The PRC's Doctrine of Non-interventionism Assessed in Comparison with Classical Chinese Conceptions of the Jus ad Bellum

Abstract

This thesis aims to investigate, from a theoretical perspective, whether it is possible to reconcile or to reduce the conceptual divergence between the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s declared doctrine of non-interventionism and Western norms of liberal internationalism on humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect (R2P). Instead of following the nearly fully-excavated path of analysing the post-1949 roots of non-interventionism in the PRC, this thesis concentrates on a careful examination of classical Chinese conceptions that are akin to Western principles of the jus ad bellum. Based on the substantial findings of recently flourished academic debates and publications on the reassessment and adoption of classical Chinese conceptions for the innovation of Chinese foreign relations thoughts, this thesis applies a summarised, self-coined methodology of “Knowledge Archaeology of Chinese International Relations” (KACIR) to analyse The Chronicle of Zuo, one of China’s most significant and earliest works of narrative history, and two Confucian texts of philosophy (Mencius and Xunzi) from the pre-Qin era (771-221 B.C.)—a period which demonstrates features comparable to those of modern system of states and international legal order—to see how these texts shed light on the legitimacy and legality problematique in the use of force for humanitarian purposes. The thesis then goes on with a deeper level of analysis: Westphalian principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, self-determination and mutual non-interference are not the only factors that have shaped the PRC’s doctrine. Chinese non-interventionism has a deep structure in the intellectual history of China. It is part of the nexus between fundamentalist hermeneutics applied to the pre-Qin canons and the Confucian-Legalist grand narrative of orthodoxy, which has been steering the cognitive mapping of the Chinese in the three dimensions of international ethics—cosmology, worldview, and positive/negative state responsibility—presented through the classical texts. Drawing references from Hans-Georg Gadamer’s theory, this thesis proposes a redefinition of the Chinese tradition and an emancipation of hermeneutics to classical Chinese canons. By replacing fundamentalism with a reinvented cosmopolitanism rooted in universal conscience, it is possible to develop classical Chinese conceptions of the jus ad bellum into an innovative norm or principle of humanitarian intervention and R2P that appears more acceptable than what the PRC views as “Western-imposed standards” but is still compatible with liberal internationalism.