“The Responsibility to Protect”（R2P）was put forward against the background of contested humanitarian interventions.Some of its provisions have been applied successfully in some instances, but it has also provoked major disagreements on the issues about Kenya, Darfur, and Sudan. Especially after the crisesin Libya and Syria,the current standoff among great powers has raised hard problems about its meaning and application.China now neither fully supports nor rejects R2P. Although America advocatesR2P, it continues to take its own position.If R2P is going to be an effective global concept, norm or principle，it is necessaryto consolidate a consensus about the legitimate rationale, scope, and meaning of R2P.