6. Tibet
The territorial dispute over Tibet has perhaps the longest history of any of the territorial disputes that continue today. The People’s Republic of China sees Tibet as part of China and it has been that way since the 13th century. According to Chinese law during the Yuan Dynasty, Tibet is a part of China. The region is largely seen by much of the international community as an autonomous region of China.
The Chinese claim was enforced in 1906 after a British expedition to Tibet to see if the 13th Dalai Lama would be a better leader for the territory than China (and hold off Russian influence). In 1910, the Chinese led their own military expedition into Tibet and deposed the Dalai Lama who fled to British India. In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution ended the Qing dynasty and apologized to the Dalai Lama, giving him back control of Tibet.
In 1950, the People’s Republic of China incorporated Tibet and negotiated a Seventeen Point Agreement with the 14th Dalai Lama. The agreement gave Tibet autonomy but affirmed the sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China. The Dalai Lama refused the agreement and instead formed a government in exile. After the Dalai Lama’s exile China began implementing social and political reforms in Tibet, including the Great Leap Forward. The Great Leap was meant to transform Tibet from agrarian to industrial quickly killing anywhere from 200,000 to 1 million Tibetans in the process. Some believe it even caused the Great Chinese Famine.
Today there continue to be separatist campaigns to get Tibet independence, these have often been met with brutal anti-separatist campaigns. One notable example was the Tienanmen Square massacre in 1989. In 2008, protests by separatists spread across the world as supporters of Tibet attacked 18 Chinese embassies and consulates. Chinese control over Tibet has become so tight that Tibet is now the second least free country in the world.