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From Principle to Practice: China’s Doctrine of Non-Intervention and Hong Kong

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Treballs Finals de Grau de Dret. Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2025-2026. Tutor: Prusinowska, Monika

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This thesis examines the principle of non-intervention, as both a legal rule of
contemporary international law, and a contentious tool used to frame political conflict. It outlines the historical origin and codification of the doctrine of the United Nations Charter. Tracing how the International Court of Justice jurisprudence has defined unlawful intervention through the threshold of coercion, distinguishing prohibited interference from legitimate diplomacy, criticism, or cooperation. It then analyses China’s understanding of the principle, displaying how historical experience, the Moist political ideology and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence has shaped their standing on sovereign autonomy and multilateral engagement. The third part applies this framework to Hong Kong as a study case situated at the intersection of international obligation and domestic jurisdiction. It examines the start of international interaction in the territory, with the 1984 Sino-British Declaration, as it constitutes the structure of “One Country, Two Systems”. It particularly underlines the clash between international reactions framed in terms of treaty compliance and rights protection, and Beijing’s characterization of the principle. The thesis concludes that Hong Kong illustrates a structural
tension within the international order: the growing globalisation, underlining the importance of international norms, versus the need for everlasting power of state sovereignty and the principle of non-intervention.

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cc-by-nc-nd (c) Nora Borrell Fernandez, 2025

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From Principle to Practice: China’s Doctrine of Non-Intervention and Hong Kong