View source for Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China

{{Short description|1950–51 annexation of territory in Asia}}
{{pp-protected|reason=Persistent [[WP:Disruptive editing|disruptive editing]]|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China
| partof            = 
| image             = 解放军在康定.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = PLA marching into Kangding, Tibet
| date              = 6 October 1950 – 23 May 1951<br>({{Age in months, weeks and days|month1=10|day1=06|year1=1950|month2=05|day2=23|year2=1951}})
| place             = [[Tibet]]
| result            = [[Seventeen Point Agreement]]
| territory         = Tibet is annexed by the People's Republic of China.
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|Tibet (1912–1951)}}
| combatant2        = {{flag|People's Republic of China}}
| commander1        = {{flagdeco|Tibet}} [[Ngawang Sungrab Thutob]]<br />{{flagdeco|Tibet}} [[Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme]]{{POW}}<ref name="Mac">Mackerras, Colin. Yorke, Amanda. ''The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China''. [1991]. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-38755-8}}. p.100.</ref><br />{{flagdeco|Tibet}} [[Lhalu Tsewang Dorje]]<ref name="Goldstein_1991_639">{{cite book|last1=Goldstein|first1=Melvyn C.|title=A history of modern Tibet, 1913–1951, the demise of the lamaist state|date=1991|publisher=University of California Press|page=639}}</ref>
| commander2        = {{flagdeco|China}} [[Mao Zedong]]<br>{{flagdeco|China}} [[Liu Bocheng]]<br>{{flagdeco|China}} [[Zhang Guohua]]<br>{{flagdeco|China}} [[Fan Ming]]
| units1            = {{army|Tibet (1912–1951)}}<ref>''[[Freedom in Exile|Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama]]'', [[Tenzin Gyatso|14th Dalai Lama]], London: Little, Brown and Co, 1990 {{ISBN|0-349-10462-X}}</ref>
| units2            = {{army|China|1949}}<ref name=Laird301>Laird 2006 p.301.</ref><ref name="shakya43">Shakya 1999, p.43</ref>
| strength1         = 
| strength2         = 
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
| casualties3       = 
| notes             = 
| campaignbox       = 
}}
{{History of Tibet}}

[[Tibet]] came under the control of [[China|People's Republic of China]] (PRC) after the [[Ganden Phodrang|Government of Tibet]] signed the [[Seventeen Point Agreement]] which the [[14th Dalai Lama]] ratified on 24 October 1951,<ref name="Grunfeld1996">{{cite book |author=A. Tom Grunfeld |title=The Making of Modern Tibet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odyxWQGD2eoC&pg=PA107 |date=30 July 1996 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-3455-9 |pages=107–}}</ref> but later repudiated on the grounds that he had rendered his approval for the agreement  under duress.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Dalai Lama's Press Statements - Statement issued at Tezpur |url=http://www.archieve.claudearpi.net/maintenance/uploaded_pics/590418_Tezpur_Statement.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221029012204/http://www.archieve.claudearpi.net/maintenance/uploaded_pics/590418_Tezpur_Statement.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2022 |date=18 April 1959 |url-status=live}}</ref> This occurred after attempts by the Tibetan Government to gain [[diplomatic recognition|international recognition]], efforts to modernize its [[Tibetan Army|military]], negotiations between the Government of Tibet and the PRC, and [[Battle of Chamdo|a military conflict]] in the [[Chamdo]] area of western [[Kham]] in October 1950.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Anne-Marie Blondeau |author2=Katia Buffetrille |title=Authenticating Tibet: Answers to China's 100 Questions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6_FKtkYhdgC&pg=PA61 |year=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24464-1 |page=61 |quote=It was evident that the Chinese were not prepared to accept any compromises and that the Tibetans were compelled, under the threat of immediate armed invasion, to sign the Chinese proposal. |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623213207/https://books.google.com/books?id=B6_FKtkYhdgC&pg=PA61 |archive-date=23 June 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Tsepon Wangchuk Deden Shakabpa |title=One Hundred Thousand Moons: An Advanced Political History of Tibet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGyrymfDdI0C&pg=PA955 |date=October 2009 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-17732-1 |pages=953, 955}}</ref> The series of events came to be called the "'''Peaceful Liberation of Tibet'''" by the [[government of China|Chinese government]] (despite several thousand casualties being reported by Chinese generals throughout the invasion),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.china.org.cn/english/13235.htm |title=Peaceful Liberation of Tibet |publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616053845/http://www.china.org.cn/english/13235.htm |archive-date=16 June 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Norbu2001">{{cite book |author=Dawa Norbu |title=China's Tibet Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHXUqP4ukgEC&pg=PA301 |year=2001 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7007-0474-3 |pages=300–301}}</ref><ref name="GoldsteinRimpoche1989">{{harvp|Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, Vol. 1|1989|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=k3BijVR0dVcC&pg=PA679 679] [https://books.google.com/books?id=k3BijVR0dVcC&pg=PA740 740]}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and the "'''Chinese invasion of Tibet'''" by the [[Central Tibetan Administration]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tibet.net/2017/05/china-could-not-succeed-in-destroying-buddhism-in-tibet-sangay/ |title=China could not succeed in destroying Buddhism in Tibet: Sangay |publisher=[[Central Tibetan Administration]] |date=25 May 2017 |access-date=16 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921210552/http://tibet.net/2017/05/china-could-not-succeed-in-destroying-buddhism-in-tibet-sangay/ |archive-date=21 September 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[Tibetan diaspora]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Siling |first=Luo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/world/asia/china-tibet-lhasa-jianglin-li.html |title=A Writer's Quest to Unearth the Roots of Tibet's Unrest |date=2016-08-14 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2020-02-15 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127234528/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/world/asia/china-tibet-lhasa-jianglin-li.html |archive-date=27 November 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Government of Tibet and the Tibetan social structure remained in place in the Tibetan polity 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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Latson |first1=Jennifer |title=How and Why the Dalai Lama Left Tibet |url=https://time.com/3742242/dalai-lama-1959/ |access-date=21 February 2021 |publisher=Time |date=March 17, 2015}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated54">{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|pp=54–55}};  {{harvp|Feigon|1996|pp=160–161}};  Shakya 1999 p.208,240,241. (all sources: fled Tibet, repudiated agreement, dissolved local government).</ref>

