Responsible protection

UN-authorized humanitarian intervention should seek to protect innocent civilians, not a change of government

In recent years, the West's "neo-interventionism" under the banner of "responsibility to protect" has caused tremendous controversy in the international arena. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China should unequivocally advocate "responsible protection".

The responsibility to protect doctrine, which is supposed to prevent and halt genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, was first put forward by Canada's International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in a report it submitted to the United Nations in 2001. It then was included in the Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit.