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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2022
Around 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.
The author wishes to thank the following: Alexandre Rigolet, Andrew Rintoul, Anne Lacourt, Benson Fan Wai Leong, Caroline Schnyder, Chong Fu Shan, Christine Fracheboud, David Konig, Dominique Torrione-Vouilloz, Édith Pirio, Iris van der Heijden, Isabelle Brodard, Isabella Kling, Katia Belkhir, Lai Junnan, Marcel Alexander Niggli, Pascal Pichonnaz, Yu Qianqian, and the handling editors and reviewers of the LJIL. This research is funded by the Program for Professors of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning.
1 See, e.g., W. L. Tung, China and the Foreign Powers: The Impact of and Reaction to Unequal Treaties (1970); D. Wang, China’s Unequal Treaties: Narrating National History (2005); D. Scott, China and the International System, 1840–1949 Power, Presence, and Perceptions in a Century of Humiliation (2008).
2 Ibid.
3 See Tung, ibid.
4 L. Chen, ‘The Founding of Peiyang University Department of Law: Oxford Style Legal Education in China (1895–1899)’, (2017) 9 Tsinghua China L. Rev. 227.
5 See, e.g., W. Wang, Zhongguo Jin Dai Liu Yang Fa Xue Bo Shi Kao (Overseas-Educated Doctors of Law of Modern China) (1905–1950) (2019); W. Wang, ‘Ye Lu Fa Xue Yuan De Zhong Guo Jin Dai Liu Xue Sheng Kao Lun (Early Chinese Students at Yale Law School) (1902–1951)’, (2014) 1 Fu Dan Da Xue Fa Lv Pin Lun 259; Y. Pei, Liu Xue Sheng Yu Zhongguo Fa Xue (Foreign Educated Chinese and China’s Legal Studies) (2009); L. Y. Cheng, Qing Mo Fa Zheng Ren De Shi Jie (Lawyers and Political Men in the Late Qing Dynasty) (2003); Y. C. Wang, Chinese Intellectuals and the West, 1872–1949 (1966); W. Ye, Seeking Modernity In China’s Name: Chinese Students In The United States, 1900–1927 (2001).
6 See Adams et al., Dr. Hua Chuen Mei - May 30, 1925 (2010); S. G. Craft, V.K. Wellington Koo and the Emergence of Modern China (2004); C. H. Duan, Min Guo Di Yi Wei Fa Xue Jia (The Republic of China’s First Jurist): Wang Chonghui Zhuan (1982).
7 See R. Svarverud, International Law as World Order in Late Imperial China: Translation, Reception and Discourse, 1847–1911 (2007).
8 See Wang, supra note 5.
9 J. B. Scott, ‘The Chinese Social and Political Science Association’, (1916) 10 Am. J. Int’l L. 375.
10 National Archives of France, Sintchar Tchéou Wei’s Academic Record at the University of Paris Faculty of Law (unpublished document, on file with author).
11 University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, Sintchar Tchéou Wei’s Student Dossier (unpublished document, on file with author). This claim is based on checking historical lists of graduates of various faculties of law in Switzerland.
12 Zi Jiao Tong, ‘Si Fa, Wai Jiao Bu Zi Song Zhou Wei Qing Yu Lu Yong Wen’, (1918) 5(15) Jiao Yu Gong Bao, 58.
13 W. Zhou, ‘Za Lu: Guo Ji Zu Zhi Yu Zhong Guo ’, Bei Jing Da Xue Ri Kan, 18 February 1919, 5; W. Zhou, ‘Za Lu: Guo Ji Zu Zhi Yu Zhong Guo (Xu)’, Bei Jing Da Xue Ri Kan, 21 February 1919, at 3–4; W. Zhou, ‘Za Lu: Guo Ji Zu Zhi Yu Zhong Guo (Xu)’, Bei Jing Da Xue Ri Kan, 24 February 1919, at 3; W. Zhou, ‘Za Lu: Guo Ji Zu Zhi Yu Zhong Guo (Xu)’, Bei Jing Da Xue Ri Kan, 25 February 1919, at 3–4.
14 Institut de Droit International, (1921) 28 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International at 253–4.
15 Institut de Droit International, (1948) 42 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International at 313–14. Hsu Mo was already on the bench of the ICJ when he was elected.
