Abstract: In theory, double-terminal and multi-terminal current differential protection is an effective means to solve the protection problems of the active distribution networks. However, because it is difficult for a distribution network to provide the corresponding data synchronization services, the security of the current differential protection cannot be guaranteed. To solve this problem, the universal quasi-power theorem is introduced into the active distribution network, and a fault identification based on the pseudo-power theorem is proposed in this paper. On this basis, the characteristics of the quasi-power waveform under the internal and external faults are studied, and a pilot protection criterion is designed to be suitable for the double- and multi-terminal systems and immune to the synchronization errors. Combined with the proposed protection start strategy, the fault can be removed fast and reliably without any synchronous devices. Simulation results based on the PSCAD/EMTDC verify that the proposed protection scheme is able to maintain high security under the condition of multi-terminal asynchronous sampling without being affected by the distributed generator (DG) types and the system operation modes.