An Emerging Normative Power: China in the Debate on the Responsibility to Protect

Abstract

This article analyses the evolution of China's position in the Responsibility to Protect debate, highlighting the shift from a stance of outright rejection to active participation in the development of the doctrine. While China initially viewed R2P as a threat to its sovereignty, it gradually adopted a more participatory stance and promoted a restrictive interpretation. The article examines this issue as a relevant case for understanding broader trends, in particular the ability of emerging powers to position themselves as “normative powers” and to exert greater influence on global governance structures, in the context of the reconfiguration of the international order as a flexible, multipolar system.