Chapter 63 Old man in The Hague, Netherlands

one In the early morning of The Hague, the wet square is full of old book stalls, where many elderly people display the books and antiques they have collected throughout their lives for people to buy. In the corner in front of the museum, an elderly photographer puts out thousands of old photos he took, arranged by year and date, and there are three old cameras next to him, which is enough to summarize his life; He can also summarize the history of the Netherlands from his own perspective. Seeing me read carefully, the old man's eyes lit up.But in the end, of course I let him down.He muttered to me in English: Take it all, it's not expensive.

I secretly blamed myself for reading for too long, which caused him to misunderstand, so I avoided his eyes.But I looked up at him anyway and thanked him.I think he should recognize that I am Chinese.Even a country as small as theirs is unable to include its own historical images in the museum, and let them be sold outside the museum for a long time. It is conceivable that there are more historical symbols in China wandering outside.How can we take away the historical images of others without cleaning up our own family first?We Chinese know too well that once these historical images are taken away, they will never come back.

The Chinese may have done many things that should not be done, but they have never kept other people's history in their own homes. Seeing that I was leaving, the old man said again: You can also take it apart and buy it, for example, the year my husband was born This made my heart move.Because I have heard that some cities that intend to apply for the right to host the Olympic Games want to send some small gifts full of personal friendship and no suspicion of bribery to the members of the International Olympic Committee. , Let him see what happened in the world on the day he walked into the world.So, according to the old man's suggestion, I can also find some distant scenery here when my life appeared?

I quickly went back to look at the arrangement of those photos, and found the year I was born, there was a thick stack, but I looked back and forth, and every year was intact, so it can be seen that no one has bought it in pieces.Judging from the living conditions of the old man, he may not have the technical equipment to save the negatives and make copies again.I smiled and shook my head at him, thinking, what am I?How can such an ordinary life, a passer-by who stops by occasionally on a wet morning, take away the old man's life's work in order to compare his own existence? I believe that among his compatriots, a more responsible collector will emerge and preserve these photos more completely and meaningfully.Wait another year or so, sir.

two There is trouble in the relationship between countries. Can we not fight wars and let a legal institution arbitrate?This is the dream of human reason, and the result is the emergence of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Travelers from all over the world think so when they come to The Hague to visit the International Court of Justice.So outside the fence of the Peace Palace in the city center, all kinds of travel vehicles were parked, and groups of tourists from all over the world were crowded. The Peace Palace is the seat of the International Court of Justice. It was built with donations from American entrepreneur Carnegie. It was completed in 1913. The First World War broke out in the second year. It seems that this building stands tall in the world above necessity.

The building is stately and atmospheric, but even more beautiful is the huge courtyard that surrounds it.Therefore, there is still a long distance from the iron fence to the main building of the Peace Palace, with verdant grass in the middle and dense trees in the distance. The International Court of Justice is not a monumental site, but a UN judicial body that is busy every day, and of course travelers are not allowed to visit.Therefore, the visit outside the iron fence is actually just a distant view. A few of us pushed through the crowd and found the guard on the first floor, telling us where we were from, that we had called two days ago, and that we were kindly allowed to enter and visit.The doorman immediately called inside, and then became very polite, asking us to wait, saying that someone would come out to greet us soon.

A woman came out, speaking French, and asked each of us to hand over our passports to the doorman.The guard registered them one by one and returned them together.The lady smiled and opened her palms to the inside, and we entered in a row under the surprised and envious eyes of travelers from all over the world. I always feel uncomfortable being stared at by so many eyes. I don’t know which partner said: just put on a dignified look and pretend to be the defendant or plaintiff, so that those who cannot come in to visit can feel more balanced. I said: I can't pretend.Everyone knows that the Chinese never make trouble in the International Court of Justice.

Another partner said: I should have met Milosevic, maybe he was extradited these days. I said: That's under the jurisdiction of the ICTY, not here.Here is the court, to rule over that court. As he spoke, he walked to the main entrance of the main building of the Peace Palace, where two guards stood.The lady who led the way talked to them for a while, and the guard took out a register book and asked her to write something, and then she turned and waved to us.It turned out that she had completed her mission and was leaving.Inside the main building, a young lady was already waiting for us.