== Background ==
Tibet came under the control of the [[Qing dynasty]] of China in 1720 after the Qing [[Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720)|expelled]] the forces of the [[Dzungar Khanate]] from Tibet.{{sfnp|Lin, Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier|2011|pp=7–8}} It remained under Qing [[suzerainty]] (or [[protectorate]]) until the [[1911 Revolution|fall of the monarchy]] 1912.{{sfnp|Lin, Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier|2011|p=9}} The succeeding [[Republic of China (1912–1949) |Republic of China]] claimed inheritance of all territories held by the Qing dynasty, including Tibet.<ref name=ROC>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Harold |title=China: A History |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VIWC9wCX2c8C&q=republic+of+china+inherit+all+territories+qing+dynasty&pg=PA419 |page=419 |publisher=Hackett |isbn=978-0872209152}}</ref> This claim was provided for in the [[Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor]] signed by the [[Empress Dowager Longyu]] on behalf of the six-year-old [[Puyi|Xuantong Emperor]]: "...{{nbsp}}the continued territorial integrity of the lands of the [[Five Races Under One Nation|five races]], [[Manchu people|Manchu]], [[Han Chinese|Han]], [[Mongols|Mongol]], [[Hui people|Hui]], and [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] into one great Republic of China" (...{{nbsp}}{{lang|zh-Hant|仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土，為一大中華民國}}).<ref name=Edict1>{{cite book|last1=Esherick |first1=Joseph |last2=Kayali |first2=Hasan |last3=Van Young |first3=Eric |title=Empire to Nation: Historical Perspectives on the Making of the Modern World |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=reKxAAAAQBAJ&q=complete+territories+of+manchu,+han,+mongol,+hui,+tibetan&pg=PA245 |page=245 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9780742578159}}</ref><ref name=Edict2>{{cite book |last1=Zhai |first1=Zhiyong |title=憲法何以中國 |year=2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ziEwDwAAQBAJ&q=仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土為一大中華民國&pg=PA190 |page=190 |publisher=City University of HK Press |isbn=9789629373214}}</ref><ref name=Edict3>{{cite book |last1=Gao |first1=Quanxi |title=政治憲法與未來憲制 |year=2016 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P46rDAAAQBAJ&q=仍合滿、漢、蒙、回、藏五族完全領土為一大中華民國&pg=PA273 |page=273 |publisher=City University of HK Press |isbn=9789629372910}}</ref>, though the Qing government had already [[Xinhai Lhasa turmoil|lost control of Tibet]]. The [[Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China]] adopted in 1912 specifically established frontier regions of the new republic, including Tibet, as integral parts of the state.<ref name=Integral>{{cite book |last1=Zhao |first1=Suisheng |title=A Nation-state by Construction: Dynamics of Modern Chinese Nationalism |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhkweJozrS0C&q=complete+territories+of+manchu,+han,+mongol,+hui,+tibetan&pg=PA68 |page=68 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804750011}}</ref>

