為此，本文的主要目的是進行相對自主性和局限性的法律理論檢查，在這樣的大背景下，對西藏的進一步研究目標是：要確定如何使用國際法律制度和法律理論來評估中國和西藏之間的關系。在有關問題的特定宗旨和脈絡指導下，首先要考慮到底什么問題才是“西藏問題”的本質。

　　To this end, the main aim of the thesis is to conduct an examination of the legal theory of self-determination and its limitations, and in doing so against the backdrop of Tibet further objectives are to ascertain how the international legal system and the legal theory on which it is premised have impacted on the relationship between China and Tibet. In contextualising the aims and objectives relating to the particular issue, it is first necessary to consider the nature of what may be termed 'the Tibet Question'.

　　在這篇dissertation的內容中，圍繞著西藏問題，使得整個討論過程變得很輕松，我們將通過研究這個問題的實質，去尋求一種潛在的發展途徑。

　　These issues surrounding the Tibet Question will become apparent in the course of this thesis, and, in examining the substantive issues of the question, it will seek to analyse a potential way forward.

　　法律的權利，包括國際公法的主權和自決權，其中人權占有一個很重的份量。這些法律傾向于讓西藏問題在所有的討論中得以通過。

　　There is a great volume of literature on the subject of public international law, including sovereignty and self-determination, and also human rights. These works tend to consider Tibet, if at all, in passing.

　　Conversely, much of the literature on Tibet, in the legal and political context, focuses on the Tibet Question, or the Tibetan problem, and tries to fit this into international law perspectives of sovereignty or selfdetermination, or indeed to focus on human rights abuses.

　　The Tibet Question is one that centres on territory and control. It has various facets: it is about what is or should be the political status of Tibet - whether it is a part of China or historically an independent state; 5 whether it should be an independent state, and if so what is the extent of that state? If not an independent state, issues of its status within China arise. For Barry Sautman, the Tibet Question is 'one of the world's most intractable conflicts ... [inter alia] a long-running ethnic dispute that has persisted into the post-Cold War era of rising nationalism ... [and] a sovereignty dispute 5-6 Consequently it is a question at the nub of which is independence. However, commentators also focus on human rights issues, and hence the issue can become one of nationalism or ethno-nationalist struggle for self-determination. Melvyn Goldstein specifically refers to it as 'a conflict about nationalism - an emotion-laden debate over whether political units should directly parallel ethnic units'. 7 There are various ways of looking at the Tibet Question,8 some of which are more esoteric than others. The legal questions spill over into the political and into the religious, even into idealist Western concepts of Shangri-La, 9 and thus the debate and the participants in the debate take on an elusive quality, the shape of the debate yielding to a variety of pressures. For China the practical question, however, is one of territorial integrity, historical continuity as opposed to invasion, and one relating to interference by other states, and also human rights proponents, in the internal affairs of the People's Republic.

　　Two issues are paramount in the thesis: the first, the particular, relates to Tibet, and the second, on a general level, to self-detennination. Thus the principal objective of the thesis is to find out and understand why, in a rapidly changing world, Tibet has been unable to achieve the statehood and self-determination it seeks, while, at the same time, so many years after the Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Tibet Question remains unresolved.

　　As the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetans, enters his later years, ' 1a window of opportunity to achieve some form of reconciliation may become apparent to both China and Tibet. This may be given impetus by the People's Republic's desire to bring Taiwan back to the motherland; any burgeoning dispute with Tibet is likely to be counter-productive in this regard. Conversely, the Dalai Lama's death potentially gives impetus to the Tibetan independence movement, if the Dalai Lama is seen as a moderate brake on that movement. Increasing global terrorism in a fragile political international environment may impact on this independence movement.

　　There are therefore reasons to suppose the time is ripe for a full consideration of the Sino-Tibetan relationship, 12 and in so doing international law comes to the fore in the contexts of sovereignty, human rights and also the principal theory around which this thesis is constructed: self-determination. Self-determination as a principle has evolved during the last century, and particularly interesting developments have emerged in recent years culminating in the proposals of 2007 relating to the Kosovo Status Settlement, which have important potential implications for Tibet. Such an appraisal of the relationship between China and Tibet enables us to see the Tibet Question contextually as one concerned with sovereignty and territorial integrity over Tibet, 13 self-determination of the Tibetan people, and also human rights with reference to that people.

　　It also enables us to consider the implications for international law of the failure to resolve the issues surrounding the Tibet Question, in a scenario where the dynamic principle of external self-determination is on the cusp of extending its reach, exerting pressures on the norm of sovereignty, and what has seemed to be a bar on unilateral secession is called into question. http://ukthesis.org/shx/ Consequently, the analysis of selfdetermination becomes the general focus of the thesis.

　　This thesis, targeting a gap in the literature, approaches the subject in a different fashion. It analyses in depth the law relating to self-determination, taking that as the basis. The Tibetan situation is then examined, issues relating to sovereignty and human rights are considered, before conclusions are reached with regard to selfdetermination itself and also with regard to its impacts on the Tibet Question. In addition, the thesis seeks to clarify the appropriate focus for the question in the current climate.