The Principle Of Non-interference In The Contemporary China's Diplomatic Practice

The principle of non-interference in the internal affairs is one of the fundamental principles of international Law, which stems from the principle of sovereignty. Also it is an important content of China’s independent foreign policy of peace. Mutual non-interference in internal affairs is one of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which is the cornerstone of China’s foreign policies. There are three layers of meanings of China’s non-interference principle as followed,1) No one has the right to interfere in China’s internal affairs.2) China has no right to interfere in internal affairs of any other countries.3) No one has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.However, in the real world of international politics, the principle of non-interference in internal affairs is often violated. The violation has become more and more frequent because of various reasons since the late20th century. In the international level, peace and development is the main theme of the present era. Meanwhile, with the accelerating pace of globalization, many problems have become global issues. In the domestic level, with China’s reform and opening-up, the overall national strength of China has increased remarkably and China’s position on the international stage is getting more and more important. In the meantime, it is called by the international community that China should play a responsible role in world affairs, and the voice is getting louder and louder. All of the above have posed a great challenge to the principle of noninterference in internal affairs which has been China’s consistent stand and principle. There exist tensions among the purposes of China’s practice of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs. China may take a firm stand in its practice of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs for the purposes such as upholding state sovereignty, safeguarding world peace and promoting common development. Also, China may take a flexible stand in its practice of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs for the reason that China is prepared to play an increasingly important and responsible role in world affairs. Moreover, China may take either firm or flexible stand in its practice of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs for the sake of its national economic development.China’s principle of noninterference in internal affairs is developing and evolving to meet with the new situations and new problems. China has been groping and developing its way to apply the principle of noninterference in internal affairs to its diplomatic practice. According to the analytic framework of two-level game theory, China’s own sovereignty concern, national economic interests and the progress of international mediation are three main variables which influence China’s use of the principle of noninterference in internal affairs. If China’s own sovereignty concern is involved in the issues, China will take a firm stand that China won’t allow anyone to interfere China’s own internal affairs. If China’s own sovereignty concern is involved in the issues, China will take a stand based on its national economic interests and the progress of international mediation. Of these two variables, the former determines China’s enthusiasm in its practice of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs; the latter determines whether positive or negative stand China will take in its practice of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs.