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Addressing the Issue of Self-Determination, Specifically Chinese Autonomous Regions

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Addressing the Issue of Self-Determination, Specifically Chinese Autonomous Regions Forum: United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Issue: Addressing the issue of self-determination, specifically Chinese autonomous regions. Student Officer: Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui Position: President Chair Introduction “To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self- determination of peoples…” [Paragraph 2, Article 1 of Charter of the United Nations] It was from the former United States president Woodrow Wilson that the first use of the concept ‘self- determination’ stemmed from in 1918. The fundamental idea behind the concept of self-determination was that people are sovereign, not subjects of the state. This idea developed through the shortcomings of the English, French and American revolutions. From this further stems off the concept that the legitimacy of rule depends on the consent of the governed and not power of the governor. Entailed by erosion of feudal imperialism was the sovereignty nations held in international affairs. As for the empires that still persisted, ethnic nationalism led their demise. In the modern era, the right to self-determination is one of the core principles of international law, it is the responsibility of every state to respect and protect this right and its violation constitutes an international criminal offense. This concept was embraced by many leaders like Lenin, Woodrow Wilson and others. It was incorporated into the 1941 Atlantic Charter and the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals which were the foundations of the Charter of the United Nations. This right has been reiterated multiple times since the formation of the UN Charter- in the Declaration of Friendly Relations (1970), Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR), Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and various instruments. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has internal political issues with many regions on the grounds of self-determination/autonomy. It has 155 ethnic autonomous areas and 5 autonomous regions. Along with local disagreement of the system(s) in place the country also entails various human rights violations. However despite this, most nations explicitly agree with China’s claim over all those territories- including even the most autonomous of all, Taiwan. It is difficult to ascertain whether the PRC does hold rights over those territories. International law suggests that they do deserve a greater degree of autonomy, human rights instruments do hold PRC as a violator and so do citizens living in PRC. However, for PRC itself, a poll among the citizens showed that over 80% were happy with the country’s scenario. Moreover, Modern international law being a western invention especially in the question of sovereignty enrages the East, especially PRC which uses claims of history more than that of international law for they believe the west is unfairly biased against them. The security council convenes in this session to discuss the future of these Chinese regions and action is imperative. Key Terms Accession “Accession is the act by which one nation becomes a party to an agreement already in force between other powers.” In the context of this topic, such an agreement will refer to the inclusion of the state party to become a part of a parent-nation. Autonomy “Autonomy is the right of an organization, country, or region to be independent and govern itself.” Such self-government need not mean full-independence, but independence in terms of all its affairs apart from national topics like defense. Colony “A colony is a country or area controlled politically by a more powerful country that is often far away.” Examples such as India, Australia, Pre-unified American colonies, African colonies provide an understanding of what a colony is. Dalai Lama “Dalai Lama is the leader of the Tibetan Buddhist religion”. However, according to popular belief, the Dalai Lama is regarded as the spiritual leader as well as the temporal leader of the Tibetan people. Dissolution “To be broken up into separate parts.” In the context of this guide it shall refer to the breaking up of one country into smaller countries. Example, Dissolution of Czechoslovakia into Czech Republic and Slovakia. Ethnicity “The fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition.” Imperialism “A policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonization, use of military force or other means.” Secession “The action of withdrawing formally from membership of a federation or body, especially a political state.” In the context of this guide, secession shall refer to the gaining of full independence by a region by means of breaking away from the parent-country. Self-Determination “The ability or power to make decisions for yourself, especially the power of a nation to decide how it will be governed.” Self determination shall not be limited to the power of a sovereign nation in controlling its affairs but rather the freedom of individuals, communities and parts of a nation—and their autonomous right to control themselves. However, the method of exercising self-determination differs. Some aspire for full independence. Some for a degree of political, cultural and economic autonomy and others it may just mean to live and manage their communities without interference. Separatism “The belief held by people of a particular race, religion, or other group within a country that they should be independent and have their own government or in some way live apart from other people.” Separatist ideology that backs secession and self-determination aims stems out of discriminatory beliefs and not the actual right of autonomy. Sovereignty “The power of a country to control it’s own government.” Sovereignty refers to a nation’s right to freedom from external interference and complete control over its domestic matters. Statehood “The condition of being a country or a part of a large county that has it’s own government.” Statehood is the condition of being a sovereign nation. Sovereignty is the right of a nation that bears statehood. Unitary State “A unitary state is a state governed as a single power in which the central government is ultimately supreme. The central government may create or abolish administrative divisions and those units exercises only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate.” Key Issues Chinese Control Over Autonomous Zones “People's congresses of national autonomous areas have the power to enact autonomy regulations and specific regulations in the light of the political, economic and cultural characteristics of the nationality or nationalities in the areas concerned. The autonomy regulations and specific regulations of autonomous regions shall be submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for approval before they go into effect. Those of autonomous prefectures and counties shall be submitted to the standing committees of the people's congresses of provinces or autonomous regions for approval before they go into effect, and they shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the record.” [Article 116 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China] Although the PRC has created autonomous zones, many believe there is a lack of self-determination. This claim stems off of the restrictions imposed on the autonomous zones. For such a zone to enact a legislation, they need prior permission from Beijing. However, for non-autonomous zones, they are at freedom to enact legislations following which they only have to inform Beijing about what’s being done which ironically makes an autonomous area less autonomous than any non-autonomous area. Beijing’s extensive surveillance and military set-ups in autonomous zones are realized to be more than in non-autonomous zones which is contradictory to autonomy. The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region began the drafting of their work before 1958, the earliest and most active drafting work among all autonomous regions. By March 1958 they submitted their first draft of the Autonomous Regulation. However due to the cultural revolution and the anti-rightist movement drafting was suspended till 1980s. Guangxi submitted their drafts in 1987, and again in 1991 but both were rejected. They re-drafted in 1993 but never submitted it. The restrictions imposed on the so called autonomy of zones led Guangxi to giving up drafting as a whole. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Zone faced a similar fate, began drifting in 1980 and was suspended in 1993 with no success. The Tibetan Aspirations of Self-Determination China claims its right to sovereignty over Tibet on the grounds that it has done so for seven centuries. The relation between the Dalai Lama and the ruler was that of a patron and a religious figure and not a federal relationship like that of a sovereign and a subject. In 1913 the Dalai Lama himself made that statement at the same time declaring its own independence. In 1951, Tibet was surrounded by the military and the teenage Dalai Lama was forced to sign accession into China. Apart from historical claims, China also says that Tibet being a backward region and one that needed a force to liberate it from serfdom and feudalism. However both reasons do not seem as good reasons to claim sovereignty over a region- nor military occupation nor reasons of backwardness. However, many nations still agree with PRC’s claim over Tibet but there still are nations that oppose their historical claim. "it is clear that on the eve of the invasion in 1950, Tibet was not under the rule of any foreign country." Said the Philippines delegate in a UNGA discourse. The delegate of Ireland also aligned with the same beliefs saying "for thousands of years, or for a couple of thousand years at any rate, [Tibet] was as free and as fully in control of its own affairs as any nation in this Assembly, and a thousand times more free to look after its own affairs than many of the nations here." The dormant issue was once again brought to light in anti-government clashes in March 2008 in Tibet and other regions in China.
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