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Tibetan independence movement

The Tibetan independence movement (Tibetan: བོད་རང་བཙན Bod rang btsan; simplified Chinese: 西藏独立运动; traditional Chinese: 西藏獨立運動) is the political movement advocating for the reversal of the 1950 annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, and the separation and independence of Tibet from China.

The flag of Tibet is often used as a symbol of the Tibetan Independence Movement. It was introduced by the 13th Dalai Lama in the early 20th century and is currently used by the Tibetan Government in Exile in India.

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 Central Tibetan Administration is based in Dharamshala, India.

The Tibetan independence movement is no longer supported by the Central Intelligence Agency, which ended its Tibetan program after the 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China. Later in the 1970s, the 14th Dalai Lama, who had backed it since 1961, also withdrew his support but now supports The Middle Way Approach.[1][2][3][4]

Historical background edit

 
Map of East Asia in 1875, showing Qing China
 
Map of Asia in 1890, showing Tibet within Qing China. The map was published in the Meyers Konversations-Lexikon in Leipzig in 1892.
 
Map of Asia from the 1925 Finnish encyclopedia Pieni Tietosanakirja, depicting Tibet within Republican China.

After the Mongol Prince Köden took control of the Kokonor region in 1239, he sent his general Doorda Darqan on a reconnaissance mission into Tibet in 1240. During this expedition the Kadampa monasteries of Rwa-sgreng and Rgyal-lha-khang were burned, and 500 people killed. The death of the Mongol qaghan Ögedei Khan in 1241 brought Mongol military activity around the world temporarily to a halt. Mongol interests in Tibet resumed in 1244, when Prince Köden sent an invitation to the leader of the Sakya sect, to come to his capital and formally surrender Tibet to the Mongols. The Sakya leader arrived in Kokonor with his two nephews Drogön Chögyal Phagpa ('Phags-pa; 1235–80) and Chana Dorje (Phyag-na Rdo-rje; 1239–67) in 1246. This event marked the incorporation of Tibet into the Mongol Empire. Tibet was under administrative rule of the Yuan dynasty until the 1350s. At that point, Tibet regained its independence.

In 1720, the Qing dynasty army entered Tibet in aid of the locals and defeated the invading forces of the Dzungar Khanate; thus began the period of Qing rule of Tibet. Later, the Chinese emperor assigned the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama to be in charge of religious and political matters in Tibet. The Dalai Lama was leader of the area around Lhasa; the Panchen Lama was leader of the area of Shigatse Prefecture.

By the early 18th century, the Qing dynasty had started to send resident commissioners (Ambans) to Lhasa. Tibetan factions rebelled in 1750 and killed the resident commissioners after the central government decided to reduce the number of soldiers to about 100. The Qing army entered and defeated the rebels and reinstalled the resident commissioner. The number of soldiers in Tibet was kept at about 2,000. The defensive duties were assisted by a local force which was reorganized by the resident commissioner, and the Tibetan government continued to manage day-to-day affairs as before.

At multiple places such as Lhasa, Batang, Dartsendo, Lhari, Chamdo, and Litang, Green Standard Army troops were garrisoned throughout the Dzungar war.[5] Green Standard Army troops and Manchu Bannermen were both part of the Qing force which fought in Tibet in the war against the Dzungars.[6] It was said that the Sichuan commander Yue Zhongqi (a descendant of Yue Fei) entered Lhasa first when the 2,000 Green Standard soldiers and 1,000 Manchu soldiers of the "Sichuan route" seized Lhasa.[7] According to Mark C. Elliott, after 1728 the Qing used Green Standard Army troops to man the garrison in Lhasa rather than Bannermen.[8] According to Evelyn S. Rawski, both Green Standard Army and Bannermen made up the Qing garrison in Tibet.[9] According to Sabine Dabringhaus, Green Standard Chinese soldiers numbering more than 1,300 were stationed by the Qing in Tibet to support the 3,000-strong Tibetan army.[10]

In the mid 19th century, arriving with an Amban, a community of Chinese troops from Sichuan who married Tibetan women settled down in the Lubu neighborhood of Lhasa, where their descendants established a community and assimilated into Tibetan culture.[11] Hebalin was the location of where Chinese Muslim troops and their offspring lived, while Lubu was the place where Han Chinese troops and their offspring lived.[12]

