an international law textbook, which is a solo work completed after more than twenty years of teaching and research in international law. The reason I was able to finally complete it, apart from the specific support of my colleagues, students, friends, and family, is also because of the infinite spiritual strength I have received from my mentors and predecessors, both Chinese and foreign, who have guided me on the path of learning, teaching, and researching international law since 1979. Although some of them have left us forever, and others have retired from the frontline of teaching and research in international law, their rigorous academic attitude and the spirit of "learning until old age" have encouraged and supported me for nearly three decades, helping me overcome various difficulties to complete this book. On this occasion, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to them first. I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends from Peking University, Renmin University of China, China University of Political Science and Law, Nankai University, and the School of International Relations who have discussed the structure and content of this book or read drafts of some chapters and provided valuable suggestions for revision. Finally, I would like to thank the Ph.D. and master's students from the International Law, International Economic Law, Environmental Law, and Human Rights programs at Peking University for their specific contributions to the collection of some materials and the verification of annotations. They include Guo Santuan, Zhu Lijiang, Zhou Wen, Chen Qiang, Chen Yifeng, Chen Tianyi, Wang Shukun, Wang Ruiqing, Wang Li, Zhao Xiaojing, Fan Yunpeng, Guo Weiwei, Jiang Bo, and others. The publication of this book is also thanks to Peking University Press and the editor-in-chief, Ms. Sun Zhanying. Although this textbook is specifically written for undergraduate students of higher legal education, some chapters can also serve as references for graduate students of international law. To some extent, it can also provide certain assistance to diplomats, other government officials, and non-governmental organizations engaged in international law practice. Compared to similar textbooks, the differences in structure and content of this book are that it strengthens the introductory part, treating the nature and historical development of international law, its sources, and the relationship between international law and international law as separate chapters, thereby giving them greater weight in the book. This approach is both in line with the teaching habits of many international law teachers and consistent with my many years of experience in teaching and researching international law theory. In addition, this book includes a list of reference books for further reading at the end of each chapter, some of which are new books that I plan to read in the future. Finally, I should sincerely and honestly admit that since international law is a discipline encompassing numerous branches, despite many years of teaching and research, there are still some areas I am not familiar with, such as international environmental law, international economic law, and international organization law. Therefore, the chapters related to these fields in this book may appear somewhat thin and are likely to contain many omissions or even errors. I sincerely hope that readers, experts in different fields of international law, as well as my colleagues and friends, will provide valuable comments on the various problems in this book so that they can be corrected in future editions.
Bai Guimei
August 24, 2006, in Ottawa