16 See Institut de Droit International, supra note 14, at 2.
17 The full list of names and years of election includes: Zhou Wei in 1921, Hsu Mo in 1948, Liang Yuen-li in 1950, Wang Tieya in 1981, Chen Tiqiang in 1983, Li Haopei in 1985, Ni Zhengyu in 1987, Lee Roy S. K. in 2001, Xue Hanqin in 2005, Liu Daqun in 2007, Yee Sienho in 2009, Liu Zhenmin in 2011, Jia Bing Bing in 2021.
18 W. Zhou, ‘Shi Jie Zhan Zheng Hou Zhi Guo Ji Gong Fa Ji Zhong Guo Zhi Jiang Lai’, Minguo Ri Bao, 28 November 1918, at 6; W. Zhou, ‘Yi Jiu Yi Jiu Nian Hou Zhi Guo Ji Gong Fa’, (1919) Wu Wu, at 18–21; W. Zhou, ‘Zhuan Jian: Guo Ji Lian He Hui Zhi Zu Zhi Jing Guo Ji Wu Guo Liu Nian Can Yu Hui Wu Qing Xing Shu Yao’, (1926) 64 Wai Jiao Gong Bao, at 81-112; W. Zhou, ‘Wen Ming Guo You Li Ji Che Fei Ling Shi Cai Pan Quan Zhi Yi Wu Zhou Wei’, Da Gong Bao (Tianjin), 13 December 1929, at 14; W. Zhou, ‘Guo Ji Si Fa’, 1(1) Fa Xue Ji Kan, at 81–90.
19 W. Zhou, Xin Guo Ji Gong Fa (1930); It is necessary to mention in passing that Zhou was a path-breaking and leading Chinese scholar on factory inspection law, the study of Chinese ancient weapons, and had published seminal works in these fields. See W. Zhou, Gong Chang Guan Li Fa (1931); W. Zhou, ‘Gu Bing Yu Kao Gu Xue Zhi Guan Xi’, Min Bao, 20 March 1937, at 10.
20 ‘The work is one of the few Chinese in the field in which, in addition to the reproduction of foreign views, an independent statement is also sought.’ English translation from the original in German. See K. Bünger, ‘Literatur,Tcheou-Wei: Droit international public nouveau’, (1934) 4 Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht 960.
21 W. Zhou, ‘Lun Zhu: Guo Ji Xing Zheng: Li Lun Yu Shi Ji’, (1932) 1(1) Wai Jiao Ping Lun 39.
22 W. Zhou, ‘Guo Ji Si Fa’, (1930)1(1) Fa Xue Ji Kan 81.
23 W. Zhou, ‘Guo Ji Li Fa’, (1931)1(2) Fa Xue Ji Kan 43.
24 N. Wu, ‘The Covenant of the League of Nations and Kellogg–Briand Pact’, (1929) 6 Zhong Wai Ping Lun 2–3 ; W. Hu, ‘To Use Legal Means to Deal with the Consular Jurisdiction Issue’, (1929) 6 Zhong Wai Ping Lun 19–21; Z. Wang, ‘Convention Relating to the Regulation of Aerial Navigation and China’s Ratification’, (1929) 10 Zhong Wai Ping Lun 9–16. Moreover, he was also the managing editor for international law section of Fa Xue Ji Kan, a Chinese law journal. ‘Ben She Guo Ji Fa Zu Zhu Ren Jian Chang Ren Bian Ji Zhou Wei’, (1931)1(2) Fa Xue Ji Kan 1.
25 W. Zhou, ‘Wen Ming Guo You Li Ji Che Fei Ling Shi Cai Pan Quan Zhi Yi Wu’, (1929) 12 Zhong Wai Ping Lun 5; W. Zhou, ‘Zai Lun Wen Ming Guo You Li Ji Che Fei Ling Shi Cai Pan Quan Zhi Yi Wu’, (1929) 14 Zhong Wai Ping Lun 15.
26 W. Zhou, ‘Ge Guo Zheng Fu Dui Yu Wai Ren Sun Shi Suo Fu Ze Ren Zhi Fan Wei’, (1930) 21 Zhong Wai Ping Lun 3.
27 The news of his death reached the Institute. In its 1950 annual, the Institute announced his death to the community: ‘We pray the families of our deceased colleagues to find here the expression of our condolences and our faithful memories.’ Institut de Droit International, (1950) 43 II Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 193. All Institute publications cited in this article are translations from French to English.
