티벳의 국제법적 지위와 自決權

International Legal Status of Tibet and the Right to Self-Determination

The recent Tibetan uprisings caused international concern on the Sino-Tibetan relations. Historically, at least, from the middle of the Qing Dynasty until her collapse, it is considered that Tibet had been under the suzerainty of China. It is not clear whether Tibet had been under the suzerainty or part of or independent of China during the period of Republic of China. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, she invaded Tibet in order to annex it into the territory of China. In 1959, the Tibetan people demonstrated against the invasion and the following anti-Tibetan Chinese policies. Given the historical and factual situations in Tibet, this paper reviews the possibility of the Tibetan people to exercise the right to self-determination under international law. Before considering the right to self-determination of the Tibetan people, the concept of right to self-determination is examined. According to the UN practices concerning exercise of the right to self-determination, peoples who are under a colonial regime or under foreign domination or suffering from gross violation of human rights such as under a racist government, can exercise the right to self-determination. The East Timor case confirmed that the right to self-determination is a right erga omnes. The right to self-determination may be classified among others into internal or external one. In sum, Tibetan people are under the almost colonial regime or at least suffering from gross violation of human rights. In considering the UN practice, they may exercise the right to self-determination in the form either of external self-determination which means independence or of internal one. Under the current political situation, it may be plausible that the Tibetan people exercise the right to internal self-determination.