After the [[Xinhai Revolution]] in 1911, most of the area comprising the present-day [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR)]] became [[Tibet (1912–1951)|a ''de facto'' independent polity]], independent from the rest of the Republic of China<ref>Shakya 1999 p.4</ref><ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, Vol. 1|1989|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=k3BijVR0dVcC&pg=PA815 815]}}: "Tibet unquestionably controlled its own internal and external affairs during the period from 1913 to 1951 and repeatedly attempted to secure recognition and validation of its de facto autonomy/independence."</ref> with the rest of the present day TAR coming under Tibetan government control by 1917.<ref>Feigon 1996 p.119</ref> Some border areas with high ethnic Tibetan populations ([[Amdo]] and Eastern [[Kham]]) remained under the [[History of the Kuomintang#Early years|Chinese Nationalist Party]] ([[Kuomintang]]) or local warlord control.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.6,27.  Feigon 1996 p.28</ref>

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.<ref>The classic distinction drawn by [[Sir Charles Bell]] and [[Hugh Edward Richardson|Hugh Richardson]]. See Melvin C. Goldstein, 'Change, Conflict and Continuity among a community of Nomadic Pastoralists: A Case Study from Western Tibet, 1950–1990,' in Robert Barnett and Shirin Akiner, (eds.,) ''Resistance and Reform in Tibet,'' Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1994, pp. 76–90, pp.77–8.</ref>

At the time Political Tibet obtained ''de facto'' independence, its socio-economic and political systems resembled [[Medieval Europe]].<ref>Shakya 1999 p.11</ref> Attempts by the [[13th Dalai Lama]] between 1913 and 1933 to enlarge and modernize the Tibetan military had eventually failed, largely due to opposition from powerful [[Aristocracy|aristocrats]] and [[Tibetan Monasticism|monks]].<ref>Feigon 1996 p.119-122.  {{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|pp=34–35}}</ref><ref name="Shakya99511">Shakya 1999 p.5,11</ref>
On 12 August 1927, the Republic of China mandated that before the publication of new laws, all laws in history regarding Tibetan Buddhism should continue unless there were conflicts with new doctrine or new laws of the Central Government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/461098896_523177 |date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001024741/https://www.sohu.com/a/461098896_523177 |archive-date=1 October 2022 |url-status=live |title=【边疆时空】喜饶尼玛 李双{{!}}国民政府管理藏传佛教活佛措施评析|website=[[Sohu]] }} 南京国民政府成立之初，在处理藏传佛教问题上采取援引相关法规的原则。1927年8月12日，南京国民政府"援用以前法律之决议案"，规定一切法律在未颁布以前，继续援引不与国民党党纲或主义，或与国民政府法令相抵触的法律。</ref> The Tibetan government had little contact with other governments of the world during its period of ''de facto'' independence,<ref name="Shakya99511" /> with some exceptions; notably India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.7,15,16</ref><ref name="Goldstein9737">{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=37}}</ref> This left Tibet diplomatically isolated and cut off to the point where it could not make its positions on issues well known to the international community.<ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=36}}</ref>