28 S. Tchéou-Wei, Essai Juridique sur L’organisation Juridique de la Société Internationale (1917).
29 Zhou, supra note 26.
30 The question of attribution was a pivotal matter during the preparation of the draft articles on State Responsibility by the United Nations International Law Commission. See J. Crawford, State Responsibility: The General Part (2013), 113–214.
31 His birth year on his ENPC official record was 1886. However, his University of Paris official record showed the year was 1887, and his Fribourg record showed the year was 1888, finally the Institute record showed the year was 1883. This article used the Institute’s record as the best source.
32 University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, supra note 11.
33 ‘Jing Shi Da Xue Tang Yi Xue Guan Fu Shi Quan Bang’, Da Gong Bao (Tianjin), 4 September 1903, 2.
34 Ibid.
35 ‘Ji Fu Jin Shi: Yi Xue She Bao’, (1904) 501 Bei Yang Guan Bao 4.
36 ‘Ji Fu Jin Shi: Yi Xue Guan Shi’, (1903) 183 Bei Yang Guan Bao 11; Y. Chen, ‘Ji Yi Xue Gua’, (1940) 27 Yu Zhou Feng:Yi Kan 519.
37 ‘Ge Sheng You Xue Hui Zhi’, (1905) 2 (11) Dong Fang Za Zhi 294; ‘Wen Du: Zi Zhu Fa Da Chen Reng Ling Liu Xue Sheng Zhou Wei Zai Li Er Gong Yi Xue Xiao Yi Ye Wen’, (1908) 53 Xue Bu Guan Bao 225.
38 Ibid. In one Chinese government document, it stated that he was designated for study in France in the thirtieth year of the reign of Guanxu (1904).
39 Ibid.
40 ENPC Archives, Zhou Wei’s Student Dossier (unpublished document, on file with author).
41 Ibid.
42 Ibid. It is worth mentioning that in 1912, Zhou married Elizabeth Umlauf of German ancestry in Elham, Kent, England. The bride was born in about 1886. See England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837–2005, 1912, Quarter 3, Vol. 2A, 2609, Elham, Kent, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
43 See National Archives of France, supra note 10.
44 Ibid.
45 National Archives of France, University of Paris Faculty of Law Assorted Records.
46 Almost as soon as it began, the British writer H. G. Wells astutely observed, in a column in the Daily News entitled ‘The War That Will End War’, that: ‘This is already the vastest war in history. It is a war not of nations, but of mankind. It is a war to exorcise a world-madness and end an age … For this is now a war for peace.’ Soon it became ‘the war to end all wars’, expressing a generation’s hope to prevent such bloodbaths in the future. H. G. Wells, ‘The War that Will End War’, The Daily News (London), 14 August 1914, at 4.
47 University of Geneva Archives, Zhou Wei’s Student File (unpublished document, on file with author).
48 See University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, supra note 11. The exact reason why he made the move is unclear after checking various archival documents.
49 Beschluss, vom 16. Marz 1906, zur Genehmigung der Prigungsordnung der juristischen Fakultat. (3. Deutsche Auflage. Februar 1916). Art. 21 stated: ‘The doctor of laws is awarded on the basis of a scientific paper (dissertation), two written tests and an oral examination, subject to the provision of Article 29.’ Author’s translation from German to English. The Faculty had no prior experience in admitting Chinese students, and Zhou Wei was the first to take this path-breaking step. Nevertheless, the Dean, a Professor of French law called Henri Legras, who was himself a graduate of the University of Paris, granted him admission as a doctoral candidate.
50 See University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, supra note 11. It appears he had already produced the first draft upon arrival in Fribourg in 1916.
51 Université de Fribourg (Suisse), Autorités, Professeurs, Etudiants de l’Université de Fribourg 1916–17, 6.
52 Ibid., at 7. See Beschluss, supra note 49, Art. 25. These two examiners would assess Zhou’s knowledge of the dissertation’s subject matter, clarity, independence of judgment, as well as his composition skills.