In 1904, the British Empire launched an expedition to Tibet to counter perceived Russian influence in the region. The expedition, which initially set out with the stated goal of resolving border disputes between Tibet and Sikkim, quickly turned into an invasion of Tibet. The forces of the expedition invaded and captured Lhasa, with the 13th Dalai Lama fleeing to the countryside. After the British captured Lhasa, a treaty was signed between the two nations, known as the Convention Between Great Britain and Tibet, which gained for the British great economic influence in the region while ensuring that Tibet remained under Chinese control. Just two years later, however, the British signed a new treaty with the Qing government, known as the Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet, which affirmed Chinese control of Tibet. The British agreed not to annex or interfere in Tibet in return for indemnity from the Chinese government, while China engaged "not to permit any other foreign state to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet".

The Anglo-Chinese Convention of 1906 recognized Chinese suzerainty over the region.[13] The Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, without Lhasa's or Beijing's acknowledgement, recognized the suzerainty of China over Tibet.[14] The Qing central government claimed for sovereignty and direct rule over Tibet in 1910. The 13th Dalai Lama fled to British India in February 1910. In the same month, the Chinese government issued a proclamation 'deposing' the Dalai Lama and instigating the search for a new incarnation.[15] When he returned from exile, the Dalai Lama declared Tibetan independence (1912).

The subsequent outbreak of World War I and civil war in China meant that the Chinese factions only controlled part of Tibet. The government of the 13th Dalai Lama controlled Ü-Tsang (Dbus-gtsang) and western Kham, roughly coincident with the borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region today. Eastern Kham, separated from it 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 by warlord Ma Bufang (of Hui ethnicity), who constantly strove to exert control over the rest of Amdo (Qinghai).

General Ma Fuxiang, the chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (and also of Hui ethnicity), stated that Tibet was an integral part of the Republic of China.

"Our Party [the Kuomintang] takes the development of the weak and small and resistance to the strong and violent as our sole and most urgent task. This is even more true for those groups which are not of our kind [Ch. fei wo zulei zhe]. Now the peoples [minzu] of Mongolia and Tibet are closely related to us, and we have great affection for one another: our common existence and common honor already have a history of over a thousand years... Mongolia and Tibet's life and death are China's life and death. China absolutely cannot cause Mongolia and Tibet to break away from China's territory, and Mongolia and Tibet cannot reject China to become independent. At this time, there is not a single nation on earth except China that will sincerely develop Mongolia and Tibet."[16]

Annexation edit

In 1950, the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet, after taking over the rest of China from the Republic of China during the five years of civil war. In 1951, the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, a treaty signed by representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, provided for rule by a joint administration under representatives of the central government and the Tibetan government.[citation needed]

The Chinese have claimed that most of the population of Tibet at that time were serfs, bound to land owned by lamas. This claim has been challenged by other researchers (see serfdom in Tibet controversy). Any attempt at land reform or the redistribution of wealth would have proved unpopular with the established landowners. The Seventeen Point Agreement was put into effect only in Tibet proper; ergo, eastern Kham and Amdo, being outside the administration of the government of Tibet, were treated like territory belonging to any other Chinese province, with land reform implemented in full. As a result, a rebellion broke out in these regions in June 1956. The rebellion eventually spread to Lhasa, but was crushed by 1959. The 14th Dalai Lama and other government principals fled to exile in India.

CIA and MI6 activities in Tibet (1950–1970) edit

 
According to the 14th Dalai Lama, the CIA supported the Tibetan independence movement in the 1960s "not because they (the CIA) cared about Tibetan independence, but as part of their worldwide efforts to destabilize all communist governments".[17]

Agents of Western governments had infiltrated Tibet by the mid-1950s, a few years after Tibet had been annexed by the People's Republic of China. Beginning in the 1950s the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained Tibetans as paramilitaries.[18] British MI6 agent Sydney Wignall, in his autobiography,[19] reveals that he and John Harrop travelled to Tibet together in 1955 posing as mountaineers. Captured by the Chinese authority, Wignall recalled that he was surprised to find two CIA agents were already under Chinese detention.