== Tibet's attempts to remain independent ==
In July 1949, in order to prevent [[Chinese Communist Party]]-sponsored agitation in political Tibet, the Tibetan government expelled the Nationalist delegation in Lhasa.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.5,7,8</ref> The (Nationalist) Chinese approved  request to exempt Lhamo Dhondup from lot-drawing process using [[Golden Urn]] to become the 14th Dalai Lama on 31 January 1940. {{sfnp|Goldstein|1991|pp=328–}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.livingbuddha.us.com/view-d59c6c9eba6e4beb842b893f40fdec75.html |publisher=Museum of Tibetan Culture of China Tibetology Research Center |title=Report to Wu Zhongxin from the Regent Reting Rinpoche Regarding the Process of Searching and Recognizing the Thirteenth Dalai lama's Reincarnated Soul Boy as well as the Request for an Exemption to Drawing Lots |website=The Reincarnation of Living Buddhas |date=1940 |access-date=28 September 2022 |archive-date=31 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331204451/http://www.livingbuddha.us.com/view-d59c6c9eba6e4beb842b893f40fdec75.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> <ref name="yuan">{{cite web |date=1940 |title=Executive Yuan's Report to the National Government Regarding the Request to Approve Lhamo Thondup to Succeed the Fourteenth Dalai lama and to Appropriate Expenditure for His Enthronement |url=http://www.livingbuddha.us.com/view-a4a452dadc42426184aa073f08dd26fb.html |website=The Reincarnation of Living Buddhas |publisher=Museum of Tibetan Culture of China Tibetology Research Center |access-date=28 September 2022 |archive-date=30 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930211113/http://www.livingbuddha.us.com/view-a4a452dadc42426184aa073f08dd26fb.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In November 1949, Tibetan government sent a letter to the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] and a copy to [[Mao Zedong]], and a separate letter to the British government, declaring its intent to defend itself "by all possible means" against PRC troop incursions into Tibet.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.20;  {{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=42}}</ref>

In the preceding three decades, the conservative Tibetan government had consciously de-emphasized its military and refrained from modernizing.<ref>Melvin C. Goldstein,''A History of Modern Tibet:The Calm Before the Storm: 1951–1955,'' University of California Press, 2009, Vol.2, p.51.</ref> Hasty attempts at modernization and enlarging the military began in 1949,<ref>Shakya 1999 p.12</ref> but proved mostly unsuccessful on both counts.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.20,21; {{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|pp=37, 41–43}}</ref> By then, it was too late to raise and train an effective army.<ref>Goldstein, 209 pp.51–2.</ref> India provided some [[small arms]] aid and military training.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.26</ref> However, the [[People's Liberation Army]] (PLA) was much larger, better trained, better led, better equipped, and more experienced than the [[Tibetan Army]].<ref>Shakya 1999 p.12 (Tibetan army poorly trained and equipped).</ref><ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|pp=41, 45}}</ref><ref name="Feigon96142">Feigon 1996 p.142 (trained).</ref>

In 1950, the [[14th Dalai Lama]] was 15 years old and had not attained his [[Age of majority|majority]], so [[3rd Taktra Rinpoche|Regent Taktra]] was the acting [[Head of government|head]] of the Tibetan Government.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.5</ref> The period of the Dalai Lama's [[Minor (law)|minority]] is traditionally one of instability and division, exacerbated by the recent [[Reting Rinpoche#Regency of the Fifth Reting Rinpoche|Reting conspiracy]]<ref>Shakya 1999 p.4,5</ref> and a 1947 regency dispute.<ref name="Goldstein9737">{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=37}}</ref>

== Preparations by the People's Republic of China ==
[[File:Map of Tibet- "TIBET CONFIDENTIAL" "Ethnographic Boundary of Tibet" "Approximate Line of Communist Advance" and "Reportedly occupied by Communists" "11518, CIA, 2-50" February 1950 map- 305945 11518 01.jpg|thumb|Approximate Line of Communist Advance (CIA, February 1950)]]
[[File:Lost Horizon? (1948).jpg|thumb|Map of the Far East from the Time magazine showing the situation of the Chinese Civil War in late 1948. Tibet is listed as part of China, while Outer Mongolia is listed outside of China since it was recognized as an independent country by that time, unlike Tibet.]]

{{Further|Political status of Tibet}}
Both the PRC and their predecessors the Kuomintang (ROC) had always maintained that Tibet was a part of China.<ref name="Feigon96142" /> The PRC also proclaimed an ideological motivation to "liberate" the Tibetans from a [[Theocracy|theocratic]] [[Feudalism|feudal system]].<ref>Dawa Norbu, ''China's Tibet policy,''Routledge, 2001, p.195</ref> In September 1949, shortly before the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) made it a top priority to incorporate Tibet, [[Taiwan Island]], [[Hainan Island]], and the [[Penghu|Penghu Islands]] into the PRC,<ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=41}}</ref><ref>Shakya 1999 p.3.</ref> peacefully or by force.<ref name="Goldstein9744">Goldstein 1997 p.44</ref> China viewed incorporating Tibet as important to consolidate its frontiers and address national defense concerns in the southwest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Swaran |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/939553543 |title=The new great game : China and South and Central Asia in the era of reform |date=2016 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |others=Thomas Fingar |isbn=978-0-8047-9764-1 |location=Stanford, California |pages=149 |chapter=China Engaged its Southwest Frontiers |oclc=939553543 |author-link=}}</ref> Because Tibet was unlikely to voluntarily give up its de facto independence, Mao in December 1949 ordered that preparations be made to march into Tibet at [[Qamdo]] (Chamdo), in order to induce the Tibetan Government to negotiate.<ref name="Goldstein9744" /> The PRC had over a million men under arms<ref name="Goldstein9744" /> and had extensive combat experience from the recently concluded [[Chinese Civil War]].{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

