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The concept of humanitarian intervention in ancient Chinese philosophy and contemporary Chinese discourse

Rykov S.Yu.,

Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, stasrykov@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 617569 | ORCID: 0000-0001-7068-942X | RESEARCHER_ID: V-7984-2018

Kocherov O.S.,

Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, kocheroviphras@gmail.com

elibrary_id: 994679 | ORCID: 0000-0002-2745-5991 | RESEARCHER_ID: V-8082-2018

Article received: 2024.06.17 20:50. Accepted: 2024.07.15 20:50


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2024.06.09
EDN: HNVRLE

Rubric: Orbis terrarum

For citation:

Rykov S.Yu., Kocherov O.S. The concept of humanitarian intervention in ancient Chinese philosophy and contemporary Chinese discourse. – Polis. Political Studies. 2024. No. 6. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2024.06.09. EDN: HNVRLE (In Russ.)

Abstract

This paper, for the first time in Russian science, outlines the evolution of ancient Chinese views on humanitarian intervention and their potential use in Beijing’s modification of the contemporary concept of humanitarian intervention and the ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) initiative. There are good reasons to believe that the concept of humanitarian intervention was formulated for the first time in the world history of thought in China during the Warring States period (5^th–3^rd centuries BC). Its functional equivalents were the terms zhū 誅 ‘judgement/punishment’ and zhēng 征 ‘expedition,’ used in the discussions of the ‘sage kings of antiquity’ (gǔ-zhī shèng wáng 古之聖王, semi-legendary exemplary cultural heroes and dynastic founders) and in the discourse on the ‘proper [use of] military force’ (yì-bīng 義兵), an ancient Chinese equivalent of the just war theory. The views on humanitarian intervention evolved from ‘divine intervention’ (i.e. military actions as the execution of heavenly judgment, till the beginning of the 3^rd century BC) to ‘humanitarian intervention’ (military actions as a means for rescuing the people from the villainous government, by the end of the 3^rd century BC). Beijing’s use of this tradition might create a greater scope for legitimizing political actions that meet the interests and values of the PRC, thus raising the legitimacy bar of humanitarian intervention, and helping to specify the methods and mechanisms of peaceful conflict resolution under the R2P. The main aspects of the ‘sinicization’ of modern humanitarian intervention, taking into account the ancient Chinese ethics of war, can be an alternative conceptualization of the political space, an emphasis on the morality of a legitimate actor, a criterion of popular approval, a rethinking of jus in bello and jus post bellum as verifiers of jus ad bellum, the distinction between a regime change and a ruler change, and a focus on intervention as the last resort.

Keywords

humanitarian intervention, responsibility to protect, R2P, ethics of war, ancient Chinese philosophy, PRC identity, national sovereignty, just war theory.

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