ABSTRACT
Non-interference is a long-observed feature of China’s foreign policy. The non-interference debate reflects both the complexity of Beijing’s international strategy and the intellectual condition of foreign policy studies in China. This chapter discusses the debate’s background and addresses various representative arguments. It analyzes the main features of the debate and its place in the contemporary grand strategy debates among Chinese scholars. The chapter describes the relationship between the debate and Beijing’s policy adjustment. The non-interference principle is therefore inconsistent with China’s promise of being a responsible power. Beijing’s “ignorance” of human rights abuses in some developing countries, Sudan and Zimbabwe for instance, has only awarded a tool for its adversaries to demonize China. The academic debate on the non-interference principle is unquestionably relevant to China’s foreign policy adjustment in the past few years, and it fits in more with the mirroring policy model.