53 See O. Nippold, Translated from the German by A. S. Hershey, The Development of International Law After the World War (1923), 44–5. Indeed, his work was regarded along with work produced by Belgian lawyer, pacifist Paul Otlet and other significant figures in this movement: ‘the work of the Chinese Tchéou -Wei deserves special attention … This essay not only contained a striking review of the problem up to today, but he also presents a peculiar scheme of his own for the realization of which he looks to the Third Hague Peace Conference’.
54 S. Tchéou-Wei, supra note 28, at v.
55 Ibid., at Avant-propos.
56 Ibid.
57 Ibid., at 13–22. See Ch. 1 ‘Notions historiques’.
58 Ibid., at v–vi.
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid., at vi.
61 Ibid., at 3–4.
62 Ibid., at 4.
63 Ibid.
64 Ibid.
65 Ibid.
66 Ibid., at 4–5.
67 Ibid., at 5.
68 Ibid.
69 Ibid., at 11.
70 Ibid.
71 Ibid.
72 Ibid., at 81–100.
73 Ibid., at 101–57.
74 Ibid., at 158–72.
75 Ibid., at 120–33.
76 Ibid., at 163–7.
77 Ibid., at 168–72.
78 Ibid., at 143.
79 Ibid., at 144–5.
80 Ibid., at 145.
81 Ibid.
82 Ibid.
83 Ibid., at 145–6.
84 Ibid., at 146.
85 Ibid.
86 Ibid., at 147.
87 Ibid., at 147–8.
88 Ibid.
89 Ibid.
90 Ibid.
91 S. Tchéou-Wei, supra note 28, at preface.
92 Ibid.
93 Ibid.
94 S. Tchéou-Wei, supra note 28, at vii. Based upon the author’s research of hundreds of Chinese law students dissertations completed in Switzerland, Germany, the US, the UK and France from 1905–1949, it appears Bise was the only one who proffered this comment in the evaluation of dissertations by Chinese students.
95 Ibid.
96 See University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, supra note 11, at Bise’s report in French filed on 21 August 1916.
97 Ibid.
98 University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, ibid., at Lambert’s examiner’s report in German on 27 October 1916.
99 Ibid.
100 S. Tchéou-Wei, supra note 28, at 103.
101 WAP Martin, ‘Traces of International Law in Ancient China’, (1883) 14 International Review 63.
102 S. Tchéou-Wei, supra note 28, at 103.
103 Ibid., at 143–5.
104 See University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, supra note 11, at Bise’s report filed on 21 August 1916.
105 See ibid., at Lambert’s examiner’s report in German on 27 October 1916; This issue was also noted by a reviewer of his public international law textbook published in 1930 ‘Primarily the European doctrines are presented; whereby strikingly less recent German literature is used.’ See Bünger, supra note 20.
106 Ibid.
107 See University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, supra note 11, at Bise’s report filed on 21 August 1916.
108 Ibid.
109 See ibid., at Lambert’s examiner’s report in German on 27 October 1916.
110 Beschluss, supra note 49.
111 Ibid.
112 University of Fribourg Faculty of Law Archives, supra note 11.
113 Ibid., at ‘Le privilège de l’exterritorialité en droit diplomatique.’
114 Ibid., at ‘De la responsabilité des compagnies de transports par terre et par eau, en matière de marchandises.’
115 Beschluss, supra note 49, at art. 31.
116 Ibid., at art. 26. In fact, Zhou had to meet a final administrative requirement – he had to submit 200 copies of the printed dissertations to the faculty. To this end, his monograph was published in January 1917. After handing in the required copies, the University conferred upon him the degree of Docteur en droit with Magna Cum Laude on 12 March 1917.
117 T. F Millard, The Shantung Case at the Conference (1921), 5.
118 League of Nations, The Records of the First Assembly Plenary Meetings (1920), 7.
119 League of the Nations, Report of the Delegates of the India to the First Session of the Assembly of the League of Nations (1920), 18.
120 League of the Nations, The Records of the Second Assembly, Plenary Meetings (1921), 20.
121 Eleven founding jurists met in September 1873 in Belgium to usher in the society with the hope that the progress of international law may ‘succeed in rendering war increasingly rare, to limit it, to lessen the horrors of it …’, A. Rolin, Les Origines de l’Institut de Droit International, 1873–1923 (1923), 7.
