Who rules Tibet?
Tibetan sovereignty debate
It is generally agreed that China and Tibet were independent prior to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), and that Tibet has been ruled by the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 1959. The nature of Tibet's relationship with China in the intervening period is a matter of debate. The PRC claims that Tibet has been a part of China since the Yuan dynasty. The Republic of China (ROC) claimed that "Tibet was placed under the sovereignty of China" when the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) ended the brief Nepalese rule (1788-1792) from parts of Tibet in c. 1793. The Tibetan Government in Exile claims that Tibet was an independent state until the PRC invaded Tibet in 1949/50. Some Western scholars claim that Tibet and China were ruled by the Mongols during the Yuan dynasty, that Tibet was independent during the Chinese Ming dynasty (1368–1644). and that Tibet was ruled by China or at the very least subordinate to the Qing during much of the Qing dynasty. Some Western scholars also claim that Tibet was independent from c. 1912 to 1950, although it had extremely limited international recognition.
Garpön
A garpön is historically a local or regional leader in Tibet and parts of Ladakh who has command and prominence over a district or area. He is highly regarded by the people and respected as a governor although his power and authority is informal in a given area. Ultimate leadership and spiritual leadership in Tibet was always given centrally to the Dalai Lama in the capital of Lhasa. Garpöns were usually regarded as localized ministers to maintain district order. However, with the Chinese invasion of 1949, with Tibet now under the control of the People's Republic of China, the rulership of local district garpöns has diminished somewhat in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Sir Edward Birkbeck Wakefield has cited that in Ladakh there was often a senior and a junior garpön.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
The ROC government had no effective control over Tibet from 1912 to 1951; however, in the opinion of the Chinese government, this condition does not represent Tibet's independence as many other parts of China also enjoyed "de facto" independence when the Chinese nation was torn by warlordism, Japanese invasion, and civil war. Goldstein explains what is meant by "de facto" independence in the following statement:
Tibet
The proportion of the non-Tibetan population in Tibet is disputed. On the one hand, the Central Tibetan Administration of the Dalai Lama accuses China of actively swamping Tibet with migrants in order to alter Tibet's demographic makeup. On the other hand, according to the 2010 Chinese census ethnic Tibetans comprise 90% of a total population of 3 million in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Exact population numbers probably depend on how temporary migrants are counted.
History of Tibet (1950–present)
In 1965, the area that had been under the control of the Dalai Lama's government from 1951 to 1959 (Ü-Tsang and western Kham) was renamed the Tibet Autonomous Region or TAR. Autonomy provided that head of government would be an ethnic Tibetan; however, the TAR head is always subordinate to the First Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, who was not a Tibetan. The role of ethnic Tibetans in the higher levels of the TAR Communist Party was very limited.
Tibet
Tibet (; ; ) is a historical region covering much of the Tibetan Plateau in Inner Asia. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Tamang, Qiang, Sherpa, and Lhoba peoples and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of . The highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising 8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level.
History of Tibet
For the next thirty-six years, Tibet enjoyed "de facto" independence while China endured its Warlord era, civil war, and World War II. Some Chinese sources argue that Tibet was still part of China throughout this period. The USA also recognised Tibet as a province of China during this time as seen in the documentary film "Why We Fight" #6 The Battle of China produced by the USA War Department in 1944. Some other authors argue that Tibet was also de jure independent after Tibet-Mongolia Treaty of 1913, before which Mongolia has been recognized by Russia.
Emblem of Tibet
The Emblem of Tibet is a symbol of the Tibetan government in exile. It combines several elements of the flag of Tibet, with slightly different artistry, and contains many Buddhist symbols. Its primary elements are the sun and moon above the Himalayas, which represent Tibet, often known as the "Land Surrounded by Snow Mountains". On the slopes of the mountains stand a pair of snow lions. Held between the two lions is the eight-spoked Dharmacakra, represent the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. Inside the wheel, the three-colored swirling jewel represents the practices of the ten exalted virtues and the 16 humane modes of conduct. The inscription on the swirling banner below is as follows:"bod gzhung dga' ldan pho brang phyogs las rnam rgyal" ("Tibetan Government, Ganden Palace, victorious in all directions".) The Ganden Palace, located in Drepung monastery was the residence of the Dalai Lamas until the 5th Dalai Lama. After the 5th Dalai Lama had moved to the Potala in the mid 17th century the Tibetan Government created by him in 1642 became known as the "Ganden Phodrang" Government.
Tibet under Qing rule
Nepal was a tributary state to China from 1788 to 1908. In the Treaty of Thapathali signed in 1856 that concluded the Nepalese-Tibetan War, Tibet and Nepal agreed to "regard the Chinese Emperor as heretofore with respect." Michael van Walt van Praag, legal advisor to the 14th Dalai Lama, claims that 1856 treaty provided for a Nepalese mission, namely "Vakil", in Lhasa which later allowed Nepal to claim a diplomatic relationship with Tibet in its application for United Nations membership in 1949. However, the status of Nepalese mission as "diplomatic" is disputed and the Nepalese "Vakils" stayed in Tibet until the 1960s when Tibet had been part of PRC for a decade. In 1841, the Hindu Dogra dynasty attempted to establish their authority on Ü-Tsang but where defeated in the Sino-Sikh War (1841–1842).
Tibet
Tibet retained nominal power over religious and regional political affairs, while the Mongols managed a structural and administrative rule over the region, reinforced by the rare military intervention. This existed as a "diarchic structure" under the Yuan emperor, with power primarily in favor of the Mongols. Mongolian prince Khuden gained temporal power in Tibet in the 1240s and sponsored Sakya Pandita, whose seat became the capital of Tibet. Drogön Chögyal Phagpa, Sakya Pandita's nephew became Imperial Preceptor of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan dynasty.
History of Tibet
The "Ganden Phodrang" was the Tibetan regime or government that was established by the 5th Dalai Lama with the help of the Güshi Khan of the Khoshut in 1642. Lhasa became the capital of Tibet in the beginning of this period, with all temporal power being conferred to the 5th Dalai Lama by Güshi Khan in Shigatse.
Tibet under Yuan rule
Tibet under Yuan rule refers to the Yuan dynasty's rule over Tibet from approximately 1270 to 1354. During the Yuan rule of Tibet, the region was structurally, militarily and administratively controlled by the Mongol Yuan dynasty, a division of the Mongol Empire. In the history of Tibet, The Mongol rule was established after Sakya Pandita got power in Tibet from the Mongols in 1244, following the 1240 Mongol conquest of Tibet led by the Mongol general with the title doord darkhan. It is also called the Sakya dynasty after the favored Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.
List of modern political leaders of Tibet
The Chairman is the nominal leader of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), a province-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. The Chairmen, and their times in office, are listed below. In practice, the Chairman is subordinate to the branch secretary of the Communist Party of China.
Dalai Lama
In this way, Güshi Khan established the Fifth Dalai Lama as the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet. 'The Great Fifth' became the temporal ruler of Tibet in 1642 and from then on the rule of the Dalai Lama lineage over some, all or most of Tibet lasted with few breaks for the next 317 years, until 1959, when the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India. In 1645, the Great Fifth began the construction of the Potala Palace in Lhasa.
Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720)
The Khoshut prince Güshi Khan overthrew the prince of Tsang and established the Khoshut Khanate on the Tibetan Plateau in 1642. As the main benefactor of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, he made the 5th Dalai Lama the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet, who established the regime known as Ganden Phodrang in the same year. The Dzungar Khanate under Tsewang Rabtan invaded Tibet in 1717, deposed Ngawang Yeshey Gyatso, the pretender to the position of Dalai Lama of Lha-bzang Khan, who was the last ruler of the Khoshut Khanate, and killed Lhazang Khan and his entire family. They also destroyed a small force at the Battle of the Salween River, which the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing empire had sent to clear traditional trade routes in 1718. In response, an expedition led by General Yue Zhongqi, together with Tibetan forces under Polhanas of Tsang and Kangchennas (also spelled Gangchenney), the governor of Western Tibet, expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720 as patrons of the Khoshut and liberators of Tibet from the Dzungars. The Qing installed a new, more popular Dalai Lama, Kelzang Gyatso as the 7th Dalai Lama and left behind a garrison of 3,000 men in Lhasa. In time, the Qing came to see themselves as overlords of Tibet and Tibet was turned into a protectorate by the Manchus. The Qing removed the indigenous civil government that had existed in Lhasa since the rule of the 5th Dalai Lama, and created a Tibetan cabinet or council of ministers known as the Kashag in 1721. This council was to govern Tibet under the close supervision of the Chinese garrison commander stationed in Lhasa, who frequently interfered with Kashag decisions, especially when Chinese interests were involved. Khangchenné would be the first ruling prince to lead the Kashag under Qing overlordship. This began the period of Qing administrative rule of Tibet, which lasted until the fall of the Qing empire in 1912.
Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming dynasty
Elliot Sperling, a specialist of Indian studies and the director of the Tibetan Studies program at Indiana University’s Department of Central Eurasia Studies, writes that "the idea that Tibet became part of China in the 13th century is a very recent construction." He writes that Chinese writers of the early 20th century were of the view that Tibet was not annexed by China until the Manchu Qing dynasty invasion during the 18th century. He also states that Chinese writers of the early 20th century described Tibet as a feudal dependency of China, not an integral part of it. Sperling states that this is because "Tibet was ruled as such, within the empires of the Mongols and the Manchus" and also that "China's intervening Ming dynasty ... had no control over Tibet." He writes that the Ming relationship with Tibet is problematic for China’s insistence of its unbroken sovereignty over Tibet since the 13th century. As for the Tibetan view that Tibet was never subject to the rule of the Yuan or Qing emperors of China, Sperling also discounts this by stating that Tibet was "subject to rules, laws and decisions made by the Yuan and Qing rulers" and that even Tibetans described themselves as subjects of these emperors.
Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950
Protests and uprisings in Tibet against the government of the People's Republic of China have occurred since 1950, and include the 1959 uprising, the 2008 uprising, and the subsequent self-immolation protests.
Over the years the Tibetan government in exile, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), has shifted the goal of its resistance stance from attempting measured cooperation with autonomy, to demanding full independence, to seeking "genuine autonomy for all Tibetans living in the three traditional provinces of Tibet within the framework of the People's Republic of China". However, not all exiled Tibetans are content with pursuing the current CTA policy of the Middle Way Approach and many expressed their frustration in 2008, against the Dalai Lama's wishes, by agitating for independence.
Tibet
There are over 800 settlements in Tibet. Lhasa is Tibet's traditional capital and the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. It contains two world heritage sites – the Potala Palace and Norbulingka, which were the residences of the Dalai Lama. Lhasa contains a number of significant temples and monasteries, including Jokhang and Ramoche Temple.
Tibet
For several decades, peace reigned in Tibet, but in 1792 the Qing Qianlong Emperor sent a large Chinese army into Tibet to push the invading Nepalese out. This prompted yet another Qing reorganization of the Tibetan government, this time through a written plan called the "Twenty-Nine Regulations for Better Government in Tibet". Qing military garrisons staffed with Qing troops were now also established near the Nepalese border. Tibet was dominated by the Manchus in various stages in the 18th century, and the years immediately following the 1792 regulations were the peak of the Qing imperial commissioners' authority; but there was no attempt to make Tibet a Chinese province.
Tibet
The Dalai Lama had a strong following as many people from Tibet looked at him as their leader from not just a political point of view but, also from a spiritual perspective. After the Dalai Lama's government fled to Dharamsala, India, during the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion, it established a rival government-in-exile. Afterwards, the Central People's Government in Beijing renounced the agreement and began implementation of the halted social and political reforms. During the Great Leap Forward, between 200,000 and 1,000,000 Tibetans died, and approximately 6,000 monasteries were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, thus the vast majority of historic Tibetan architecture was destroyed. In 1962 China and India fought a brief war over the disputed South Tibet and Aksai Chin regions. Although China won the war, Chinese troops withdrew north of the McMahon Line, effectively ceding South Tibet to India.
China–India relations
Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong viewed Tibet as an integral part of the People's Republic of China. Chairman Mao saw Indian concern over Tibet as a manifestation of interference in the internal affairs of the PRC. The PRC reasserted control over Tibet and to end Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism) and feudalism, which it did by force of arms in 1950. To avoid antagonizing the PRC, Nehru informed Chinese leaders that India had no political ambitions, territorial ambitions, nor did it seek special privileges in Tibet, but that traditional trading rights must continue. With Indian support, Tibetan delegates signed an agreement in May 1951 recognizing PRC sovereignty but guaranteeing that the existing political and social system of Tibet would continue.
In April 1954, India and the PRC signed an eight-year agreement on Tibet that became the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (or "Panchsheel"). Although critics called the Panchsheel naive, Nehru calculated that India's best guarantee of security was to establish a psychological buffer zone in place of the lost physical buffer of Tibet.
Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)
Qing rule of Tibet was established in the early 18th century after the 1720 Chinese expedition to Tibet, but it was essentially a protectorate rather than a direct rule. The actual rule also waned considerably with the gradual weakening of the Qing dynasty in the 19th century.
Tibet
Following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of Tibet Area (Ü-Tsang). The region subsequently in 1913 without recognition by the subsequent Chinese Republican government. Later, Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang, China. The region maintained its autonomy until 1951 when, following the Battle of Chamdo, Tibet became incorporated into the People's Republic of China, and the previous Tibetan government was abolished in 1959 after a failed uprising. Today, China governs western and central Tibet as the Tibet Autonomous Region while the eastern areas are now mostly ethnic autonomous prefectures within Sichuan, Qinghai and other neighbouring provinces. There are tensions regarding Tibet's political status and dissident groups that are active in exile.
Tibetan activists in Tibet have reportedly been arrested or tortured.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
While at times the Tibetans were fiercely independent-minded at other times Tibet indicated its willingness to accept subordinate status as "part of China" provided that Tibetan internal systems were left untouched and China relinquished control over a number of important ethnic Tibetan groups in Kham and Amdo. The PRC insists that during this period the ROC government continued to maintain sovereignty over Tibet. The Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China (1912) stipulated that Tibet was a province of the Republic of China. Provisions concerning Tibet in the Constitution of the Republic of China promulgated later all stress the inseparability of Tibet from Chinese territory, and the Central Government of China exercise of sovereignty in Tibet. In 1927, the Commission in Charge of Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs of the Chinese Government contained members of great influence in the Mongolian and Tibetan areas, such as the 13th Dalai Lama, the 9th Panchen Lama and other Tibetan government representatives. In 1934, on his condolence mission for the demise of the Dalai Lama, the Chinese General Huang Musong posted notices in Chinese and Tibetan throughout Lhasa that alluded to Tibet as an integral part of China while expressing the utmost reverence for the Dalai Lama and the Buddhist religion.
Monarch
Tibet was a monarchy since the Tibetan Empire in the 6th century. It was ruled by the Yuan Dynasty following the Mongol invasion in the 13th century and became an effective diarchy with the Dalai Lama as co-ruler. It came under the rule of the Chinese Qing Dynasty from 1724 until 1912 when it gained de facto independence. The Dalai Lama became absolute temporal monarch until incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China in 1951.
Tibet under Qing rule
In response to the Dzungar occupation of Tibet, a Chinese expedition sent by the Kangxi Emperor, together with Tibetan forces under Polhanas (also spelled Polhaney) of Tsang and Kangchennas (also spelled Gangchenney), the governor of Western Tibet, expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720. They brought Kelzang Gyatso with them from Kumbum to Lhasa and he was installed as the seventh Dalai Lama. A Chinese protectorate over Tibet (described by Stein as "sufficiently mild and flexible to be accepted by the Tibetan government") was established at this time, with a garrison at Lhasa, and Kham was annexed to Sichuan. In 1721, the Qing established a government in Lhasa consisting of a council (the "Kashag") of three Tibetan ministers, headed by Kangchennas. A Khalkha prince was made "amban", or official representative in Tibet of the Qing. Another Khalkha directed the military. The Dalai Lama's role at this time was purely symbolic, but still highly influential because of the Mongols' religious beliefs.
Dalai Lama
From 1642 until 1705, and from 1750 to the 1950s, the Dalai Lamas or their regents headed the Tibetan government (or Ganden Phodrang) in Lhasa which governed all or most of the Tibetan plateau with varying degrees of autonomy under the Qing Dynasty of China, up to complete sovereignty. This Tibetan government also enjoyed the patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings of the Khoshut and Dzungar Khanates (1642–1720) and then of the emperors of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1720–1912). Tibet's sovereignty was later rejected, however, by both the Republic of China and the current People's Republic of China.
Central Tibetan Administration
The Central Tibetan Administration, also known as CTA (, , literally Exile Tibetan People's Organisation) is an organisation based in India. It was originally called Tibetan Kashag Government in 1960, then later renamed to "the Government of the Great Snow Land". The CTA is also referred to as the Tibetan Government in Exile which has never been recognized by China. Its internal structure is government-like; it has stated that it is "not designed to take power in Tibet"; rather, it will be dissolved "as soon as freedom is restored in Tibet" in favor of a government formed by Tibetans inside Tibet. In addition to political advocacy, it administers a network of schools and other cultural activities for Tibetans in India. On 11 February 1991, the CTA became a founding member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) at a ceremony held at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.
