On the morning of May 6th, Su Jinyuan, professor of the School of Law of XJTU, gave a lecture - Towards a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind (CSFM) of Outer Space: From Common Security to Common Prosperity, in which he explained the importance of the idea of CSFM in guiding the international governance of outer space and the challenges and opportunities the international community faces in building the CSFM in outer space.
Professor Su started by introducing the high seas and the Antarctica, which share similar characteristics with outer space in terms of international law, and gradually lifted the mysterious veil of outer space. He introduced the achievements of mankind in various fields such as the military, science, commerce, and international society since the first man-made satellite was launched in 1957. He also pointed out that although human activities in the space field are becoming more frequent and deepgoing, the corresponding international legislation has been stalled. Currently, this is one of the challenges and opportunities that the international community has faced within the course of space exploration.
Next, Professor Su pointed out that the idea of CSFM is in line with the basic principles of outer space exploration and has been written into two resolutions of the UN General Assembly. However, outer space faces the danger of militarization. Although the prevention of an arms race in outer space has always been the dominant task for the international community, and relevant resolutions in the UN General Assembly are constantly being updated, due to factors such as the dual use of some technologies and the interconnection between the control of weapons in outer space and missile defense therefore, keeping outer space weapons under control can be very difficult. He emphasized that outer space should not be a battlefield. Space security is a problem that the international community must pay attention to. CSFM is of significant value in guiding the international governance of outer space.
At the end of the lecture, Professor Su Jinyuan said that many challenges and opportunities exist in the construction of CSFM in outer space from maintaining coexistence to coping with common concerns and seeking common prosperity. The international community should conclude international treaties to prevent an arms race in outer space, jointly address common threats such as space debris and near-Earth asteroids and explore and develop outer space mineral resources in a fair and inclusive manner.