122 Ibid., at 7.
123 Ibid., at 16.
124 J. B. Scott, ‘The Institute of International Law’, (1922) 16 Am. J. Int’l L. 241, at 245.
125 Ibid. When the members concluded their regular session in Oxford in 1913, they were expecting to convene for the next session in Munich in September 1914.
126 Ibid., at 244.
127 C. L. Lange, Organisation Centrale Pour Une Paix Durable: Exposé des Travaux de L’organisation (1917), 40, 48.
128 See Scott, supra note 124.
129 Ibid., at 247.
130 The pathbreaking Asians elected to the body came from Japan. Eighteen years after its founding, Kaneko Kentaro, a renowned Japanese diplomat, a graduate of Harvard Law School, garnered the distinction to become first associate member in 1891: Institut de Droit International, (1892) 17 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 500. He was the only Asian in the room for a long time. Before Zhou Wei’s election in 1921, the Institute boasted another three Japanese diplomats and jurists – Terao Toru, Motono Ichiro, and Takahashi Sakue. Institut de Droit International, (1900) 18 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 270; Institut de Droit International, (1904) 20 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 240; Institut de Droit International, (1908) 22 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 258–9. They were elected in 1900, 1904, and 1908 respectively. Zhou naturally had a very similar background to them. They all received advanced western legal education, taught international law at their own country’s top national law school, and served as legal advisers to their respective government’s foreign ministry.
131 Indeed, there were undoubtedly more qualified and accomplished Chinese jurists and diplomats like Wang Chung Hui and Wellington Koo who would have been suitable candidates for membership. The former won election as a deputy judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice in September 1921; the latter made a name for himself since the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.
132 League of Nations, List of Delegates and Members of Delegations (Revised) (1923), at 9; League of Nations, Records of the Sixth Assembly, Text of the Debates (1925), at 12.
133 Ibid., at 22.
134 Ibid., at 23.
135 Ibid.
136 League of Nations, Records of the Fifth Assembly, Meetings of the Committees, Minutes of the Second Committee (Technical Organizations) (1924), at 9.
137 Ibid., at 17.
138 Ibid.
139 Ibid.
140 League of Nations, Records of the Sixth Assembly, Meetings of the Committee, Minutes of the Second Committee (1925), at 32, 35.
141 Institut de Droit International, (1925) 32 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 414.
142 Ibid., at 412–14.
143 Ibid., at 461.
144 Ibid., at 482.
145 Ibid., at 483.
146 Ibid., at 484.
147 Ibid., at 485.
148 Ibid., at 544.
149 Institut de Droit International, (1927) 33 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 516.
150 Institut de Droit International, supra note 141, at 582.
151 ‘State Responsibility for Damages to Foreigners’, (1926) 20 Am. J. Int’l L. Spec. Sup. 17, at 176. As to Wang’s profile see L. Chen, ‘Early Graduate Legal Studies in America and Legal Transplantation: The Case of China’s First International and Comparative Legal Scholar’, (2019) 68 J. Legal Educ. 716.
152 Institut de Droit International, supra note 149, at 515–21.
153 Ibid., at 515–16.
154 Ibid., at 517.
155 Ibid., at 517–18.
156 Ibid.
157 Ibid., at 520.
158 Ibid., at 519.
159 Ibid.
160 Ibid.
161 Ibid., at 518–19.
162 Ibid., at 512.
163 Ibid., at 519, 553.
164 Ibid., at 520–1.
165 Ibid., at 553.
166 Institut de Droit International, ‘Responsabilité internationale des Etats à raison des dommages causés sur leur territoire à la personne et aux biens des étrangers’’, 1927, available at www.idi-iil.org/app/uploads/2017/06/1927_lau_05_fr.pdf, see art. 7.
167 Institut de Droit International, supra note 149, at 517–18. Ibid., see Final Vow.
168 At the Session of Lausanne, Zhou was appointed a member of the Second Commission for the study of ‘Admission and Expulsion of Foreigners’ and the Third Commission for the study of ‘International Migration Regulations’. See ibid., at 393–4.
169 S. Tchéou-Wei, supra note 28, at vii.
170 Ibid.