Serfdom in Tibet controversy
Just as the Chinese and the Tibetan exile community argue over whether common Tibetans suffered or flourished before the Chinese takeover, they take diametrically opposing views on the fate of ordinary Tibetans since 1950. This is understood to be highly important in persuading readers of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of Chinese rule. Chinese sources in English claim rapid progress for prosperous, free, and happy Tibetans participating in democratic reforms. Tibetans, on the other hand, write of Chinese genocide in Tibet, comparing the Chinese to the Nazis. After the Cultural Revolution, according to Powers, scholar Warren Smith, whose work became focused on Tibetan history and politics after spending five months in Tibet in 1982, portrays the Chinese as chauvinists who believe they are superior to the Tibetans, and claims that the Chinese use torture, coercion and starvation to control the Tibetans.
The Historical Status of China's Tibet
The Historical Status of China's Tibet is a book published in 1997 in English by China Intercontinental Press, the propaganda press for the government of the People's Republic of China.The book presents the Chinese government's official position on the history of Tibet and claims that Tibet has been under the sovereignty of China since the Yuan dynasty.
Tibet (1912–1951)
The division of China into military cliques kept China divided, and the 13th Dalai Lama ruled but his reign was marked with border conflicts with Han Chinese and Muslim warlords, which the Tibetans lost most of the time. At that time, the government of Tibet controlled all of Ü-Tsang (Dbus-gtsang) and western Kham (Khams), roughly coincident with the borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region today. Eastern Kham, separated by the Yangtze River, was under the control of Chinese warlord Liu Wenhui. The situation in Amdo (Qinghai) was more complicated, with the Xining area controlled after 1928 by the Hui warlord Ma Bufang of the family of Muslim warlords known as the Ma clique, who constantly strove to exert control over the rest of Amdo (Qinghai). Southern Kham along with other parts of Yunnan belonged to the Yunnan clique from 1915 till 1927, then to Governor and warlord Long (Lung) Yun until near the end of the Chinese Civil War, when Du Yuming removed him under the order of Chiang Kai-shek. Within territory under Chinese control, war was being waged against Tibetan rebels in Qinghai during the Kuomintang Pacification of Qinghai.
John Claude White
Following the 1890-1893 Convention of Calcutta signed by Britain and Qing dynasty China, White was despatched to Yatong at the foot of the Chumbi Valley in Tibet to assess the trade situation at the new outpost. He subsequently reported that although the Chinese were friendly towards him, they "had no authority whatever" and were unable to control the Tibetans. White concluded that "China was suzerain over Tibet only in name".
Tibetan sovereignty debate
In the late 19th century, China adopted the Western model of nation-state diplomacy. As the government of Tibet, China concluded several treaties (1876, 1886, 1890, 1893) with British India touching on the status, boundaries and access to Tibet. Chinese government sources consider this a sign of sovereignty rather than suzerainty. However, by the 20th century British India found the treaties to be ineffective due to China's weakened control over the Tibetan local government. The British invaded Tibet in 1904 and forced the signing of a separate treaty, directly with the Tibetan government in Lhasa. In 1906, an Anglo-Chinese Convention was signed at Peking between Great Britain and China. It incorporated the 1904 Lhasa Convention (with modification), which was attached as Annex. A treaty between Britain and Russia (1907) followed. Article II of this treaty stated that "In conformity with the admitted principle of the suzerainty of China over Tibet, Great Britain and Russia engage not to enter into negotiations with Tibet except through the intermediary of the Chinese Government." China sent troops into Tibet in 1908. The result of the policy of both Great Britain and Russia has been the virtual annexation of Tibet by China. China controlled Tibet up to 1912. Thereafter, Tibet entered the period described commonly as "de facto" independence, though it was only recognized by independent Mongolia as enjoying "de jure" independence.
Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720)
The 1720 Chinese expedition to Tibet or the Chinese conquest of Tibet in 1720 was a military expedition sent by the Qing dynasty to expel the invading forces of the Dzungar Khanate from Tibet and establish a Chinese protectorate over the country. The expedition occupied Lhasa and marked the beginning of Qing rule in Tibet, which lasted until the empire's fall in 1912.
Tibetan dual system of government
The Parliament of the Tibetan government in exile consists of 43–46 members including 10 religious delegates (2 members each from the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the traditional Bön school). Aside from seats reserved for religious representatives, offices are generally open to clerics: the Prime Minister of its Parliament is Lobsang Tenzin, a Buddhist monk. The administration of the government in exile was headed for decades by the Dalai Lama, but in 2011, he ceded his temporal (secular) powers, keeping only his role as spiritual leader.
1959 Tibetan uprising
After the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion, Chiang Kai-shek announced in his Letter to Tibetan Friends () that the ROC's policy would be to help the Tibetan diaspora overthrow the People's Republic of China's rule in Tibet. The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission sent secret agents to India to disseminate pro-Kuomintang (KMT) and anti-Communist propaganda among Tibetan exiles. From 1971 to 1978, the MTAC also recruited ethnic Tibetan children from India and Nepal to study in Taiwan, with the expectation that they would work for a ROC government that returned to the mainland. In 1994, the veterans' association for the Tibetan guerrilla group Chushi Gangdruk met with the MTAC and agreed to the KMT's One China Principle. In response, the Dalai Lama's Central Tibetan Administration forbade all exiled Tibetans from contact with the MTAC. Tibetans in Taiwan, who are mostly of Kham origin, support the Republic of China's position that Tibet is part of the ROC, and are against both the Tibetan exile community in India who live under the Tibetan Government in Exile (TGE) and the Communists in mainland China. The Taiwanese Tibetans are considered traitors by the TGE for their position.
Tibet under Qing rule
Tibet was clearly subordinate to the Qing by the end of the 18th century. But with the arrival of the 19th century, especially with the weakening of the Qing dynasty itself in the later half of the 19th century, Qing authority over Tibet gradually weakened to the point of being minuscule, or merely symbolic. Chinese historians argue that the "ambans"' presence was an expression of Chinese sovereignty, while those favouring Tibetan independence claims tend to equate the "ambans" with ambassadors. The relationship between Tibet and (Qing) China was that of patron and priest and was not based on the subordination of one to the other, according to the 13th Dalai Lama. (The 13th Dalai Lama was deposed in 1904, reinstated in 1908 and deposed again in 1910 by the Qing government, but these pronouncements were not taken seriously in Lhasa.) However, in the 1860s the Tibetans still chose for reasons of their own to emphasize the Qing Empire's symbolic authority and make it seem substantial.
Foreign relations of Tibet
The armies of the Manchu emperors first entered Tibet in response to a request for help when Tibet was invaded by the Dzungar Mongols in 1717. After the defeat of a first expeditionary force in the Battle of the Salween River in 1718 the Chinese expedition in 1720 was successful in restoring the Dalai Lama to power in Lhasa. Troops were withdrawn in 1723 leaving a civilian Chinese adviser in Lhasa. When civil war broke out in 1728 there were appeals from both sides for help from China and an army was once again dispatched to Lhasa. It was decided to appoint two "ambans", civilian Chinese advisers to the Tibetan government, who would be guarded by a small military force. When there was unrest in 1750 an army was again dispatched and the ambans given more power. However, the ambans, isolated from imperial power centers, soon fell under the control of the local government. There was a long period of peace, and neglect by the Chinese of Tibetan affairs, but in 1792 an invasion by Gurkas of Nepal resulted in an appeal for aid and a successful Chinese response. In 1893 the Chinese imposed reforms in Tibet which resulted in closing of its borders to foreign travelers, but despite intentions to strengthen the role of the ambens, a long period of Chinese neglect followed which continued throughout the 19th century during which Tibet was "closed" but effectively on its own.
History of Tibet
In 1962, China and India fought a brief war over the disputed Aksai Chin region. Although China won the war, Chinese troops withdrew north of the McMahon Line.
In 1965, the area that had been under the control of the Dalai Lama's government from the 1910s to 1959 (Ü-Tsang and western Kham) was renamed the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Autonomy provided that the head of government would be an ethnic Tibetan; however, actual power in the TAR is held by the First Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, who has never been a Tibetan. The role of ethnic Tibetans in the higher levels of the TAR Communist Party remains very limited.
Qing dynasty in Inner Asia
Güshi Khan, founder of the Khoshut Khanate overthrew the prince of Tsang and made the 5th Dalai Lama the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet, establishing the regime known as Ganden Phodrang in 1642. The Dzungar Khanate under Tsewang Rabtan invaded Tibet in 1717, deposed the pretender to the position of Dalai Lama of Lha-bzang Khan, the last ruler of the Khoshut Khanate, and killed Lha-bzang Khan and his entire family. In response, an expedition sent by the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty, together with Tibetan forces under Polhané Sönam Topgyé of Tsang and Kangchennas (also spelled Gangchenney), the governor of Western Tibet, expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720 as patrons of the Khoshut and liberators of Tibet from the Dzungars. This began the Qing administrative rule of Tibet, which lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, although the region retained a degree of political autonomy under the Dalai Lamas. The Qing emperors appointed imperial residents known as the Ambans to Tibet, who commanded over 2,000 troops stationed in Lhasa and reported to the Lifan Yuan.