Clandestine military involvement by the U.S. began following the series of uprisings in the eastern Tibetan region of Kham in 1956. Several small groups of Khampa fighters were trained by the CIA camp and then airdropped back into Tibet with supplies. In 1958, with the rebellion in Kham ongoing, two of these fighters, Athar and Lhotse, attempted to meet with the Dalai Lama to determine whether he would cooperate with their activities.[citation needed] However, their request for an audience was refused by the Lord Chamberlain, Phala Thubten Wonden, who believed such a meeting would be impolitic.[citation needed] According to Tsering Shakya, "Phala never told the Dalai Lama or the Kashag of the arrival of Athar and Lhotse. Nor did he inform the Dalai Lama of American willingness to provide aid."[20]

Following a mass uprising in Lhasa in 1959 during the celebration of the Tibetan New Year and the ensuing Chinese military response, the Dalai Lama went into exile in India.The Dalai Lama's escape was assisted by the CIA. After 1959, the CIA trained Tibetan guerrillas and provided funds and weapons for the fight against China. However, assistance was reduced during the course of the 1960s and finally ended when Richard Nixon decided to seek rapprochement with China in the early 1970s. Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison, in The CIA's Secret War in Tibet,[21] reveal how the CIA encouraged Tibetan revolt against China — and eventually came to control its fledgling resistance movement. The New York Times reported on 2 October 1998 that the Tibetan exile movement received $1.7 million a year in the 1960s from the CIA. The Dalai Lama said in his autobiography that his brothers were responsible and that they didn't tell him about it, knowing what his reaction would be. Lodi Gyari, the Dalai Lama's personal representative in Washington, said he had no knowledge of the annual subsidy of $180,000 marked as for the Dalai Lama or how it was spent. The government in exile say they knew that the CIA trained and equipped Tibetan guerrillas who raided Tibet from a base camp in Nepal, and that the effect of those operations "only resulted in more suffering for the people of Tibet. Worse, these activities gave the Chinese government the opportunity to blame the efforts of those seeking to regain Tibetan independence on the activities of foreign powers—whereas, of course, it was an entirely Tibetan initiative."[22][23] The budget figures for the CIA's Tibetan program were as follows:

Positions on the status of Tibet edit

The status of Tibet before 1950, especially in the period between 1912 and 1950, is largely in dispute between supporters and opponents of Tibetan independence.

According to supporters of Tibetan independence[who?], Tibet was a distinct nation and state independent between the fall of the Mongol Empire in 1368 and subjugation by the Qing Dynasty in 1720; and again between the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912 and its incorporation into the PRC in 1951.[citation needed] Moreover, even during the periods of nominal subjugation to the Yuan and Qing, Tibet was largely self-governing.[citation needed] As such, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) views current PRC rule in Tibet as illegitimate, motivated solely by the natural resources and strategic value of Tibet, and in violation of both Tibet's historical status as an independent country and the right of the Tibetan people to self-determination.[citation needed] It also points to PRC's autocratic and divide-and-rule policies, and assimilationist policies, regarding those as an example of imperialism bent on destroying Tibet's distinct ethnic makeup, culture, and identity, thereby cementing it as an indivisible part of China.[citation needed] After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, both Mongolia and Tibet declared independence and recognized each other as such.[citation needed]

On the other hand, opponents[who?] assert that the PRC rules Tibet legitimately, by saying that Tibet has been part of Chinese history since the 7th century as the Tibetan Empire had close interactions with the Chinese dynasties through royal marriage. In addition to the de facto power that the Chinese has since then, Yuan Dynasty conquest in the 13th century and that all subsequent Chinese governments (Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, Republic of China, and People's Republic of China) have been exercising de jure sovereignty power over Tibet.[citation needed]

In addition, as this position argues that no country gave Tibet diplomatic recognition between 1912 and 1950, they say that China, under the Republic of China government, continued to maintain sovereignty over the region, and the leaders of Tibet themselves acknowledged Chinese sovereignty by sending delegates to the following: the Drafting Committee for a new constitution of the Republic of China in 1925, the National Assembly of the Republic of China in 1931, the fourth National Congress of the Kuomintang in 1931, the National Constituent Assembly of the Republic of China [zh], which drafted a new Chinese constitution in 1946, and finally to another National Assembly for drafting a new Chinese constitution in 1948.[25] Finally, some within the PRC[who?] considers all movements aimed at ending Chinese sovereignty in Tibet, starting with the expedition of 1904, to the CTA today, as one interconnected campaign abetted by malicious Western powers aimed at destroying Chinese integrity and sovereignty, thereby weakening China's position in the world. The PRC also points to what it calls the autocratic and theocratic policies of the government of Tibet before 1959, as well as its renunciation of South Tibet, claimed by China as a part of historical Tibet occupied by India, as well as the Dalai Lama's association with India, and as such claims the CTA has no moral legitimacy to govern Tibet.[citation needed]

