Chinese perspectives on the ad bellum / in bello relationship and a cultural critique of the ad bellum / in bello separation in international humanitarian law

Bibliographic Data

ID12188038
AuthorsZhuo Liang (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume34
Issue2
Pages291-320
Publication date2021-02-22
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLeiden Journal of International Law (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0922-1565 • E-ISSN: 1478-9698
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0922156521000054
OpenAlexW3129507455
LanguageEN
References cited7

The intriguing relationship between jus ad bellum and jus in bello has provoked perennial academic debates. This article examines this issue from Chinese perspectives and offers a cultural critique of the well-entrenched norm of the ad bellum / in bello separation in international humanitarian law. Based on its distinctive traditional perception of the world order and the meaning of war, China embraces a holistic understanding of the ad bellum / in bello relationship. This relationship is construed as essentially harmonized. The cardinal moral principle underpinning it is that a just war should be conducted in a just way. The ad bellum / in bello separation in international humanitarian law has a Western origin, and the rationale behind it intimates Western sensitivity to the European just war tradition in which jus in bello was parasitic on jus ad bellum . It is assumed that jus ad bellum and jus in bello are irreconcilably in conflict once they come into contact with one another. This assumption is followed by a widely-held belief that any attempt to reconnect the two concepts would bring nothing but the subordination of jus in bello to jus ad bellum as experienced in European just war and, consequently, the collapse of the former. Chinese perspectives nevertheless evidence that this conventional line of thinking, hampering scholars from thinking beyond the sealed ad bellum / in bello separation, is not sound. A proposal for a more constructive solution should be taken into consideration

International humanitarian law · International law · International relations · Jus ad bellum · Just war theory · Norm (philosophy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Use of force · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law · Philosophy · War, Ethics, and Justification

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