Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy

Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy

(Adopted at the Second Session of the Sixth National People's Congress on May 31, 1984 and promulgated by Order No.13 of the President of the People’s Republic of China on May 31, 1984; amended in accordance with the Decision on the Amending the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy made at the 20th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on February 28, 2001)

The People's Republic of China is a unitary multinational State created jointly by the people of all its nationalities. Regional national autonomy is the basic policy adopted by the Communist Party of China for the solution of the national question in China through its application of Marxism-Leninism; it is a basic political system of the State.

Regional national autonomy means that the minority nationalities, under unified State leadership, practise regional autonomy in areas where they live in concentrated communities and set up organs of self-government for the exercise of the power of autonomy. Regional national autonomy embodies the State's full respect for and guarantee of the right of the minority nationalities to administer their internal affairs and its adherence to the principle of equality, unity and common prosperity for all the nationalities.

Regional national autonomy has played an enormous role in giving full play to the initiative of all the nationalities as masters of the country, in developing among them a socialist relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance, in consolidating the unification of the country and in promoting socialist construction in the national autonomous areas and the rest of the country. In the years to come, continued efforts shall be made to uphold and improve the system of regional national autonomy, so that it will play a greater role in the country's socialist modernization drive.

It has been proven by practice that adherence to regional national autonomy requires that the national autonomous areas be given effective guarantees for implementing State laws and policies in the light of existing local conditions; that large numbers of cadres at various levels and specialized personnel and skilled workers of various professions and trades be trained from among the minority nationalities; that the national autonomous areas strive to promote local socialist construction in the spirit of self-reliance and hard work and contribute to the nation's construction as a whole; and that the State strive to help the national autonomous areas speed up their economic and cultural development in accordance with the plans for national economic and social development. In the effort to maintain the unity of the nationalities, both big-nation chauvinism, mainly Han chauvinism, and local national chauvinism must be opposed.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and Deng Xiaoping Theory, the people of various nationalities in the autonomous areas shall, together with the people of the whole country, adhere to the people's democratic dictatorship and to the policy of reform and opening to the outside world, march along the road of constructing socialism with Chinese characteristics, concentrate their efforts on the socialist modernization drive, develop the socialist market economy, foster the development of socialist democracy and the socialist legal system, enhance socialist cultural and ideological progress, speed up the economic and cultural development of the national autonomous areas, work towards their unity and prosperity and strive for the common prosperity of all the nationalities and for the transformation of China into a prosperous, powerful, democratic and culturally advanced socialist country.

LTTE Leader Calls for Autonomy and Self-Government for Tamil Homeland

LTTE Leader Calls for Autonomy and Self-Government for Tamil Homeland

In a radical move to clarify the policy orientation of his organisation, Mr Velupillai Pirapaharan, the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) declared that he would favourably consider a political framework that offers substantial regional autonomy and self-government to the Tamil people on the basis of their right to internal self-determination.

Enunciating the organisation’s policy in his annual Heroes’ Day address today, the Tamil Tiger leader explained that the Tamil people want to live in freedom and dignity in their own historical homeland pursuing the development of their language, culture and economy and managing their own affairs under a system of self-rule.

Mr Pirapaharan appealed to the Sinhala people to support the aspirations of the Tamils for autonomy and self-government in their own lands. ‘If our demand for regional self-rule based on the right to internal self-determination is rejected, we have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state,’ the Tamil leader declared.

Expressing satisfaction over the progress of the peace negotiations between the government and his organisation, Mr Pirapaharan said that the keen interest shown by the international community over the current peace efforts and their offer of humanitarian assistance to the war affected population was encouraging. ‘It is our deepest desire that the current peace talks facilitated by Norway should succeed and all the communities living in the island should co-exist in harmony.’

The Tiger leader further said that the LTTE is prepared to discuss all issues underlying the ethnic conflict. ‘But the talks should be conducted freely without constraints, without conditions, without timeframes. Imposing parameters or stipulating conceptual limits for political negotiations entails an infringement on the basic political freedom and choice of our people. The freedom to determine their political status and to pursue their social, cultural and economic development are the fundamental political rights of our people,’ Mr Pirapaharan explained.

The following are extracts from Mr Pirapaharan’s statement:

‘Our liberation struggle has reached a new historical turning point and entered into a new developmental stage. We are facing a new challenge. We have ceased armed hostilities and are now engaged in a peaceful negotiating process to resolve the ethnic conflict. Our sincere and dedicated commitment to the peace process has falsified and demolished the propaganda campaign carried out by Sinhala chauvinists that we are enemies of peace.