Tibet (1912–1951)
Following the establishment of the new Republic, China's provisional President Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to the 13th Dalai Lama, restoring his earlier titles. The Dalai Lama spurned these titles, replying that he "intended to exercise both temporal and ecclesiastical rule in Tibet." In 1913, the Dalai Lama, who had fled to India when the Qing sent a military expedition to establish direct Chinese rule over Tibet in 1910, returned to Lhasa and issued a proclamation that stated that the relationship between the Chinese emperor and Tibet "had been that of patron and priest and had not been based on the subordination of one to the other." "We are a small, religious, and independent nation," the proclamation stated.
Incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China
The incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China (called the 'Chinese invasion of Tibet' by the Tibetan Government in Exile; called 'peaceful liberation of Tibet' in China) was the process by which the People's Republic of China (PRC) gained control of Tibet. These regions came under the control of China after attempts by the Government of Tibet to gain international recognition, efforts to modernize its military, negotiations between the Government of Tibet and the PRC, a military conflict in the Qamdo area of Western Kham in October 1950, and the eventual acceptance of the Seventeen Point Agreement by the Government of Tibet under Chinese pressure in October 1951. In the West, it is generally believed that China annexed Tibet. The Government of Tibet and Tibetan social structure remained in place in the Tibetan Autonomous Region under the authority of China until the 1959 Tibetan uprising, when the Dalai Lama fled into exile and after which the Government of Tibet and Tibetan social structures were dissolved.
Tibetan Army
From the fall of the Qing Dynasty, which had effectively controlled Tibet, to the 1949 Chinese Revolution, a Chinese mission remained in Lhasa. The mission repeatedly attempted to reestablish the office of the Qing Amban, interfered with the enthronement of the 13th Dalai Lama, and presented the Tibetan aristocratic government (Kashag) with a list of demands for the restoration of effective Chinese sovereignty. Following the advice of British consul Hugh Richardson, the Kashag summoned Tibetan Army troops on July 8, 1949 from Shigatse and Dingri to expel all the Han Chinese people from Lhasa. The expulsion prompted Chinese accusations of a plot to turn Tibet into a British colony, and a consequent vow to "liberate" it.
14th Dalai Lama
Historically the Dalai Lamas or their regents held political and religious leadership over Tibet from Lhasa with varying degrees of influence depending on the regions of Tibet and periods of history. This began with the 5th Dalai Lama's rule in 1642 and lasted until the 1950s (except for 1705–1750), during which period the Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government or Ganden Phodrang. Until 1912 however, when the 13th Dalai Lama declared the complete independence of Tibet, their rule was generally subject to patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings (1642–1720) and then the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1720–1912). In 1939, at the age of four, the present Dalai Lama was taken in a procession of lamas to Lhasa. The Dalai Lama's childhood was then spent between the Potala Palace and Norbulingka, his summer residence, both of which are now UNESCO World Heritage sites.
History of Tibet
At the beginning of the 20th century the British and Russian Empires were competing for supremacy in Central Asia. Unable to establish diplomatic contacts with the Tibetan government, and concerned about reports of their dealings with Russia, in 1903-04, a British expedition led by Colonel Francis Younghusband was sent to Lhasa to force a trading agreement and to prevent Tibetans from establishing a relationship with the Russians. In response, the Qing foreign ministry asserted that China was sovereign over Tibet, the first clear statement of such a claim. Before the British troops arrived in Lhasa, the 13th Dalai Lama fled to Outer Mongolia, and then went to Beijing in 1908.
Tibetan Government
Currently governing Tibet:
Definitions of Tibet
Tibet is the term for the major elevated plateau in Central Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is today mostly under the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China, primarily administered as the Tibet Autonomous Region besides (depending on the geographic definition of the term) adjacient parts of Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan, and Sichuan.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
The government of the Republic of China, which ruled mainland China from 1912 until 1949 and now controls Taiwan, had a cabinet-level Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in charge of the administration of Tibet and Mongolia regions from 1912. The commission retained its cabinet level status after 1949, but no longer executes that function. On 10May 1943, Chiang Kai-shek asserted that "Tibet is part of Chinese territory... No foreign nation is allowed to interfere in our domestic affairs". He again declared in 1946 that the Tibetans were Chinese nationals. The Republic of China (on Taiwan) still claims sovereignty over Tibet and Mongolia and maintains the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.
Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming dynasty
Soon after the victory in Ü-Tsang, Güshi Khan organized a welcoming ceremony for Lozang Gyatso once he arrived a day's ride from Shigatse, presenting his conquest of Tibet as a gift to the Dalai Lama. In a second ceremony held within the main hall of the Shigatse fortress, Güshi Khan enthroned the Dalai Lama as the ruler of Tibet, but conferred the actual governing authority to the regent Sonam Chöpel. Although Güshi Khan had granted the Dalai Lama "supreme authority" as Goldstein writes, the title of 'King of Tibet' was conferred upon Güshi Khan, spending his summers in pastures north of Lhasa and occupying Lhasa each winter. Van Praag writes that at this point Güshi Khan maintained control over the armed forces, but accepted his inferior status towards the Dalai Lama. Rawski writes that the Dalai Lama shared power with his regent and Güshi Khan during his early secular and religious reign. However, Rawski states that he eventually "expanded his own authority by presenting himself as Avalokiteśvara through the performance of rituals," by building the Potala Palace and other structures on traditional religious sites, and by emphasizing lineage reincarnation through written biographies. Goldstein states that the government of Güshi Khan and the Dalai Lama persecuted the Karma Kagyu sect, confiscated their wealth and property, and even converted their monasteries into Gelug monasteries. Rawski writes that this Mongol patronage allowed the Gelugpas to dominate the rival religious sects in Tibet.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Ming dynasty fell to the rebellion of Li Zicheng (1606–1645) in 1644, yet his short-lived Shun dynasty was crushed by the Manchu invasion and the Han Chinese general Wu Sangui (1612–1678). "China Daily" states that when the following Qing dynasty replaced the Ming dynasty, it merely "strengthened administration of Tibet." However, Kolmaš states that the Dalai Lama was very observant of what was going on in China and accepted a Manchu invitation in 1640 to send envoys to their capital at Mukden in 1642, before the Ming collapsed. Dawa Norbu, William Rockhill, and George N. Patterson write that when the Shunzhi Emperor (r. 1644–1661) of the subsequent Qing dynasty invited the fifth Dalai Lama Lozang Gyatso to Beijing in 1652, Shunzhi treated the Dalai Lama as an independent sovereign of Tibet. Patterson writes that this was an effort of Shunzhi to secure an alliance with Tibet that would ultimately lead to the establishment of Manchu rule over Mongolia. In this meeting with the Qing emperor, Goldstein asserts that the Dalai Lama was not someone to be trifled with due to his alliance with Mongol tribes, some of which were declared enemies of the Qing. Van Praag states that Tibet and the Dalai Lama's power was recognized by the "Manchu Emperor, the Mongolian Khans and Princes, and the rulers of Ladakh, Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Sikkim."
British expedition to Tibet
These events reinforced Curzon's belief that the Dalai Lama intended to place Tibet firmly within a sphere of Russian influence and end its neutrality. In 1903, Lord Curzon sent a request to the governments of China and Tibet for negotiations, to be held at Khampa Dzong, a tiny Tibetan village north of Sikkim to establish trade agreements. The Chinese were willing, and ordered the thirteenth Dalai Lama to attend. However, the Dalai Lama refused, and also refused to provide transport to enable the amban, You Tai, to attend. Curzon concluded that China had no power or authority to compel the Tibetan government, and gained approval from London to send the Tibet Frontier Commission, led by Colonel Francis Younghusband with John Claude White and E.C. Wilson as Deputy Commissioners, to Khampa Dzong. However, it is not known whether the Balfour government was fully aware of the difficulty of the operation, or of the Tibetan intention to resist it.
Flag of Tibet
After the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion, the 14th Dalai Lama left his position as governor of Tibet, denounced the 17-point agreement with the PRC, and established the exile Central Tibetan Administration in India. As part of his project to inculcate pan-Tibetan nationalism (of all Tibetan people and not just those in his previous domain of the Tibet Autonomous Region), he standardized and adopted symbols as nationalist symbols, such as the Lhasa dialect of Tibetan, a Tibetan national anthem, and the flag. According to the Central Tibetan Administration website, the symbolism of the flag includes the mountain representing Tibet, the snow lions of "a unified spiritual and secular life", three-coloured jewel of the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The flag is popularly known as the Snow Lion Flag due to the presence of the two snow lions. The flag was adopted as a symbol of the Tibetan independence movement, and has become known as the "Free Tibet flag". Through the diaspora's and international protesters' use of the flag, it became known and used in protest by the Tibetan public. The flag is banned in mainland China.