== Negotiations between Tibet and the PRC ==
Talks between Tibet and China were mediated by the [[Government of the United Kingdom|governments]] of Britain and [[Government of India|India]]. On 7 March 1950, a Tibetan delegation arrived in [[Kalimpong]], India, to open a dialogue with the [[History of the People's Republic of China|newly declared People's Republic of China]] and to secure assurances that the Chinese would respect Tibetan [[territorial integrity]], among other things.  The onset of talks was delayed by debate between the Tibetan, Indian, British, and Chinese delegations about the location of the talks.  Tibet favored [[Singapore]] or [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] (not Beijing; at the time [[Chinese postal romanization|romanized]] as Peking); Britain favored India (not Hong Kong or Singapore); and India and the Chinese favored Beijing.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}  The Tibetan delegation did eventually meet with the PRC's ambassador General Yuan Zhongxian in [[Delhi]] on 16 September 1950.  Yuan communicated a 3-point proposal that Tibet be regarded as part of China, that China be responsible for Tibet's defense, and that China be responsible for Tibet's trade and foreign relations. Acceptance would lead to peaceful Chinese sovereignty, or otherwise war. The Tibetans undertook to maintain the relationship between China and Tibet as one of [[Patron and priest relationship|priest-patron]]:

{{quote|Tibet will remain independent as it is at present, and we will continue to have very close 'priest-patron' relations with China. Also, there is no need to liberate Tibet from imperialism, since there are no British, American or Guomindang imperialists in Tibet, and Tibet is ruled and protected by the Dalai Lama (not any foreign power). {{Spaced en dash}} [[Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa]]<ref>{{Cite book |title=A History of Modern Tibet. Volume 2: The Calm Before the Storm, 1951–1955 |last=Goldstein |first=Melvyn C |date=2009 |publisher=University of California Press |others=Goldstein, Melvyn C. |isbn=9780520249417 |location=[[Berkeley, California]] |oclc=76167591 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmodernt00melv}}</ref>{{Rp|46}} }}

They and their head delegate Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, on 19 September, recommended cooperation, with some stipulations about implementation. Chinese troops need not be stationed in Tibet. It was argued that Tibet was under no threat, and if attacked by India or Nepal, could appeal to China for military assistance. While Lhasa deliberated, on 7 October 1950, Chinese troops advanced into eastern Tibet, crossing the border at five places.<ref>Melvin C. Goldstein, ''A History of Modern Tibet: The Calm Before the Storm: 1951–1955,'' University of California Press, 2009, Vol.2, p.48.</ref> The purpose was not to invade Tibet ''per se'' but to capture the Tibetan army in [[Chamdo]], demoralize the Lhasa government, and thus exert powerful pressure to send negotiators to Beijing to sign terms for a handover of Tibet.<ref>Melvin C. Goldstein, ''A History of Modern Tibet,'' vol.2, p.48-9.</ref> On 21 October, Lhasa instructed its delegation to leave immediately for Beijing for consultations with the Communist government, and to accept the first provision, if the status of the Dalai Lama could be guaranteed, while rejecting the other two conditions. It later rescinded even acceptance of the first demand, after a divination before the [[Mahākāla|Six-Armed Mahākāla deities]] indicated that the three points could not be accepted, since Tibet would fall under foreign domination.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.27-32 (entire paragraph).</ref><ref>W. D. Shakabpa,''One hundred thousand moons'', BRILL, 2010 trans. Derek F. Maher, Vol.1, pp.916–917, and ch.20 pp.928–942, esp.pp.928–33.</ref><ref>Melvin C. Goldstein, ''A History of Modern Tibet: The Calm Before the Storm: 1951–1955,'' Vol.2, ibid.pp.41–57.</ref>

