HONG KONG — Ever since the 1950s, China has subscribed to the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries, which was first written into a treaty that it signed with India in 1954. China has loudly upheld this principle and criticized those who, in Beijing's view, interfere in its internal affairs, including those who comment on its human rights record.

During this period, however, China has by no means lived up to its own standards. In the Maoist era, for example, Beijing supported world revolution and called constantly for the downfall of "American imperialism" and its "running dogs."

In the 1960s and 1970s, China supported insurgent movements in Southeast Asia. Even as the Chinese government was pledging eternal friendship to governments with which it had forged diplomatic relations, the Chinese Communist Party was covertly supporting underground movements intent upon overthrowing those same governments. It was not until the 1980s that such blatant interference in other countries' internal affairs finally ceased.