History of Tibet
In 1949, seeing that the Chinese Communists, with the decisive support from Joseph Stalin, were gaining control of China, the Kashag expelled all Chinese connected with the Chinese government, over the protests of both the Kuomintang and the Communists. The People's Republic of China (PRC), founded in October 1949 by the victorious Communists under the leadership of Mao Zedong, lost little time in asserting a new Chinese presence in Tibet. In October 1950, the People's Liberation Army entered the Tibetan area of Chamdo, defeating sporadic resistance from the Tibetan army. In 1951, Tibetan representatives participated in negotiations in Beijing with the Chinese government. This resulted in a "Seventeen Point Agreement" which formalized China's sovereignty over Tibet, but was repudiated by the present Tibetan Government-In-Exile.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
The Tibetan Government in Exile views current PRC rule in Tibet, including neighboring provinces outside Tibet Autonomous Region, as colonial and illegitimate, motivated solely by the natural resources and strategic value of Tibet, and in gross violation of both Tibet's historical status as an independent country and the right of Tibetan people to self-determination. It also points to PRC's autocratic policies, divide-and-rule policies, and what it contends are assimilationist policies, and regard those as an example of ongoing imperialism aimed at destroying Tibet's distinct ethnic makeup, culture, and identity, thereby cementing it as an indivisible part of China. That said, the Dalai Lama stated in 2008 that he wishes only for Tibetan autonomy, and not separation from China, under certain conditions, like freedom of speech and expression, genuine self-rule, and control over ethnic makeup and migration in all areas claimed as historical Tibet.
Tibet Autonomous Region
There is a politically-charged historical debate on the exact nature of relations between Tibet and the Chinese Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and whether the Ming Dynasty had sovereignty over Tibet after the Mongol conquest of Tibet and Yuan administrative rule in the 13th and 14th centuries. Qing dynasty (1636–1912) rule in Tibet began with their 1720 expedition to the country when they expelled the invading Dzungars, and Tibet was actually first controlled by central government. From 1912 to 1950 Tibet was under "de jure" suzerainty of the Republic of China, however, the difficulties of establishing a new government in the aftermath of the Xinhai Revolution, the fractious Warlord Era, the Chinese Civil War, and the overwhelming Japanese invasion and occupation before and during World War II left the Republic unable to exert any effective administration. Other parts of ethno-cultural Tibet (eastern Kham and Amdo) had been under "de jure" administration of the Chinese dynastic government since the mid-18th century; today they are distributed among the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan. (See also: Xikang province)
List of rulers of Tibet
Below is a list of rulers of Tibet from the beginning of legendary history. Included are regimes with their base in Central Tibet, that held authority over at least a substantial portion of the country.
Foreign relations of Tibet
China did not make any attempt to impose direct rule on Tibet and the Tibetan government around the Dalai Lama or his regent continued to manage its day-to-day affairs, thus in their own view remaining independent. It was only after the invasion of imperial troops under the command of Zhao Erfeng in 1910 that an attempt at direct rule was made. The Tibetans were not cooperative and after the Republican Revolution of 1911 openly rebelled, surviving Chinese soldiers being evacuated through India. Declarations of independence made by the Dalai Lama were not recognized by Britain or China, but an effective military frontier was established which excluded troops and agents of the Chinese government until the invasion by the People's Liberation Army in 1950.
5th Dalai Lama
Due largely to the determined cunning of his first regent Sonam Chöphel and the military support of his Mongolian disciple Güsri Khan, in 1642 the 25-year-old 5th Dalai Lama Lobsang Gyatso inherited military and political control of a nation that had been torn by over a century of power struggles and civil war characterized by factionalism and sectarian allegiances. The general form of government he instituted would remain largely in place until Tibet's military occupation by the People's Republic of China in the 1950s. Nevertheless, Lobsang Gyatso's rule over Tibet included various incidents which, 350 years later, certain keen observers – namely, the heirs of those Kagyupa followers whose patrons lost power during unification or during the quelling of their subsequent rebellions – still consider to have been the abuse of government power.
Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming dynasty
Helmut Hoffman states that the Ming upheld the facade of rule over Tibet through periodic missions of "tribute emissaries" to the Ming court and by granting nominal titles to ruling lamas, but did not actually interfere in Tibetan governance. Melvyn C. Goldstein writes that the Ming had no real administrative authority over Tibet, as the various titles given to Tibetan leaders did not confer authority as the earlier Mongol Yuan titles had. He asserts that "by conferring titles on Tibetans already in power, the Ming emperors merely recognized political reality." Hugh Edward Richardson writes that the Ming dynasty exercised no authority over the succession of Tibetan ruling families, the Phagmodru (1354–1435), Rinpungpa (1435–1565), and Tsangpa (1565–1642).
Tibet under Qing rule
In 1909 the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin returned from a three-year-long expedition to Tibet, having mapped and described a large part of inner Tibet. During his travels, he visited the 9th Panchen Lama. For some of the time, Hedin had to camouflage himself as a Tibetan shepherd (because he was European). In an interview following a meeting with the Russian czar he described the situation as follows:
"Currently, Tibet is in the cramp-like hands of China´s government. The Chinese realize that if they leave Tibet for the Europeans, it will end its isolation in the East. That is why the Chinese prevent those who wish to enter Tibet. The Dalai Lama is currently also in the hands of the Chinese Government"..."Mongols are fanatics. They adore the Dalai Lama and obey him blindly. If he tomorrow orders them go to war against the Chinese, if he urges them to a bloody revolution, they will all like one man follow him as their ruler. China's government, which fears the Mongols, hooks on to the Dalai Lama."..."There is calm in Tibet. No ferment of any kind is perceptible" (translated from Swedish).
Ganden Phodrang
The Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang (; ) was the Tibetan government that was established by the 5th Dalai Lama with the help of the Güshi Khan of the Khoshut in 1642. Lhasa became the capital of Tibet in the beginning of this period, with all temporal power being conferred to the 5th Dalai Lama by Güshi Khan in Shigatse. After the expulsion of the Dzungars, Tibet was under administrative rule of the Qing dynasty between 1720 and 1912, but the Ganden Phodrang government lasted until the 1950s, when Tibet was incorporated into the People's Republic of China. Kashag became the governing council of the Ganden Phodrang regime during the early Qing rule.
Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950
In his essay "Hidden Tibet: History of Independence and Occupation" published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives at Dharamsala, S.L. Kuzmin, quoting the memoirs of Soviet diplomat A. M. Ledovsky, claims that on January 22, 1950, during his negotiations with Joseph Stalin in Moscow, Mao Zedong asked him to provide an aviation regiment because he was preparing to advance towards Tibet. Stalin approved these preparations and provided military support with Soviet pilots and airfield personnel dressed in Chinese clothes, because this aid was illegal. In 1950, the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered Tibet and the US government made contact with the Dalai Lama's brother Gyalo Thondup, who was living in India, to offer US help, which was rejected. In May 1951, a delegation representing the Dalai Lama, 15 years old at the time, and led by Ngapoi Ngawang Jigmei, traveled to Beijing to be presented with the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, which established a PRC sovereignty over Tibet: assuming responsibility for Tibet's external affairs while leaving the domestic governance to the Lhasa government and assuring religious freedoms. The treaty was signed by the Lhasa delegation and the 10th Panchen Lama, who had already switched his loyalty to the PRC after flirting with the Kuomintang and conspiring against the central Tibetan government, which still refused to recognize him as the true Panchen Llama. Later there would be much controversy over the validity of the agreement stemming from claims it was signed under threat of arms and disagreements about whether the delegates had the authority to sign.
Tibet
Qing dynasty rule in Tibet began with their 1720 expedition to the country when they expelled the invading Dzungars. Amdo came under Qing control in 1724, and eastern Kham was incorporated into neighbouring Chinese provinces in 1728. Meanwhile, the Qing government sent resident commissioners called "Ambans" to Lhasa. In 1750 the Ambans and the majority of the Han Chinese and Manchus living in Lhasa were killed in a riot, and Qing troops arrived quickly and suppressed the rebels in the next year. Like the preceding Yuan dynasty, the Manchus of the Qing dynasty exerted military and administrative control of the region, while granting it a degree of political autonomy. The Qing commander publicly executed a number of supporters of the rebels and, as in 1723 and 1728, made changes in the political structure and drew up a formal organization plan. The Qing now restored the Dalai Lama as ruler, leading the governing council called "Kashag", but elevated the role of "Ambans" to include more direct involvement in Tibetan internal affairs. At the same time the Qing took steps to counterbalance the power of the aristocracy by adding officials recruited from the clergy to key posts.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
The government of the People's Republic of China contends that it has had control over Tibet since the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368).