== Invasion of Chamdo ==
{{Main|Battle of Chamdo}}

After months of failed negotiations,<ref name="Shakya992832">Shakya 1999 p.28-32</ref> attempts by Tibet to secure foreign support and assistance,<ref>Shakya 1999 p.12,20,21</ref> PRC and Tibetan troop buildups, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) crossed the [[Jinsha River]] on 6 or 7 October 1950.<ref>Feigon 1996 p.142.  Shakya 1999 p.37.</ref><ref>Shakya 1999 p.32 (6 Oct);  {{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=45}} (7 Oct).</ref>  Two PLA units quickly surrounded the outnumbered Tibetan forces and captured the border town of Chamdo by 19 October, by which time 114 PLA<ref name="wg"/> soldiers and 180 Tibetan<ref name="wg">Jiawei Wang et Nima Gyaincain, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ak3SQTVS7acC&pg=PA143 ''The historical Status of China's Tibet''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429070354/https://books.google.com/books?id=ak3SQTVS7acC&pg=PA143 |date=29 April 2016 }}, China Intercontinental Press, 1997, p. 209 (see also [http://www.china.com.cn/ch-xizang/tibet/historical_status/english/e0703.html The Local Government of Tibet Refused Peace Talks and the PLA Was Forced to Fight the Qamdo Battle] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318085306/http://www.china.com.cn/ch-xizang/tibet/historical_status/english/e0703.html |date=18 March 2012 }}, ''china.com.cn''): "The Quamdo battle thus came to a victorious end on October 24, with 114 PLA soldiers and 180 Tibetan troops killed or wounded."</ref><ref name="Shakya9945">Shakya 1999, pg. 45.</ref><ref name="Feigon96144">Feigon 1996, p.144.</ref> soldiers had been killed or wounded.  Writing in 1962, [[Zhang Guohua]] claimed "over 5,700 enemy men were destroyed" and "more than 3,000" peacefully surrendered.<ref name=":0">Survey of China Mainland Press, no. 2854 p.5,6</ref> Active hostilities were limited to a border area northeast of the Gyamo Ngul Chu River and east of the 96th meridian.<ref>Shakya 1999 map p.xiv</ref>  After capturing Chamdo, the PLA broke off hostilities,<ref name="Shakya9945"/><ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=45}}</ref> sent a captured commander, [[Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme|Ngabo]], to [[Lhasa]] to reiterate terms of negotiation, and waited for Tibetan representatives to respond through delegates to [[Beijing]].<ref>Shakya 1999 p.49</ref>

== Further negotiations and annexation ==
[[File:1950年中国人民解放军-西藏.png|250px|thumb|right|PLA soldiers marching toward Tibet in 1950]]
[[File:Mao Zedong, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme and 10th Panchen after signing the Treaty.gif|250px|thumb|[[Mao Zedong]] (Middle), [[Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama|Tenth Panchen]] (left), and [[Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme]] (right) at the banquet celebrating the signing of the agreement on May 24, 1951]]
[[File:PLA marching into Lhasa.jpg|250px|thumb|right|PLA marching into Lhasa in October 1951]]
The PLA sent released prisoners (among them the governor-general of Kham, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme), to Lhasa to negotiate with the Dalai Lama on the PLA's behalf. Chinese broadcasts promised that if Tibet was "peacefully liberated", the Tibetan elites could keep their positions and power.<ref>Laird, 2006 p.306.</ref>

One month after China invaded Tibet, [[El Salvador]] sponsored a complaint by the Tibetan government at the UN, but India and the United Kingdom prevented it from being debated.<ref>''Tibet: The Lost Frontier'', [[Claude Arpi]], Lancer Publishers, October 2008, {{ISBN|0-9815378-4-7}}; {{Cite web |title=UN General Assembly Resolutions |url=https://savetibet.org/advocacy/united-nations/un-general-assembly-resolutions/ |access-date=2021-06-21 |website=International Campaign for Tibet |language=en-US}}; United States State Department, "Foreign Relations of the United States," see https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1950v06/pg_577.</ref>

