Study On The Legitimacy Of "Preventive Self-Defense" In National Anti-Terrorism Action

Under the direct influence of the 9.11 incident,the United States threw out the "preemptive" anti-terrorism theory,which introduced the preventive self-defense existing in international customary law into the field of counter-terrorism.After entering the field of counter-terrorism,preventive self-defense should have two forms: counter-terrorism anticipatory self-defense to deal with imminent threats and counter-terrorism pre-emptive self-defense to deal with non-imminent threats.The Iraq war launched by the United States based on its new anti-terrorism theory has set off an upsurge of discussion.At the same time,it has caused the discussants to re-examine the past national practice of preventive self-defense,and gradually realize the abuse risk of anti-terrorism preventive self-defense.In order to limit this risk,the legitimate exercise of preventive self-defense against terrorism should be subject to a number of conditions,including the necessity of the use of force,the imminence of being threatened,the proportionality of the use of force,the distinction between attackers and asylum seekers,and reporting to the Security Council.As a preventive counter-terrorism strategy,if the legitimacy of counter-terrorism preventive self-defense can be affirmed,it will have certain practical significance for China,which also recognizes that counter-terrorism should include both prevention and combat.