Battle of Chamdo
The Khampa Tibetans who lived there were fiercely independent, and they and Lhasa Tibetans held each other in mutual contempt and dislike, with the Khampas in some cases hating Lhasa rule even more than Chinese rule, which was why the Khampas did little to resist Chinese forces as they entered eastern Kham and subsequently took over the entire Tibet. Likewise, the Qinghai (Amdo) Tibetans view the Tibetans of Central Tibet (Tibet proper, ruled by the Dalai Lamas from Lhasa) as distinct and different from themselves, and even take pride in the fact that they were not ruled by Lhasa ever since the collapse of the Tibetan Empire.
Eastern South Asia
In 2003, China acknowledged Sikkim as a part of India while India recognized Tibet as part of China. The Dalai Lama has often asserted that Tibet should be given meaningful autonomy within China, not independence. In 2005, the King of Nepal imposed direct rule, which led to the monarchy's overthrow, the end of the civil war, and the creation of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in 2008. Bhutan held its first general election in 2008.
Tibet (1912–1951)
Later Chinese governments claimed that this McMahon Line illegitimately transferred a vast amount of territory to India. The disputed territory is called Arunachal Pradesh by India and South Tibet by China. The British had already concluded agreements with local tribal leaders and set up the Northeast Frontier Tract to administer the area in 1912.
Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming dynasty
"China Daily", a CCP-controlled news organization since 1981, states in a 2008 article that although there were dynastic changes after Tibet was incorporated into the territory of Yuan dynasty's China in the 13th century, "Tibet has remained under the jurisdiction of the central government of China." It also states that the Ming dynasty "inherited the right to rule Tibet" from the Yuan dynasty, and repeats the claims in the "Mingshi" about the Ming establishing two itinerant high commands over Tibet. "China Daily" states that the Ming handled Tibet's civil administration, appointed all leading officials of these administrative organs, and punished Tibetans who broke the law. The party-controlled "People's Daily", the state-controlled Xinhua News Agency, and the state-controlled national television network China Central Television posted the same article that "China Daily" had, the only difference being their headlines and some additional text.
Tibet under Qing rule
In 1792, the emperor issued a 29-point decree which appeared to tighten Qing control over Tibet. It strengthened the powers of the "ambans". The "ambans" were elevated above the Kashag and the regents in responsibility for Tibetan political affairs. The Dalai and Panchen Lamas were no longer allowed to petition the Chinese Emperor directly but could only do so through the "ambans". The "ambans" took control of Tibetan frontier defense and foreign affairs. Tibetan authorities' foreign correspondence, even with the Mongols of Kokonor (present-day Qinghai), had to be approved by the "ambans". The "ambans" were put in command of the Qing garrison and the Tibetan army (whose strength was set at 3000 men). Trade was also restricted and travel could be undertaken only with documents issued by the "ambans". The "ambans" were to review all judicial decisions. The Tibetan currency, which had been the source of trouble with Nepal, was also taken under Beijing's supervision. However, according to Warren Smith, these directives were either never fully implemented, or quickly discarded, as the Qing were more interested in a symbolic gesture of authority than actual sovereignty; the relationship between Qing and Tibet was one between states, or between an empire and a semi-autonomous state. The Cambridge History of China states that Tibet and Xinjiang were territories of the Qing dynasty since the 18th century.
Tibetan independence movement
The Tibetan independence movement is a movement for the independence of Tibet and the political separation of Tibet from China. It is principally led by the Tibetan diaspora in countries like India and the United States, and by celebrities and Tibetan Buddhists in the United States, India and Europe. The movement is not supported by the 14th Dalai Lama, who although having advocated it from 1961 to the late 1970s, proposed a sort of high-level autonomy in a speech in Strasbourg in 1988, and has since then restricted his position to either autonomy for the Tibetan people in the Tibet Autonomous Region "within" China, or extending the area of the autonomy to include parts of neighboring Chinese provinces inhabited by Tibetans.
Tibet (1912–1951)
In 1913-14, a conference was held in Simla between the UK, Tibet, and the Republic of China. The British suggested dividing Tibetan-inhabited areas into an Outer and an Inner Tibet (on the model of an earlier agreement between China and Russia over Mongolia). Outer Tibet, approximately the same area as the modern Tibet Autonomous Region, would be autonomous under Chinese suzerainty. In this area, China would refrain from "interference in the administration." In Inner Tibet, consisting of eastern Kham and Amdo, Lhasa would retain control of religious matters only. In 1908-18, there was a Chinese garrison in Kham and the local princes were subordinate to its commander.
Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming dynasty
However, Lok-Ham Chan, a professor of history at the University of Washington, writes that Changchub Gyaltsen's aims were to recreate the old Tibetan Kingdom that existed during the Chinese Tang dynasty, to build "nationalist sentiment" amongst Tibetans, and to "remove all traces of Mongol suzerainty." Georges Dreyfus, a professor of religion at Williams College, writes that it was Changchub Gyaltsen who adopted the old administrative system of Songtsän Gampo (c. 605–649)—the first leader of the Tibetan Empire to establish Tibet as a strong power—by reinstating its legal code of punishments and administrative units. For example, instead of the 13 governorships established by the Mongol Sakya viceroy, Changchub Gyaltsen divided Central Tibet into districts (dzong) with district heads (dzong dpon) who had to conform to old rituals and wear clothing styles of old Imperial Tibet. Van Praag asserts that Changchub Gyaltsen's ambitions were to "restore to Tibet the glories of its Imperial Age" by reinstating secular administration, promoting "national culture and traditions," and installing a law code that survived into the 20th century.
Khoshut Khanate
It was established in 1642 by Güshi Khan, a Khoshut prince and leader of the Upper Mongols. He was enthroned by the Dalai Lama as Khan and protector-ruler of Tibet. With Güshi Khan as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama and his intimates established a civil administration which is referred to by historians as the "Lhasa state". This Tibetan government is also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang. The Ganden Phodrang government lasted until the 1950s, when Tibet was incorporated into the People's Republic of China. The Khoshut Khanate was conquered by the troops of the Dzungar Khanate in 1717, who deposed Yeshe Gyatso, a pretender to the position of the Dalai Lama promoted by Lha-bzang Khan, the last ruler of the Khoshut Khanate. The Dzungars were in turn expelled by the expedition forces of the Qing dynasty from Tibet in 1720.
List of modern political leaders of Tibet
The politics in Tibet are structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in the People's Republic of China. Both the Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Chairman of the regional People's Congress, are by law ethnic Tibetans. There is also a branch secretary of the Communist Party of China, who receives deference in disputes.
Foreign relations of Tibet
In 1912, Chinese troops having withdrawn from Tibet, the Republic of China proclaimed Tibet a part of China but did not attempt to re-occupy it. In 1913, Tibet and Mongolia signed a treaty proclaiming their independence from China, and their mutual recognition. In 1914 a treaty was negotiated in India, the Simla Convention, representatives of China, Tibet and Britain participated. Again, Chinese suzerainty over Tibet was recognized and a boundary negotiated between British India and Tibet which was very generous to Britain. The treaty was never signed by the Chinese and thus never came into force. The Chinese raised a number of objections, especially their refusal to recognize any treaty between Tibet and Britain. The subsequent outbreak of the world wars and civil war in China caused distractions for the major powers and China, and the Tibetan government continued to exercise effective control over much of the historic lands of Tibet until 1950 despite endemic war with China on its eastern frontier during much of that period.
Human rights in Tibet
In Tibet, the majority of Muslims are Hui people. Tension between Tibetans and Muslims stems from events during the Muslim warlord Ma Bufang's rule in Qinghai such as Ngolok rebellions (1917–49) and the Sino-Tibetan War. In the past riots have broken out between Muslims and Tibetans. The repression of Tibetan separatism by the Chinese government is supported by Hui Muslims. In addition, Chinese-speaking Hui have problems with Tibetan Hui (the Tibetan speaking Kache minority of Muslims).