We followed the young lady with light steps, going around and around, and actually went around the back door of the main building to a new building.There were several rows of chairs there, and she asked us to sit down and rest, saying that an official would come to pick us up later. After waiting for about ten minutes, I heard a warm greeting from a middle-aged lady wearing glasses who spoke fluent English.Obviously she is more important because she talks a lot and is free. From her mouth, I heard more and more names of a person, saying that he would make an exception to receive us, and he called her personally to make arrangements this morning.When we asked who that person was, she was taken aback, then smiled and said: I thought you all knew.He is the vice president of the International Court of Justice, and he specially spared time to wait for you today.I am now leading you to his office.

The road is a bit complicated, go up to the second floor, walk through a long glass corridor, and return to the main building.She first showed us the conference room where the justices met before the trial, and then the trial court next door.Both places are empty today, with classical aristocratic solemnity. Came out of the courtroom and walked some more.She made a gesture to us first, then stood in front of a gray door holding her breath, raised her left hand to look at her watch, raised her right hand and tapped lightly twice. After only two clicks, the door opened, and standing in front of us was an old man, and it was a Chinese old man!Are you here?please come in!please come in!This made me even more surprised, actually full of thick Shanghai accent!This is Justice Shi Jiuyong, Vice President of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The judges of the International Court of Justice are elected by the United Nations Conference.Mr. Shi is very prestigious here and is the soul of the International Court of Justice, but he does not represent China. His office is divided into two rooms, the outer one is piled with various documents and computers, and the inner one has his large writing desk.There was a reception space in front of the wide French windows, and we sat down there.Outside the window, there is a French-style garden, but it also has the natural flavor of an English garden. Although we often see the International Court of Justice in the media, we know very little about it. Therefore, many of the most obvious questions were raised periodically at the beginning, and he laughed as soon as he heard them.For example Q: What do you guys do?Countries and countries are either fighting or negotiating. Why would you want to go to court? A: We are very busy here, full of cases.You see, there are dozens of cases on hand. Question: After your judgment, will those countries that lost the case follow it? A: There has been only one exception for decades, the United States.We sentenced it to lose, but it did not implement it. The matter was submitted to the Security Council, and it voted veto as a permanent member.The International Court of Justice is a subsidiary body of the United Nations, so there is no other way. Since then, our problems have become more and more, and have involved almost all major international issues, but today we are faced with a language method that is completely different from that of diplomats.A diplomat is confined to one country, but he rotates the two layers of structure, the outer and inner layers, to see who can rotate beautifully. It can be said that the foot plate is fixed and the technique is flexible.He, on the other hand, has no fixed national standpoint and no way of speaking except for law and justice. He is entirely an international style of fairness, without embellishments or taboos.We sound pleasant, but a little strange. Just like in the past in a big family, the separate sects have been confronting each other for many years. People have long been familiar with their respective positions. One day, an old uncle suddenly came. He has no position, only rules, and everyone is a little surprised for a while. He is an international citizen and now lives in The Hague, but he often goes back to Shanghai to visit his relatives.He used to live in Shanghai for a long time. I asked him where he lived in Shanghai. He said that he used to live at the intersection of Huashan Road and Huaihai Road, but recently moved to the west. We asked again, since we often return to Shanghai, will we talk about the spirit of international law with our friends in the domestic legal field as we just talked about? The international justice said flatly: I am not good at communication, and I don't like communication.Every time I go back to Shanghai, I only inform my family. Every day mediating the most troublesome international affairs, but clearly declaring that he is not good at communication and does not like communication, this suddenly makes us understand the meaning of communication that people generally understand. I was a little distracted, and my thoughts drifted to the Huaihai West Road area in Shanghai: stepping on the autumn leaves, a very ordinary old man was walking, and no one knew who he was. From this, I think that when I was talking with Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, the chief executive of Hong Kong, I heard his Shanghai accent, and I heard the Shanghai accent of Mr. He Zhenliang, the vice chairman of the International Olympic Committee on TV. I always feel that if there is no modern media, they will be so quiet Quietly taking the time to wander the streets of Shanghai without anyone noticing.This is because this accent has the most common street characteristics, without identity.China was the first place to enter civil society, and the concept of modern citizens was first injected into the language.There is no hierarchy, no anger, no aphorisms, no philosophies, no sarcasm, and no violence, but it can hide dragons and crouching tigers, and is unfathomable. Justice Shi Jiuyong is a generation older than Mr. Tung Chee-hwa and Mr. He Zhenliang, with a calmer gaze and slower pace. In a few days, he will return to Shanghai again.Of course, Shanghai will not know, except for family members. Young people in Shanghai, be careful. You are sitting on the benches on the street talking about the international news you just heard. Perhaps, there is an old and indifferent gaze behind you.