Positions on Tibet after 1950 edit

 
Atrocities in Tibet sign. Manali

Tibetan exiles generally say that the number that have died in the Great Leap Forward, violence, or other unnatural causes since 1950 is approximately 1.2 million.[26] However, this number is controversial. According to Patrick French, a supporter of the Tibetan cause who was able to view the data and calculations, the estimate is not reliable because the Tibetans were not able to process the data well enough to produce a credible total, with many persons double or triple counted. There were, however, many casualties, perhaps as many as 400,000.[27] This figure is extrapolated from a calculation Warren W. Smith made from census reports of Tibet which show 200,000 "missing" from Tibet.[28] Even anti-Communist resources such as the Black Book of Communism expresses doubt at the 1.2 million figure, but does note that according to the Chinese census, the total population of ethnic Tibetans in the PRC was 2.8 million in 1953, but only 2.5 million in 1964. It puts forward a figure of 800,000 deaths and alleges that as many as 10% of Tibetans were interned, with few survivors.[29] Chinese demographers have estimated that 90,000 of the 300,000 "missing" Tibetans fled the region.[30]

The Central Tibetan Administration also says that millions of Chinese immigrants to the TAR are diluting the Tibetans both culturally and through intermarriage.[citation needed] Exile groups say that despite recent attempts to restore the appearance of original Tibetan culture to attract tourism, the traditional Tibetan way of life is now irrevocably changed.[citation needed] It is also reported that when Hu Yaobang, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, visited Lhasa in 1980, he was unhappy when he found out the region was behind neighbouring provinces. Reforms were instituted[citation needed], and since then the central government's policy in Tibet has granted most religious freedoms, but monks and nuns were sometimes imprisoned,[31] and many Tibetans (mostly monks and nuns) fled Tibet yearly.[citation needed]

The government of the PRC claims that the population of Tibet in 1737 was about 8 million. It claims that due to the 'backward' rule of the local theocracy, there was rapid decrease in the next two hundred years and the population in 1959 was only about one million.[32] Today, the population of Greater Tibet is 7.3 million, of which 5 million is ethnic Tibetan, according to the 2000 census. According to the PRC the increase is viewed as the result of the abolishment of the theocracy and introduction of a modern, higher standard of living.[citation needed] Based on the census numbers, the PRC also rejects claims that the Tibetans are being swamped by Han Chinese; instead the PRC says that the border for Greater Tibet drawn by the government of Tibet in Exile is so large that it incorporates regions such as Xining that are not traditionally Tibetan in the first place, hence exaggerating the number of non-Tibetans.[citation needed]

The government of the PRC also rejects claims that the lives of Tibetans have deteriorated, pointing to rights enjoyed by the Tibetan language in education and in courts and says that the lives of Tibetans have been improved immensely compared to the Dalai Lama's rule before 1950.[33] Benefits that are commonly quoted include: the GDP of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) today is 30 times that before 1950; it has 22,500 km of highways, all built since 1950; all secular education in the region was created after integration into the PRC; there are 25 scientific research institutes, all built by the PRC; infant mortality has dropped from 43% in 1950 to 0.661% in 2000; life expectancy has risen from 35.5 years in 1950 to 67 in 2000; the collection and publishing of the traditional Epic of King Gesar, which is the longest epic poem in the world and had only been handed down orally before; allocation of 300 million Renminbi since the 1980s to the maintenance and protection of Tibetan monasteries.[33]

Supporting organisations edit

 
"Free Tibet" LED Banner at Bird's Nest, Beijing, 19 August 2008.
 