Outline of Tibet
A unified Tibet first came into being under Songtsen Gampo in the 7th century. From the early 17th century until the 1959 uprising, the Dalai Lamas (Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders) were, at least nominally, heads of a centralised Tibetan administration, with political power to administer religious and administrative authority over large parts of Tibet from the traditional capital Lhasa. They are believed to be the emanations of Avalokiteśvara (or "Chenrezig" ["spyan ras gzigs"] in Tibetan), the bodhisattva of compassion.Geography of Tibet
Administrative divisions of Tibet
CIA Tibetan program
In September 1952, a CIA intelligence report noted the difficulty in continuing to support the Tibetan resistance when the country was fully occupied by the Chinese Communist government. As a result of this domination (of the Tibetans by the Chinese), direct diplomatic relations between Tibet and India ceased. In an article from Aj of Banaras, a daily Hindi newspaper, they reported that this move had ended 16 years of direct contact between the governments of India and Tibet. India was able to have direct communications until that point because China's authority in Tibet was limited until then. In the final paragraph of the article they write, "The Chinese occupation of Tibet a year ago has changed this relationship. The cause was inevitable, and India had no choice but to accept this arrangement, because the Chinese Communists now have complete control of the foreign affairs of Tibet". Previously, India had provided a link for United States' support to the Tibetan resistance. Later that year (December 1952), a CIA Information Report (Classification: Secret) was produced that contained two items in the subject line: 1) Anti-Communist Activities, Tibet, and 2) Chinese Communist Activities, Tibet. The document shows that the agency was closely scrutinizing both Tibetan and Chinese groups and individuals at the time, as well as any other obtained intelligence. The report defines the anti-Communist Tibetan People's Party, and identified geographic areas where the Party's support was strongest. A 36-year old leader, Lhopto Rimpochhe was named as the leader of the "warrior monks." The document goes on to report on intelligence regarding a petition that was sent to the Chinese authorities in Lhasa by Ragashar Shape, Tibetan Defense Minister, but that was ignored. The Shape petition included many interesting points, including: the Dalai Lama should continue to reign supreme; monastery estates should not be confiscated; Tibetans should give thanks to the Chinese for liberation, but kindly ask them to leave, and, in return, the Tibetan people would never ask for military assistance from the Chinese; and asking the Chinese to "please buy the wool" produced in Tibet. The document goes on to list intelligence on some undesired actions taken by the Chinese, including: a forced speech given by a lama under threat of death; the kidnapping of over 200 children for the purpose of retraining them (one was even beheaded as a warning to the others to not cry and complain); and the setting up of a puppet governor at Kham. Next, the document listed nine names of Tibetans who were acting as informers against the Chinese. Lastly, Chinese forces in Tibet were addressed—numbers of troops, names, and leadership transition information.
Tibet on Fire
Tibetans have been protesting occupation and unjust rule since China militarily entered and used false treaties to occupy their sovereign nation of Tibet in 1950. China has since then gradually introduced more repression through subtle policies that weaken and disenfranchise the native Tibetan population. Their aim seems to be to either wipe-out Tibetan people and their culture, or to dilute them with the dominant Chinese Han. As a result many Tibetans have had to escape to other countries, but the 6 million Tibetans remaining in their occupied homeland experience daily oppression through unreported atrocities. Especially targeted are Tibet's Buddhist monasteries and schools, whom the Communist and anti-religious Chinese government sees as the main stewards/teachers of Tibetan culture. These Buddhist monasteries and schools, the largest being Larung Gar Buddhist Academy with 40,000 peaceful residents, are literally and systematically being demolished, and the monks who lived in the destroyed monasteries, young men and women, are force-ably relocated "en masse" to live in political concentration camps they call "patriotic camps". The displaced monks see no way out of the increasingly harsh indoctrination and punishments meted by authorities. With their educational, spiritual, and physical/housing needs literally discarded, they see little hope or a personal future.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
Most scholars outside of China say that during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Tibet was independent without even nominal Ming suzerainty. In contrast, since the mid-18th century it is agreed that China had control over Tibet reaching its maximum in the end of the 18th century. Luciano Petech, a scholar of Himalayan history, indicated that Tibet was a Qing protectorate.
Serfdom in Tibet controversy
The Chinese side seeks to persuade international perception as to the appropriate nature and justifiability of Chinese rule in Tibet. Their position is that Tibet truly and historically belongs to China, that affairs of Tibet are internal matters, and Tibetans seek to internationalize their cause, in part by convincing readers that Tibet was independent. Concentrating as it does on questions of national sovereignty, the official position of the Tibetan Government in Exile is more moderate in tone than that of some of its more extreme supporters who conflate the rule of the lamas with Tibetan Buddhist ideals, seeking to promote a Buddhist dogma that competes with the Marxist dogma of "feudal serfdom" by portraying Tibet under the lamas as, in Robert Thurman's words: "a mandala of the peaceful, perfected universe".
History of the Ming dynasty
The "Mingshi"— the official history of the Ming dynasty compiled later by the Qing court in 1739—states that the Ming established itinerant commanderies overseeing Tibetan administration while also renewing titles of ex-Yuan dynasty officials from Tibet and conferring new princely titles on leaders of Tibet's Buddhist sects. However, Turrell V. Wylie states that censorship in the "Mingshi" in favor of bolstering the Ming emperor's prestige and reputation at all costs obfuscates the nuanced history of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming era. Modern scholars still debate on whether or not the Ming dynasty really had sovereignty over Tibet at all, as some believe it was a relationship of loose suzerainty which was largely cut off when the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–1567) persecuted Buddhism in favor of Daoism at court. Helmut Hoffman states that the Ming upheld the facade of rule over Tibet through periodic missions of "tribute emissaries" to the Ming court and by granting nominal titles to ruling lamas, but did not actually interfere in Tibetan governance. Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain disagree, stating that Ming China had sovereignty over Tibetans who did not inherit Ming titles, but were forced to travel to Beijing to renew them. Melvyn C. Goldstein writes that the Ming had no real administrative authority over Tibet since the various titles given to Tibetan leaders already in power did not confer authority as earlier Mongol Yuan titles had; according to him, "the Ming emperors merely recognized political reality." Some scholars argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship of the Ming court with Tibetan lamas is underrepresented in modern scholarship. Others underscore the commercial aspect of the relationship, noting the Ming dynasty's insufficient number of horses and the need to maintain the tea-horse trade with Tibet. Scholars also debate on how much power and influence—if any—the Ming dynasty court had over the "de facto" successive ruling families of Tibet, the Phagmodru (1354–1436), Rinbung (1436–1565), and Tsangpa (1565–1642).
Tibet under Qing rule
The Anglo-Tibetan treaty was followed by a Sino-British treaty in 1906 by which the "Government of Great Britain engages not to annex Tibetan territory or to interfere in the administration of Tibet. The Government of China also undertakes not to permit any other foreign State to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet." Moreover, Beijing agreed to pay London 2.5 million rupees which Lhasa was forced to agree upon in the Anglo-Tibetan treaty of 1904. In 1907, Britain and Russia agreed that in "conformity with the admitted principle of the suzerainty of China over Tibet" both nations "engage not to enter into negotiations with Tibet except through the intermediary of the Chinese Government."
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) or Xizang Autonomous Region, called Tibet or Xizang for short (; , ), is a province-level autonomous region in southwest China. It was formally established in 1965 to replace the Tibet Area, an administrative division the PRC inherited from the Republic of China (ROC), about five years after the dismissal of the Kashag by the PRC (this is contested) following the 1959 Tibetan uprising, and about 13 years from the Tibet's incorporation into the PRC in 1951.
Human rights in China
In early January 2018, Chinese authorities in Shanxi province demolished a church, which created a wave of fear among the Christians.
The Dalai Lama is a highly influential figure in Tibetan Buddhism, who has traditionally lived in Tibet. Because of Chinese governmental control over the Tibetan area, the current Dalai Lama resides in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, in the Republic of India. In a regulation promulgated 3 August 2007, the Chinese government declared that after 1 September 2007, "[no] living Buddha [may be reincarnated] without government approval, since the Qing dynasty, when the live Buddha system was established." The PRC Government-appointed Panchen Lama is labelled a fake by those who regard the PRC's effort to control organised religion as contradictory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other ethical principles.
Affair of the Dancing Lamas
Fearing Russian military intervention into Tibet, in 1904 the British Raj made a military incursion into Tibet led by Francis Younghusband. Sometimes known as the "Mission to Lhasa", this was largely instigated by Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India. The ensuing 1904 treaty and 1906 convention formalised Chinese suzerainty over Tibet while declaring that it would permit no foreign interventions (including by Russia or Britain). In 1910 China invaded Tibet and to escape the savagery the Dalai Lama fled to Sikkim, where he was sheltered by the British. Sikkim, sandwiched between India and Tibet, was under firm British protection and was only nominally an independent state.
Following the Xinhai Revolution, which established the Republic of China in 1912, China withdrew from Tibet. The Dalai Lama returned to Lhasa and Britain briefly supplied armaments to what it now regarded as an independent country but the First World War in Europe led to Britain losing interest. By 1919 a renewed fear of Russia and China felt by both Britain and Tibet led to a mutual desire for closer diplomatic relations. Charles Bell, Britain's political representative in Sikkim, was sent to Lhasa at the end of 1920 to negotiate. He was the first European to be invited to Lhasa and he stayed for almost a whole year. Bell and Thubten Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, developed a warm personal friendship. In 1921, Britain again started supplying Tibet with arms, ammunition, military support and training.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
In 1950 after the People's Liberation Army entered Tibet, Indian leader Jawaharlal Nehru stated that his country would continue the British policy with regards to Tibet in considering it to be outwardly part of China but internally autonomous.