Even on the issue of cease-fire, we took the initiative. We declared a unilateral cease-fire and called upon the government to reciprocate. The new government, which assumed power with a mandate for peace, reciprocated positively to our declaration of cease-fire. The mutually agreed cessation of hostilities came into effect on 23 February under the supervision of an international monitoring team. This cease-fire has been in force for the past nine months. There have been several provocative attempts by certain elements of the armed forces and anti-peace racist forces to disrupt the peace process. There were incidents in which several innocent Tamils were killed. Nevertheless, we maintained a rigid discipline and observed peace. This is a clear demonstration of our genuine commitment to the path of peace.

If a reasonable settlement to the Tamil national question could be realised by peaceful means we will make every endeavour, with honesty and sincerity to pursue that path. Our political objective is to ensure that our people should live in freedom and dignity in their homeland enjoying the right of self-rule. If this political objective could be realised by peaceful means, we are prepared to adopt that method.

We have never shown any disinclination to win the political rights of our people through peaceful means. We have participated in peace negotiations at different places, at different times in different historical circumstances i.e in Thimpu, in Delhi, in Colombo, in Jaffna and now in Thailand. All previous attempts to a negotiated political settlement ended in fiasco. These failures could only be attributed to the hard-line attitude and deceitful political approaches of previous Sri Lanka governments. Now, the government of Mr Ranil Wickramasinghe is attempting to resolve the problems of the Tamils with sincerity and courage. Furthermore, the current cease-fire, built on a strong foundation and the sincere efforts of the international monitoring mission to further stabilise it, has helped to consolidate the peace process. The capable and skilful facilitation by the Norwegians has also contributed to the steady progress of the current peace talks. Above all, the concern, interests and enthusiasm shown by the international community has given hope and encouragement to both parties. The ideal approach is to move the talks forward, systematically, step by step, standing on a strong foundation of peace and building mutual confidence.

As a consequence of the brutal war that continued incessantly for more than two decades, our people face enormous existential problems. The social and political infrastructures of the Tamil nation are in ruins. The cities, towns and villages have been razed to the ground. Houses, temples and schools have been destroyed. An ancient civilization that stood on our lands for centuries has been uprooted. It is not possible for our people to rebuild their ruined social and economic structures. It is a monumental humanitarian problem. We hope that the international community will view the problem sympathetically. We are relieved to learn that international governments have come forward to assist the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the war damaged Tamil nation.

Though there is peace in the Tamil homeland, conditions of normalcy have not been restored. Under the cover of ‘high security zones’, the Sinhala armed forces are occupying residential areas and social, economic and cultural centres. Forty thousand troops are occupying Jaffna peninsula, which is a tiny geographical region with a dense population. The military occupation is suffocating the civilian masses and causing tensions. Jaffna, which is the cultural heartland of the Tamil people, has turned into an open prison. The occupying forces are using the civilians as their protective shields. As several villages, houses and roads are entrapped by occupation several thousands of internally displaced are unable to return to their residences. Unless this problem is resolved there is no possibility for normalcy and social peace to be restored to Jaffna.

It has always been our position that the urgent and immediate problems of our people should be resolved during the early stages of the peace talks. The former government of Sri Lanka rejected our position. As a result the peace talks broke down. There was a misconception on the part of the former regime that we were hesitant to take up the fundamental political issues and insisted on the resolution of the immediate problems. But the present government has been taking concrete actions redressing the urgent and immediate problems of our people. This is a positive development.

The objective of our struggle is based on the concept of self-determination as articulated in the UN Charter and other instruments. We have always been consistent with our policy with regard to our struggle for self-determination. Tamil homeland, Tamil nationality and Tamils’ right to self-determination are the fundamentals underlying our political struggle. We have been insisting on these fundamentals from Thimpu to Thailand. Our position is that the Tamil national question should be resolved on the basis of these core principles. Tamils constitute themselves as a people, or rather as a national formation since they possess a distinct language, culture and history with a clearly defined homeland and a consciousness of their ethnic identity. As a distinct people they are entitled to the right to self-determination. The right to self-determination has two aspects: internal and external. The internal self-determination entitles a people to regional self-rule.

The Tamil people want to live in freedom and dignity in their own lands, in their historically constituted traditional lands without the domination of external forces. They want to protect their national identity pursing the development of their language, culture and economy. They want to live in their homeland under a system of self-rule. This is the political aspiration of our people. This constitutes the essential meaning of internal self-determination. We are prepared to consider favourably a political framework that offers substantial regional autonomy and self-government in our homeland on the basis of our right to internal self-determination. But if our people’s right to self-determination is denied and our demand for regional self-rule is rejected we have no alternative other than to secede and form an independent state.

Racism and racist oppression are the causative factors for rebellions and secessionist politics. The Sinhalese people should identify and reject the racist forces if they desire a permanent peace, ethnic harmony and economic prosperity. They should support, wholeheartedly, the efforts to find a political solution by peaceful means. The Sinhalese people should not oppose the Tamils’ aspirations to manage their own affairs under a system of self-rule in their own homeland. It is the politics of the Sinhala nation that will eventually determine whether the Sinhalese could peacefully co-exist with the Tamils or to compel the Tamils to secede.

