ABSTRACT
In terms of global norm development, this chapter anticipates the development of a humanitarian intervention principle that will increasingly relate nonintervention to the presence of democracy and respect for international human rights. In the 1999 United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan signaled a new era of activism in humanitarian intervention, highlighting the increasing need for UN intervention and proclaiming, "state sovereignty is being redefined by the forces of globalization and international cooperation." Given China's permanent membership in the UN Security Council and its status as a major power, it would seem unwise to ignore China in addressing the humanitarian intervention debate. China's lukewarm response to the "war on terrorism" and US initiatives in the UN Security Council respecting Iraq have well illustrated China's contradictory concerns in respect to sovereignty issues. China's resistance to democracy at home and its human rights practices have been visible components of its resistance to international intervention.