Tibetan negotiators were sent to Beijing and presented with an already-finished document commonly referred to as the [[Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet|Seventeen Point Agreement]]. There was no negotiation offered by the Chinese delegation; although the PRC stated it would allow Tibet to reform at its own pace and in its own way, keep internal affairs self-governing and allow religious freedom; it would also have to agree to be part of China. The Tibetan negotiators were not allowed to communicate with their government on this key point, and pressured into signing the agreement on 23 May 1951, despite never having been given permission to sign anything in the name of the government. This was the first time in Tibetan history its government had accepted{{Snd}}albeit unwillingly{{Snd}}China's position on the two nations' shared history.<ref>'The political and religious institutions of Tibet would remain unchanged, and any social and economic reforms would be undertaken only by the Tibetans themselves at their own pace.' Thomas Laird, ''The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama,''Grove Press, 2007, p.307.</ref>

Tibetan representatives in Beijing and the PRC Government signed the Seventeen Point Agreement on 23 May 1951, authorizing the PLA presence and [[Central People's Government]] rule in Political Tibet.<ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=47}}</ref> The terms of the agreement had not been cleared with the Tibetan Government before signing and the Tibetan Government was divided about whether it was better to accept the document as written or to flee into exile. The Dalai Lama, who by this time had ascended to the throne, chose not to flee into exile, and formally accepted the 17 Point Agreement in October 1951.<ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=48}} (had not been cleared) p.48,49 (government was divided), p.49 (chose not to flee), p.52 (accepted agreement).</ref> According to Tibetan sources, on 24 October, on behalf of the Dalai Lama, general Zhang Jingwu sent a telegram to Mao Zedong with confirmation of the support of the Agreement, and there is evidence that Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme simply came to Zhang and said that the Tibetan Government agreed to send a telegram on 24 October, instead of the formal Dalai Lama's approval.<ref>[http://www.ltwa.net/library/index.php?option=com_multicategories&view=article&id=170&catid=30:news&Itemid=12 Kuzmin, S.L. Hidden Tibet: History of Independence and Occupation. Dharamsala, LTWA, 2011, p. 190 -] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030061528/http://www.ltwa.net/library/index.php?option=com_multicategories&view=article&id=170&catid=30%3Anews&Itemid=12 |date=30 October 2012 }} {{ISBN |978-93-80359-47-2}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, the PLA entered Lhasa.<ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=51}}</ref> The subsequent annexation of Tibet is officially known in the People's Republic of China as the "Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" ({{zh|c=和平解放西藏地方}} ''Hépíng jiěfàng xīzàng dìfāng''), as promoted by the state media.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.81.cn/2018zt/2018-04/10/content_7999028.htm |title=西藏和平解放65周年：细数那些翻天覆地的变化 |trans-title=The 65th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet: Counting those earth-shaking changes |author1=Yang Fan |work=中国军网 |date=10 April 2018 |access-date=2 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209125832/http://www.81.cn/2018zt/2018-04/10/content_7999028.htm |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
{{See also|Sinicization of Tibet}}[[File:Chinese and Tibetan government officials at a banquet celebrating the “peaceful liberation” of Tibet..jpg|250px|thumb|Chinese and Tibetan government officials at a banquet celebrating the 'peaceful liberation' of Tibet<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Melvyn C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ep5l6JprtYcC&pg=PA227 |title=A History of Modern Tibet, volume 2: The Calm before the Storm: 1951–1955 |date=2007-08-01 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-93332-3 |pages=227 |language=en |quote=Chinese and Tibetan government officials at a banquet celebrating the 'peaceful liberation' of Tibet.}}</ref> |alt=]]

For several years, the Tibetan Government remained in place in the areas of Tibet where it had ruled prior to the outbreak of hostilities, except for the area surrounding Qamdo that was occupied by the PLA in 1950, which was placed under the authority of the ''Qamdo Liberation Committee'' and outside the Tibetan Government's control.<ref>Shakya 1999 p.96,97,128.</ref> During this time, areas under the Tibetan Government maintained a large degree of autonomy from the Central Government and were generally allowed to maintain their traditional social structure.<ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|pp=52–54}}; Feigon 1996 p.148,149,151</ref>

In 1956, Tibetan militias in the ethnically Tibetan region of eastern Kham just outside the Tibet Autonomous Region, spurred by PRC government experiments in [[Land reform in China|land reform]], started fighting against the government.<ref>{{harvp|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997|p=53}}</ref> The militias united to form [[Chushi Gangdruk|Chushi Gangdruk Volunteer Force]]. When the fighting [[1959 Tibetan uprising|spread to Lhasa]] in [[Tibetan Uprising Day|March 1959]], the Dalai Lama left Lhasa on March 17 with an entourage of twenty, including six Cabinet ministers, and fled Tibet.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Dalai Lama Escapes from the Chinese |url=http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,864579-1,00.html |access-date=21 February 2021 |publisher=Time |date=April 20, 1959}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Tibetans revolt against Chinese occupation |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rebellion-in-tibet |website=history.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date=21 February 2021}}</ref>

