On 29 and 30 June 2007 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris-I) organised an international seminar entitled ‘China and the sea: regional security and cooperation in the Far East since 1954’. It was run by UMR-IRICE, an international research group specialising in the contemporary history of international relations, following a request by the French Navy Headquarters at CEHD (the Defence History Study Centre), as part of EPMES (defence forecasts of a politico-military, economic and social nature). It was aimed at a better understanding of the origins, conditions and implications of Chinese maritime power. Over two days researchers from differing backgrounds (mainly historians, but also political scientists, geographers and legal experts), both civil and military, exchanged experiences and ideas.