Research On The Principle Of National Self-determination

It has been 65 years since the principle of national self-determination was firstly written in the "United Nations Charter" as an international treaty law. During this period, a series of documents relating to the principles have been reaffirmed and redefined and it has eventually become one of the fundamental principles of international law. The establishment of the principle has played a significant role in the enrichment and development of the international law system. In recent years, political forces which are represented by national separatism, separatist forces and some Western Countries attempt to reinterpret this principle and use it as a reference principle to give theoretical and legal support to their activities, which caused confusion and negative impact. The active national separatists such as the Tibetan and East Turkistan separatists forces try to use the principle as reference to explain their legality of their activities. Therefore, the analysis and differentiation of the formation and development of the principle of national self-determination are meaningful to initiate public opinion and practice. It will have a positive and practical significance to guide our fight against ethnic separatism.This paper firstly sorts out the origin of the concept of national self-determination and the process of national self-determination which is influenced by international law. Then it analyzes the main content of national self-determination from the point of historical background, legislative mind, original meaning of the text, and points out the main body of self-determination which is evolved from nation to people, and then to both race and people, thus it clarifies the connotation from the four points of political independence, people of autonomy, protection of human rights and right of development, and emphasizes that the people's autonomy is the most important practice area of national self-determination.Subsequently, this paper analyzes the effect of the principle of national self-determination, affirmed the positive impact of the national liberation movement and anti-colonization process. From a logical point of view, the paper analyzes the conflict between the principle of national self-determination and the principle of national sovereignty, and highlights that the trend of the principle of national self-determination in recent years has been abused. With this regard, this paper concludes that the principle of national self-determination does not apply to our national separatist activities from three different angles including the legitimacy of national sovereignty, autonomy of citizens, and non international illegal actions, because the practical situation of the Tibetan and East Turkistan separatists forces in China and the existing constraint of the principle of national self-determination and the principle of national sovereignty.Finally, based on the ideas of solving ethnic division problems through development, this paper proposes a series of recommendations, including the cadre policy, personnel training and exchange, financial institutions, economic and social development mode transition, as well as building a more equal civil society, etc. It is aiming to provide theoretical and methodological support for policy analysis, policy making and evaluation.