China and Legal Wars

An extremely interesting (though somewhat self-serving and contro-versial) article, I thought, from Chinese legal professor Guo Shuyong who argued that what he termed as "legal wars" (合法性战争)had and will contribute to China's growth as a major power.

These wars included the Sino-Russo border war in August 1929, the Sino-Japanese war from 1931 to 1941, the Korean War beginning in 1950 (pictured) and the 1979 Sino-Vietnam War.

Guo noted that the 1979 Vietnam War was an attempt by China to support the Cambodian people in their fight against aggression, and to oppose "regional hegemony" in Southeast Asia.

The self-serving part came in when Guo argued that "中国的战争行动增强了中国帮助弱者，反抗强权的良好国际形象." ("China's war efforts had strengthened China's positive international image of helping the weak and opposing hegemony.") Worse, Guo added that "我们有理由把中越战争作为国际社会意志的体现，是中国执行国际社会意志的战争行动." ("We have reasons to believe that the Sino-Vietnam War is a manifestation of the will of the international community, and that China is acting on the will of the international community.")(郭树勇，试论合法性战争与中国崛起，国际体系与中国的软力量，上海社会科学院世界经济与政治研究院，时事出版社，2006)

Yeah, right.

Guo was(slightly) more convincing when he noted that China's involvement in the Korean War had helped the East Asian region maintained five decades of stability, though I am not sure if it had necessarily 打击了美国霸权主义的气焰。("defeated the arrogance of American hegemony".)

Guo's central argument was that during the process of developing into a major power, it would be advantageous for China to engage in "one or two legal wars, so as to consolidate its development."

But what was most controversial was Guo's assertion that 一个有志向的崛起大国，必须时刻寻找战争的合法理由，必须深入研究国际社会的发展动向，必须成立专门的研究合法性战争与国际法的有效机构，必须对一些有可能演化成军事冲突的危机爆发点进行预防性的合法性战争准备。这种准备是一种政治准备，也是一种法律准备。一旦这种准备是相对充分的，就要抓住时机，高举国际人道主义与国际法原则的旗帜为中国的崛起而奋斗。

("A rising power with ambition should always be on the look out for legal reasons to enter a war, and deeply analyze the developmental trends of international society. It should also set up effective departments to research into both legal wars and international law, and be prepared to intervene into preventive legal wars in military hotspots. Such preparation must be both political and legal. Once these preparations are in place, it should seize the opportunity and raise high the banner of international humanitarianism and principles of international law and forge ahead to ensure China's rise.")