Pro-Tibetan protesters come into contact with pro-Chinese protesters in San Francisco

Organisations which support the Tibetan independence movement include:

However, Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, is no longer calling for independence. He has spoken in many international venues, including the United States Congress, and the European Parliament. In 1987, he has also started campaigning for a peaceful resolution to the issue of the status of Tibet, and has since then advocated that Tibet should not become independent, but that it should be given meaningful autonomy within the People's Republic of China. This approach is known as the "Middle Way".[36] In November 2017, he stated that "the past was the past", and that he believed that China after opening up its economy, has changed 40 to 50 percent of what it was earlier. He claimed that Tibetans didn't want independence and instead wanted to stay and have more economic development from China.[4][3] In October 2020, he stated that he did not support Tibetan independence and hoped to visit China as a Nobel Prize winner. He said, "I prefer the concept of a 'republic' in the People's Republic of China. In the concept of republic, ethnic minorities are like Tibetans, the Mongols, Manchus, and Xinjiang Uyghurs, we can live in harmony".[37]

Some organisations either support the "Middle Way" or do not adopt a definitive stance on whether they support independence or greater autonomy. Such organisations include:

Celebrity support, Freedom Concerts and public awareness edit

The Tibetan independence movement became cause-célèbre in the US and Europe as the words "Free Tibet" and the Tibetan flag gained worldwide fame in the press and public consciousness starting from 1987.[40] The movement gained strength and popular support in the west from 1987 to 2008, until the 2008 Tibetan unrest. The initial spark for the awareness of "Free Tibet" and the Tibetan flag was probably street demonstrations, perhaps specifically the 1986 Ottawa demonstration in Canada.[41]

Eventually, The flag of Tibet and words were printed globally on t-shirts, cushions, mugs, bookmarks, badges, bracelets, bags and other merchandise, and almost all Westerners became aware of the cause of Tibetan independence.

The "Free Tibet" movement is supported by some celebrities, such as Richard Gere and Paris Hilton.[42]

British comedian Russell Brand also occasionally mentions his support for the movement on his BBC Radio 2 show. Richard Gere is one of the most outspoken supporters of the movement and is chairman of the board of directors for the International Campaign for Tibet. Actress Sharon Stone caused significant controversy when she suggested that the 2008 Sichuan earthquake may have been the result of "bad karma," because the Chinese "are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine."[43] The Dalai Lama confirmed that he did not share Stone's views, although he confirmed that he had "met the lady".[44]

U.S. actor and martial artist Steven Seagal has been an active supporter of Tibetan independence for several decades and makes regular donations to various Tibetan charities around the world.[45] He has been recognized by Tibetan Lama Penor Rinpoche as the reincarnation of tulku Chungdrag Dorje, the treasure revealer of Palyul Monastery. He also claims to have the special ability of clairvoyance; in a November 2006 interview, he stated: "I was born very different, clairvoyant and a healer".[46]

The Milarepa Fund is an organisation which organises concerts to give publicity to the Tibetan independence movement. The fund was named after Milarepa, the revered 11th-century Tibetan yogi, who used music to enlighten people. It was originally established to disburse royalties from the Beastie Boys album Ill Communication in 1994, to benefit Tibetan monks who were sampled on two songs. The Milarepa Fund organizers also jointed the Beastie Boys as they headlined the 1994 Lollapalooza Tour. Inspired by this tour, they began to organise a concert to promote Tibetan independence, in the style of Live Aid.

Organized in June 1996, the first concert (in San Francisco) opened with Icelandic singer Björk and featured acts such as Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, Cibo Matto, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and De La Soul.[47][48][49] The concerts continued for three more years, which helped to generate publicity for the Tibetan independence movement. It also reportedly led to the growth of Tibetan independence organisations such as Students for a Free Tibet and Free Tibet Campaign worldwide.[50]

Gorillaz, the virtual band have shown support through a TV spot showing animated frontman, 2D, meditating with fellow supporters outside of the Chinese embassy, followed by a brief message encouraging people to join the Free Tibet Campaign. In addition, during the holographic performances of "Clint Eastwood", 2D is wearing a shirt saying "FREE TIBET."[51]

During the 2008 Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycling race Australian rider Cadel Evans wore an undershirt with 'Free Tibet' printed on it, bringing attention to the movement months before the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing.[52]

In 2011, an Indian movie Rockstar depicted poster of 'Free Tibet' slogan in Sadda Haq song. People waving the Free Tibet flag in the backdrop was shown in the song video. This triggered a dispute between Central Board of Film Certification and movie director Imtiaz Ali when the Board ordered Ali to blur the flag and Free Tibet slogan before the film hit the theatre, but the director refused to do it. However, Ali had to remove the sequence from the video to get the film's censor done. Deletion of the Tibetan flag from the video caused wide protests in Tibet, Dharamsala and Chennai.

