Tibet is back in the news.
Although China never ruled Tibet in the modern sense until the mid 20th century, neither the Chinese emperors, nor the Republic of China, nor the People's Republic of China, ever renounced China's claim to sovereignty over Tibet, a geographically, historically, ethnically, socially and culturally distinct nation.
In 1950, the Communist Chinese People's Liberation Army invaded then independent Tibet, crushing all resistance and officially incorporating Tibet into the People's Republic of China. Although Tibet was supposed to be a highly autonomous area of China, it was treated like a colony.
Predictably, rebellion broke out (clandestinely supported by the USA) in June, 1956. Ultimately crushed by 1959, tens of thousands of Tibetans were killed and the 14th Dalai Lama (the politico-religious leader) fled to exile. In retaliation for the rebellion, the Chinese government implemented full-scale land redistribution in all areas of Tibet, importing members of other ethnic groups and replacing and supplanting ethnic Tibetans. Today, a majority of the residents of Tibet, including most government and military figures, are not "Tibetan".
Chinese rule in Tibet has been stereotypically heavy-handed. In 1989, the Panchen Lama was allowed to return to Tibet, addressed a crowd of 30,000, described what he saw as the suffering of Tibet . . . and, five days later, died of a "massive heart attack" at the age of 50. Right.
In 1991, the Dalai Lama charged Chinese settlers in Tibet with creating "Chinese Apartheid". "The new Chinese settlers have created an alternate society: a Chinese apartheid which, denying Tibetans equal social and economic status in our own land, threatens to finally overwhelm and absorb us." It is alleged that, since 1950, approximately 1.2 million Tibetans have died from violence or other indirect causes.
Nonetheless, the Dalai Lama is "willing [for Tibet] to be part of the People's Republic of China, to have it govern and guarantee to preserve our Tibetan culture, spirituality and our environment", and has repeatedly said he would accept Chinese sovereignty over Tibet in exchange for real autonomy over its religious and cultural life. The Chinese government failed to meaningfully respond to these generous concessions.
Recently, under the spotlight of preparations for the Olympic Games, Tibetan protests against China, initiated by Buddhist monks, flared up again. The Chinese government reacted viciously and violently, and has imposed curfews and strictly limited access to Tibetan areas. Many fear this is a last gasp for both the independence movement and Tibetan culture, before the passing of the exile leadership generation and the demographic victory of the immigrant Chinese settlers.
See generally
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Yet, the mass of ignorant backward Tibetans, frustrated and embittered by military, social, political and economic dislocation, cling to their religion and anti (Chinese) immigrant prejudices. God bless them.