Both the Dalai Lama and the PRC government in Tibet subsequently repudiated the [[Seventeen Point Agreement|17 Point Agreement]], and the PRC government in Tibet dissolved the Tibetan Local Government.<ref name="autogenerated54"/> The legacy of this action continues to the present day.<ref>{{cite news |last1=van Walt van Praag |first1=Michael |last2=Boltjes |first2=Miek |title=Time To Break The Silence On Tibet |url=https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/time-break-silence-tibet |access-date=21 February 2021 |publisher=The Sunday Guardian |date=February 13, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Avedon |first1=John F. |title=China's Tibet Problem |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/23/opinion/chinas-tibet-problem.html |access-date=21 February 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=June 23, 1984}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|China|Asia}}

* [[1959 Tibetan uprising]]
* [[History of Tibet]]
** [[Tibet under Yuan rule]]
** [[Tibet under Qing rule]]
** [[Tibet (1912–1951)]]
** [[History of Tibet (1950–present)]]
* [[Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China]]
* [[List of military occupations]]
* [[Monument to the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet]]
* [[Sino-Tibetan War]] (1930–1932)
* [[Tibetan sovereignty debate]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite book |last1=Feigon |first1=Lee |title=Demystifying Tibet : unlocking the secrets of the Land of the Snows |date=1996 |publisher=I.R. Dee |location=Chicago |isbn=1-56663-089-4}}
* Ford, Robert. ''Wind Between The Worlds The extraordinary first-person account of a Westerner's life in Tibet as an official of the Dalai Lama'' (1957) David Mckay Co., Inc.
* {{citation |last=Goldstein |first=Melvyn C. |title=A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Upwq0I-wm7YC |year=1989 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91176-5 |id={{isbn|978-0-520-06140-8}} |ref={{sfnref|Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, Vol. 1|1989}}}}
* {{citation |last=Goldstein |first=Melvyn C. |title=The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LI-tIwxk4RAC |year=1997 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21951-9 |id={{isbn|0-520-21254-1}} |ref={{sfnref|Goldstein, The Snow Lion and the Dragon|1997}}}}
* {{citation |last=Grunfeld |first=A. Tom |title=The Making of Modern Tibet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odyxWQGD2eoC |year=1996 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-3455-9 |id={{isbn|978-1-56324-713-2}} |ref={{sfnref|Grunfeld, The Making of Modern Tibet|1996}}}}
* Knaus, Robert Kenneth. ''Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival'' (1999) PublicAffairs . {{ISBN|978-1-891620-18-8}}
* Laird, Thomas. ''The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama'' (2006) Grove Press. {{ISBN|0-8021-1827-5}}
* {{cite book |author1-link=Lin Hsiao-ting |last1=Lin |first1=Hsiao-ting |title=Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier: Intrigues and Ethnopolitics, 1928–49 |year=2011 |publisher=UBC Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osn1WrRCelcC&q=tibet+qing+dynasty+1720&pg=PA8 |isbn=9780774859882 |ref={{sfnref|Lin, Tibet and Nationalist China's Frontier|2011}}}}
* {{citation |last=Shakya |first=Tsering |title=The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W-dxAAAAMAAJ |year=1999 |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=978-0-7126-6533-9 |id={{ISBN|0-231-11814-7}} |ref={{sfnref|Shakya, Dragon in the Land of Snows|1999}}}}
* [[Robert W. Ford]] ''Captured in Tibet'', Oxford University Press, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-19-581570-2}}

== Further reading ==
{{Library resources box}}

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-asia-pacific-16759913 The Tibet issue: Tibetan view, BBC],
* [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-16747814 The Tibet issue: China's view, BBC]

{{Chinese Civil War}}
{{Irredentism}}
{{PRC conflicts}}
{{Tibet topics}}

{{Wikiquote}}

[[Category:Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China| ]]
[[Category:Annexation]]
[[Category:1950 in Tibet]]
[[Category:1950 in China]]
[[Category:1950 in politics]]