We are pleased to note that the talks between the government and the LTTE are progressing forward under the conditions of mutual trust and goodwill. We are encouraged by the interest shown by the international community in the peace process and their willingness to offer assistance to rebuild the war damaged economy of the Tamil nation. It is our deepest desire that the current peace talks facilitated by Norway should succeed and all the communities living in the island should co-exist in harmony. If the Sinhala chauvinistic forces, for their own petty political reasons scuttle this peace effort which has raised high hopes and expectations and gained the support of the international community, the Tamil people will be compelled to pursue the path of secession and political independence,’ Mr Pirapaharan declared.

The world's working regional autonomies - an introduction and comparative analysis

Many countries are faced with ethnic conflict and the necessity of the protection of national minorities. Regional territorial autonomy is a legal-political device to combine minority protection with internal self-determination in a regional framework, without changing the concerned state’s boundaries. By that way in about 60 regions within at least 22 states serious and protracted state-minority-conflicts could be solved in a sustainable manner, giving space to a new partnership between the central state and the regional community. After a theoretical introduction in the political concept of autonomy the author takes you on “a travel through the world of the operating autonomy systems”, today existing in all continents. In a functional analysis the main issues of territorial autonomy are compared in their practical application, typical elements are worked out, success factors explained and perspectives of further development highlighted. Regional autonomy is a precious experience of political organisation in a growing number of regions in the world. In many current conflict scenarios it offers an important concept of conflict solving and minority protection. A comprehensive insight in the world of the autonomous regions not only for experts.

Special Autonomous for Bali

 Special Autonomous for Bali

Bali with all its unique has generated a big income from its tourism industry. Yes, it is true that Bali has no natural resources but Bali has contributed 20% up to 30% foreign exchange to the central government of Indonesia. If we draw an analogy between Bali and a boy who has grown up and has strength to stand on his own feet, he will choose to be able to manage himself for sure. So, it is a normal willing if Bali asks for special autonomous for its capability to manage its region.

In fact, Bali has had its autonomy but there were some problems arisen from it. It is stated in the regional autonomy act number 32 year 2004 that every region in Bali – in this case the regencies in Bali, have authority to control their region respectively. This policy has created gaps among those regencies. Let’s see there are only three regencies in Bali which succeed to develop due to they have a lot of tourism assets than the other regencies. This condition makes a social jealousy and it could make segregation between the richer region and the poorer one and the impact is Bali will loss its unity.

It would be better if Bali has special autonomous for the province, so it can manage the prosperity among regencies. It can create a suitable policy for its education sector, agriculture sector, economy sector, tourism, and etc. And there must be a fair income distribution between region and central government otherwise many regions in Indonesia will utter their protest against the central government. A different thing cannot be forced to be similar but it is on how we appreciate, how we respect the difference to build the unity among us.

Million march for Catalonia's right to autonomy

 Million march for Catalonia's right to autonomy

BARCELONA: More than a million people have gathered in Barcelona to demand greater regional autonomy for Catalonia and protest against a recent court ruling forbidding the prosperous region from calling itself a nation.

A city government spokesman said police had counted 1.1 million people at a vast rally on Saturday that filled Barcelona's Gran Via, Diagonal and Paseo de Gracia boulevards. The rally organisers, Omnium Cultural, calculated attendance at 1.5 million.

Spain's courts recently granted sweeping powers of self-rule to the region, but its highest court ruled on Friday that the constitution recognised Spain as the country's only nation, dealing a blow to efforts by Catalonia to assume that status.

The verdict came after four years of debate in which conservative and liberal judges locked horns over whether the charter went beyond the limits of Spain's system of granting varying degrees of self-rule to its 17 regions.

The Catalan region's statute of autonomy, which was earlier approved by the Spanish parliament and endorsed by Catalan voters in a 2006 referendum, gave the regional parliament enhanced powers in taxation and judicial matters as well as more control over airports, ports and immigration.

The court approved in June most of Catalonia's statute of autonomy but changed some of the most controversial points, drawing the anger of the government of the nationalist-minded region.

The statute has the support of most political parties in Catalonia, where a sizeable minority would like to see the wealthy region, which has its own language and distinct culture, break away from Spain.

The statute was one of the first initiatives of the Socialist government of the Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which took office in 2004.

Catalans are proud of a history which, until 1714, linked them to the independent Kingdom of Aragon.

During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975 Catalans were forbidden to speak their language and it was illegal to publish books in Catalan.

A spokesman for Omnium Cultural, Daniel Jove, said about 1400 Catalan organisations, including political parties, trade unions and cultural and business associations, had called on members to gather.

