Sweden has famously refused to participate in any conflicts since 1918, including both World Wars.

1918年起，瑞典便以拒絕參與任何衝突聞名，包括兩次世界大戰

So, what does it mean to be a neutral country?

所以說究竟什麼是中立國？

Well, neutrality was spelled out in the Hague Convention of 1907, which first defined many of the rules of war.

1907年的海牙公約明確規定了中立原則，該公約首次定義了許多戰爭規則。

Generally it means that a country has declared their non-participation during a war, and more specifically cannot be counted on to oppose a belligerent country.

中立表示國家在戰爭中不參與任何一方，更準確來說，中立國對交戰任何一方都不採取敵對行動。

A belligerent is what we call countries actively engaged in hostile warfare.

交戰國指的是主動涉入敵對戰事的國家。

There are also non-belligerents, who take part in a war through support, but do not actually fight.

非交戰國則是不直接參與作戰，但提供援助的國家。

Most countries declare neutrality on a conflict-to-conflict basis.

大多數中立國只是戰時中立國。

Some countries, notably Switzerland and Ireland, are considered permanently neutral.

有些國家像瑞士和愛爾蘭則是永久中立國。

Switzerland is also one of the few neutral countries to have a significant military force, known as "armed neutrality."

以瑞士也是少數軍力強大的中立國家，以「武裝中立」聞名。

Now, the main draw for declaring neutrality is the fact that no belligerent country is allowed to invade or violate your borders during the course of the war.

宣告中立最大的優點是在戰爭期間，所有交戰國都不得侵犯中立國國界。

In theory, this works because it takes you out of the equation.

中立在理論上可行，是因為中立國不會對任何一方不利。

Belligerent countries know that you won’t attack them as long as they don't attack you.

交戰國也知道，只要不攻擊中立國，它們就不會主動發動攻擊。

However, this doesn’t always work.

但是也有例外。

During Word War I, Belgium was invaded by Germany despite declaring neutrality.

比方說一戰時，比利時雖宣告中立仍遭德國入侵。

Neutrality also comes with limitations in exchange for international protection.

宣告中立所能得到的國際保護仍然有限。

Belligerents are expressly forbidden from using a neutral country’s land or water to transport troops, send information, or recruit soldiers.

國際法明令禁止交戰國，不得利用中立國的領土或領水以行軍、傳遞情報或募兵。

However, wounded soldiers are an exception, and are allowed to be transported.

但是護送傷兵不在此限，且被允許能夠傳送。

Additionally, people in a neutral country who want to fight are allowed to leave the country to do so.

另外，中立國國民若想投身作戰，可以自行離國從軍。

This was seen with Ireland, where Irish troops fought in British ranks during World War II, despite Ireland’s permanent neutrality.

愛爾蘭便曾有此現象，雖然身為永久中立國二戰時，愛爾蘭軍隊卻與英軍並肩作戰 。

If a belligerent does, in fact, attempt to invade a neutral country, that country can fight back without losing its neutral status.

若交戰國有意圖入侵中立國，中立國可以反擊並仍保持中立 。

Technically, only Finland, Malta, Ireland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkmenistan, and the Vatican City are considered neutral.

現在只有芬蘭、馬爾他、愛爾蘭、日本、列支敦士登、瑞士、瑞典、土庫曼斯坦以及梵蒂岡是中立國。

However, not everyone agrees on the list of neutral countries.

但是有些國家中立狀態並未受到國際承認。

Although Ireland acts as a permanently neutral country, it is considered more of a non-belligerent, and is not a signatory of the Hague Convention.

愛爾蘭雖宣告成為永久中立國但其國際行為更像非交戰國，而且愛爾蘭沒有簽署海牙公約。

A number of countries within the EU, who have never fought in conflicts, are unable to claim neutrality due to the EU’s mutual defense policy.

許多歐盟成員國從未參與衝突，卻無法宣告中立。

This means that Austria, Finland, Malta, and Sweden are no longer expressly neutral as EU members.

這是因為歐盟有共同防禦條款，也就是說奧地利、芬蘭、馬爾他和瑞典作為會員國，不再是絕對中立狀態

However, the implications of this issue have yet to be directly addressed during an actual war.

不過這個問題尚未受到軍事戰爭的挑戰。

Although neutrality was originally an important aspect of diplomacy, there hasn’t been a far reaching conflict between superpowers since the cold war.

中立雖曾是外交一大議題，但冷戰後，從未發生超級強國的大型戰事

There is little threat of invasion for most countries.

大多數國家都不再有被入侵的疑慮。

With fighting limited to individual countries, neutrality looks like it can take a break for now.

戰爭規模也限縮到單一國家層級，看來各國暫時不再需要宣告中立。

There are quite a few countries around the world that have no standing army to defend themselves.

全球有不少國家沒有軍隊、無法自衛。

To check out the list, see our video right here.

想知道是哪些國家，請看這裡的影片。

Thanks for watching TestTube, and don’t forget to subscribe!

感謝收看TestTube！別忘了訂閱頻道！