Arms and the responsibility to protect
Western and Chinese involvement in Libya
The 2011 military intervention in Libya highlighted differences between states in the interpretation and implementation of the responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine. While Western states used the principle to justify military intervention and arming the rebel forces, the Chinese Government was reluctant to intervene and was critical of their actions. Concerns centred on the parameters of state sovereignty and responsibility, especially in relation to the transfer of weapons and determining which actors were legitimate recipients of weapons.
This report represents the first joint research project between independent Chinese and UK scholars analysing the relationships between the Arms Trade Treaty and the R2P principles within the context of the Libyan civil war. The aim of the research is to raise the profile of weapons transfer scholarship in China, introducing an independent academic voice into the policy discourse. This is important in light of suggestions from Chinese think tanks that China is keen to pursue a more active role in efforts to develop common standards for arms transfer control, including the UN ATT process; research carried out jointly between Chinese and Western scholars could potentially play an important part in raising awareness of conventional weapons control.
Click here for more on our arms transfer work.
Click here for more on our China programme.
武器和保护的责任
西方国家和中国介入利比亚冲突
内容简介
2011年的利比亚战争折射出不同国家在保护的责任制度（responsibility to protect ）理解和实施上的分歧。西方国家以保护的责任作为军事干预和向反对派提供武器的正当理由；中国政府则对干预有所保留、并批评这两种行为。分歧主要集中在国家主权和国家责任的界定范围上，尤其是在与武器转让相关的辩论中，谁才是合法的武器接受者的问题上。
这是独立的中国和英国学者第一次就《武器贸易条约》和保护的责任之间的联系、以及其对利比亚战争（可能）产生的影响所做的联合研究项目。这项研究的重点是鼓励中方学术界对武器的使用和转让进行研究，并且为政策话语提供一种独立的学术观点。当与中国的智库团体分析说中国有意以更积极的态度参与国际政策制定过程、并且将会签署《武器贸易条约》时，这种联合的学术报告和分析将有助于提高各界对常规武器管控重要性的理解。
“The war in Libya has been a significant moment in the evolution of R2P and in the debate over arms transfers and their control, showing serious points of divergence in policy and practice between states.”