Television news reports showed a huge crowd waving Catalan nationalist flags, chanting and carrying banners saying ''We are a nation''.

Catalonia is home to about 7 million of Spain's population of some 47 million, and accounts for 25 per cent of its gross domestic product.

''This demonstration is the start of independence that we want for our country,'' a Catalan student said.

The Socialist head of the regional government, Jose Montilla, and his two predecessors led the march. But Josep-Lluis Carod-Rovira, the deputy leader of the Catalan regional government and a leader of the separatist Catalan Republican Left party, said the march's timing was poor.

''This is ridiculous,'' he said. ''We will end up with more Spanish flags being waved for the Spain-Holland [World Cup final] match on Sunday than Catalan flags on the Saturday demonstration.''

Bolivia's on autonomy

The vote was the first of four referendums on greater autonomy from central government being planned by Bolivia's eastern lowland provinces, deepening a divide between Morales' supporters and the conservative opposition.

According to the pollster Focaliza cited by local television, Santa Cruz residents voted 86 percent in favor of autonomy and 14 percent against. The result had been widely expected because Morales backers vowed to boycott the polls and the exit polls did not estimate turnout.

On the streets of Santa Cruz city, residents honked car horns as they celebrated victory in a referendum that Morales had branded as illegal.

"We feel the battle has not been in vain," said Rodolfo Ochoa, 30, a craftsman in the city's main square where crowds gathered and danced soon after the exit polls were broadcast.

Voting was mainly calm, but officials said at least 18 people were hurt as supporters and opponents of Morales, a former coca farmer, fought with sticks and stones in the region's capital. One man died as police fired tear gas to quell the unrest, a Reuters witness said.

The referendum theoretically gives Santa Cruz's conservative leaders more control over natural resources that include fertile farmland and about 10 percent of Bolivia's oil and natural gas reserves.

Despite Morales' rejection of the validity of the ballot, the resounding "yes" vote could force him to negotiate with his opponents in Santa Cruz and three other pro-autonomy regions in Bolivia's eastern lowlands.

NATURAL GAS

The growing demands for regional autonomy have exposed a bitter divide between Bolivia's wealthier lowlands and the poor Andean highlands, where tens of thousands of people marched to show support for Morales -- Bolivia's first Indian president -- in several cities.

Political tensions have heightened in recent weeks in South America's poorest country and Bolivia's armed forces issued a rare statement on Saturday that backed the president and called the referendum a threat to national security.

The historically unstable country's eastern areas are home to vast natural gas reserves, the second-largest in South America and a key supply source for Brazil and Argentina.

Santa Cruz also has rich farmland and its population has grown fast over the past 40 years, with Bolivians from the highlands seeking a better life due to its growing economy. It is now home to a quarter of Bolivia's some 9 million people.

Morales, a close ally of Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, sees the referendum as a bid to destabilize his government, engineered by conservative rivals who oppose his efforts to break up large land holdings and empower the poor, indigenous majority.

The Andean highlands are more heavily indigenous, while areas like Santa Cruz have a larger European-descended population.

Morales sought to play down the significance of the referendum in recent days and appeared on national television playing soccer earlier on Sunday.

Political commentators fear any decision by Morales to reject the vote might spark wider, potentially violent protests between his opponents and supporters.

In Spain, crowds rally for Catalan autonomy

AFP - Hundreds of thousands of people on Saturday marched in northeastern Spain in support of the Catalan region's statute of autonomy, after it was challenged by a constitutional court.

The statute, which was earlier approved by the Spanish parliament and endorsed by Catalan voters in a 2006 referendum, gave the regional parliament enhanced powers in taxation and judicial matters as well as more control over airports, ports and immigration.

Reports put the number of demonstrators at several hundred thousand.

A vast column of protesters was preceded by a huge Catalan flag with the slogan "we are a nation, we decide ourselves" while thousands of red and yellow Catalan banners were visible among the huge crowd.

"This demonstration is the start of independence that we want for our country (Catalonia)" one student told AFP.

The protest was staged hours after the confirmation by Spain's Constitutional Court of the June 28 ruling which removed important parts of the new statute of autonomy.

The ruling, published on Friday, stated that the term "nation" defining Catalonia in the statute had no legal value because "the constitution only knows one nation, Spain."

The court in June approved most of Catalonia's statute of autonomy but changed some of the most controversial points, drawing the ire of the government of the nationalist-minded region.

The statute has the support of the vast majority of political parties in Catalonia, where a sizeable minority would like to see the wealthy region, which has its own language and distinct culture, break away from Spain.

The statute was one of the first initiatives of the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which took office in 2004.

It was approved by the parliament in Madrid in 2006 and endorsed by Catalan voters in a referendum.

Catalonia is home to around seven million of Spain's population of some 47 million, and accounts for 25 percent of its gross domestic product.