Tibet
The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century, but with the fall of the empire the region soon divided into a variety of territories. The bulk of western and central Tibet (Ü-Tsang) was often at least nominally unified under a series of Tibetan governments in Lhasa, Shigatse, or nearby locations; these governments were at various times under Mongol and Chinese overlordship. Thus Tibet remained a suzerainty of the Mongol and later Chinese rulers in Nanjing and Beijing, with reasonable autonomy given to the Tibetan leaders. The eastern regions of Kham and Amdo often maintained a more decentralized indigenous political structure, being divided among a number of small principalities and tribal groups, while also often falling more directly under Chinese rule after the Battle of Chamdo; most of this area was eventually incorporated into the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai. The current borders of Tibet were generally established in the 18th century.
Tibetan Buddhism
In 1912, following the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Tibet became de facto independent under the 13th Dalai Lama government based in Lhasa, maintaining the current territory of what is now called the Tibetan Autonomous Region. After the Battle of Chamdo Tibet was annexed by the Chinese People's republic in 1950. In 1959 the 14th Dalai Lama and a great number of clergy fled the country, to settle in India and other neighbouring countries. The events of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) saw religion as one of the main political targets of the Chinese Communist Party and most of the several thousand temples and monasteries in Tibet were destroyed, with many monks and lamas imprisoned. Matters were made much worse by the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During this time, private religious expression, as well as Tibetan cultural traditions were being suppressed. Much of the Tibetan textual heritage was destroyed, and monks and nuns were forced to disrobe. Outside of Tibet however there was a renewed interest in Tibetan Buddhism in places such as Nepal and Bhutan, while the spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the Western world was accomplished by many of the refugee Tibetan Lamas who escaped Tibet.
Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)
After the British expedition to Tibet in 1904 and the Sino-British treaty in 1906, the Qing decided to establish direct rule over Tibet and thus sent such an expedition in 1910. As Professor Dawa Norbu stated, "The British military expedition and subsequent convention made the Chinese realize that their power in Tibet had disappeared. So, in 1910 China invaded Tibet, and the Dalai Lama fled to India."
Tibet Autonomous Region
In 1950, the People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet and defeated the Tibetan local army in a battle fought near the city of Chamdo. In 1951, the Tibetan representatives signed a 17-point agreement with the Central People's Government affirming China's sovereignty over Tibet and the incorporation of Tibet. The agreement was ratified in Lhasa a few months later. Although the 17-point agreement had provided for an autonomous administration led by the Dalai Lama, a "Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet" (PCART) was established in 1955 to exclude the Dalai Lama's government and create a system of administration along Communist lines. Under threat of his life from Chinese forces the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 and renounced the 17-point agreement. Tibet Autonomous Region was established in 1965, thus making Tibet a provincial-level division of China.
Tibet
The 5th Dalai Lama is known for unifying the Tibetan heartland under the control of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, after defeating the rival Kagyu and Jonang sects and the secular ruler, the Tsangpa prince, in a prolonged civil war. His efforts were successful in part because of aid from Güshi Khan, the Oirat leader of the Khoshut Khanate. With Güshi Khan as a largely uninvolved overlord, the 5th Dalai Lama and his intimates established a civil administration which is referred to by historians as the "Lhasa state". This Tibetan regime or government is also referred to as the Ganden Phodrang.
Tibetan sovereignty debate
The position of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which has ruled mainland China since 1949, as well as the official position of the Republic of China (ROC), which ruled mainland China before 1949 and currently controls Taiwan, is that Tibet has been an indivisible part of China "de jure" since the Yuan dynasty of Mongol-ruled China in the 13th century, comparable to other states such as the Kingdom of Dali and the Tangut Empire that were also incorporated into China at the time.
Serfdom in Tibet controversy
The definition of Tibet has been contested with a map of competing claims identifying six distinct types of Tibetan regions claimed by various entities. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and in the ROC (1912-1949), the part of Tibet governed by Lhasa was limited to the modern Tibet Autonomous Region, and did not include the Kham (Xikang) Province of China. Meanwhile, the western part of Xikang (i.e. Qamdo) and Qinghai was only occupied by Lhasa in the Tibet-Kham War which lasted from the 1910s to 1930s.
Tibet (1912–1951)
Tibet had been under the administrative rule of the Qing dynasty since 1720. Following the Xinhai Revolution in 1911-12, Tibetan militia launched a surprise attack on the Qing garrison stationed in Tibet after the Xinhai Lhasa turmoil. After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the Qing officials in Lhasa then were forced to sign the "Three Point Agreement" for the surrender and expulsion of Qing forces in central Tibet. In early 1912, the Government of the Republic of China replaced the Qing dynasty as the government of China and the new republic asserted its sovereignty over all the territories of the previous dynasty, which included 22 Chinese provinces, Tibet and Mongolia.
Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950
In Tibet, the majority of Muslims are Hui people. Tension between Tibetans and Muslims stems from events during the Muslim warlord Ma Bufang's rule in Qinghai such as Ngolok rebellions (1917–49) and the Sino-Tibetan War. In the past riots have broken out between Muslims and Tibetans. The repression of Tibetan separatism by the Chinese government is supported by Hui Muslims. In addition, Chinese-speaking Hui have problems with Tibetan Hui (the Tibetan speaking Kache minority of Muslims).
Ganden Phodrang
After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, the 13th Dalai Lama declared himself ruler of an independent Tibet. It was considered by the Republic of China as a part of the new republic, which gave Tibet the status of an "Area". This would last until the 1950s, when Tibet was incorporated into the People's Republic of China. The state structure remained in place for a few years but was formally dissolved in 1959 after the 1959 Tibetan uprising. The Tibet Autonomous Region was established by China in 1965 out of a part of the Tibetan ethno-cultural area. The Central Tibetan Administration was established by the 14th Dalai Lama and based in McLeod Ganj India since 1959.
Religion in China
There are controversies surrounding the Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, specifically the succession of Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama—the spiritual leader of the Gelug school, the major school of Tibetan Buddhism—, who before fleeing China during the 1959 Tibetan uprising had full political power in Tibet. The Panchen Lama, the Tibetan hierarch in charge of the designation of the future successor of the Dalai Lama, is the matter of controversy between the Chinese government and Tenzin Gyatso. The government of China asserts that the present (11th) incarnation of the Panchen Lama is Gyancain Norbu, while the 14th Dalai Lama asserted in 1995 that it was Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who from that year has been detained by the Chinese government and never seen in public.
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region is a province-level entity of the People's Republic of China. Chinese law nominally guarantees some autonomy in the areas of education and language policy. Like other subdivisions of China, routine administration is carried out by a People's Government, headed by a Chairman, who has been an ethnic Tibetan except for an interregnum during the Cultural Revolution. As with other Chinese provinces, the Chairman carries out work under the direction of the regional secretary of the Communist Party of China. The regional standing committee of the Communist Party serves as the top rung of political power in the region. The current Chairman is Che Dalha and the current party secretary is Wu Yingjie.
Incorporation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China
The TAR region is also known as "Political Tibet", while all areas with a high ethnic Tibetan population are collectively known as "Ethnic Tibet". Political Tibet refers to the polity ruled continuously by Tibetan governments since earliest times until 1951, whereas ethnic Tibet refers to regions north and east where Tibetans historically predominated but where, down to modern times, Tibetan jurisdiction was irregular and limited to just certain areas.
Tibet
The Mongol Yuan dynasty, through the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, or Xuanzheng Yuan, ruled Tibet through a top-level administrative department. One of the department's purposes was to select a "dpon-chen" ('great administrator'), usually appointed by the lama and confirmed by the Mongol emperor in Beijing. The Sakya lama retained a degree of autonomy, acting as the political authority of the region, while the "dpon-chen" held administrative and military power. Mongol rule of Tibet remained separate from the main provinces of China, but the region existed under the administration of the Yuan dynasty. If the Sakya lama ever came into conflict with the "dpon-chen", the "dpon-chen" had the authority to send Chinese troops into the region.
Tibet under Qing rule
The Dalai Lama's title's was restored in November 1908. He was about to return to Lhasa from Amdo in the summer of 1909 when the Chinese decided to send military forces to Lhasa to control him. With their 1910 expedition to Tibet the Dalai Lama once again fled, this time to India, and was once again deposed by the Chinese. The situation was soon to change, however, as, after the fall of the Qing dynasty in October 1911, Zhao's soldiers mutinied and beheaded him. All remaining Qing forces left Tibet after the Xinhai Lhasa turmoil.