Further reading edit

Listed chronologically;

  • Tibet: The Road Ahead by Dawa Norbu, 1997 HarperCollins Publishers India, ISBN 978-0-712-670630
  • The Dragon in the Land of Snows by Tsering Shakya, 1999 Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-11814-9
  • Tibet: A History by Sam van Schaik, 2011 Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-154047

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Smith, Warren W. (2008). China's Tibet?: Autonomy or Assimilation. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-7425-3989-1.
  2. ^ Reasonable Demands Needed From Dalai Lama
  3. ^ a b PTI (23 November 2017). "Tibet Wants to Stay With China, Seeks Development: Dalai Lama". TheQuint. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b "'Past is past': Dalai Lama says Tibet wants to stay with China, wants development". Hindustan Times. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  5. ^ Wang 2011, p. 30.
  6. ^ Dai 2009, p. 81.
  7. ^ Dai 2009, pp. 81–2.
  8. ^ Elliott 2001, p. 412.
  9. ^ Rawski 1998, p. 251.
  10. ^ Dabringhaus 2014, p. 123.
  11. ^ Yeh 2009, p. 60.
  12. ^ Yeh 2013, p. 283.
  13. ^ Smith, Tibet, p. 162
  14. ^ Goldstein, History, p. 830
  15. ^ Smith, Tibet, p. 175
  16. ^ Jonathan Neaman Lipman (2004). Familiar strangers: a history of Muslims in Northwest China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 167. ISBN 0-295-97644-6. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  17. ^ "CIA Gave Aid to Tibetan Exiles in '60s, Files Show". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 September 2013. In his 1990 autobiography, "Freedom in Exile," the Dalai Lama explained that his two brothers made contact with the CIA during a trip to India in 1956. The CIA agreed to help, "not because they cared about Tibetan independence, but as part of their worldwide efforts to destabilize all Communist governments," the Dalai Lama wrote.
  18. ^ The CIA's Secret War in Tibet, Kenneth Conboy, James Morrison, The University Press of Kansas, 2002.
  19. ^ Wignall, Sydney. Spy on the Roof of the World. New York, NY : Lyons & Burford, 1996. ISBN 1-55821-558-1
  20. ^ Shakya, Tsering, The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947, London: Pimlico, 1999. ISBN 0-7126-6533-1. Cf. pg. 177
  21. ^ Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James, The CIA’s Secret War in Tibet, Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, 2002. ISBN 0-7006-1159-2
  22. ^ Dalai Lama Group Says It Got Money From C.I.A., The New York Times, 2 October 1998. Retrieved on 29 March 2008
  23. ^ Grunfeld, A. Tom, "Reassessing Tibet Policy" (Washington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus, 12 October 2005)
  24. ^ a b c d "CIA Gave Aid to Tibetan Exiles in '60s, Files Show". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 September 2013. The budget figures for the CIA's Tibetan program are contained in a memo dated Jan. 9, 1964. It was evidently written to help justify continued funding for the clandestine intelligence operation. "Support of 2,100 Tibetan guerrillas based in Nepal: $500,000," the document says. "Subsidy to the Dalai Lama: $180,000." After listing several other costs, it concludes: "Total: $1,735,000." The files show that this budget request was approved soon afterward.
  25. ^ 西藏在辛亥革命后变成一个独立国家吗 (in Chinese). the Embassy of the PRC in the ROK. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  26. ^ . Central Tibetan Administration. 2 February 1996. Archived from the original on 29 June 1998. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  27. ^ French, Tibet, pp. 278–82
  28. ^ Smith, Tibetan, p. 600
  29. ^ Internment Est:page 545, cites Kewly, Tibet p. 255; Tibet Death Est: page 546, Black Book, ISBN 978-0-674-07608-2
  30. ^ Hao, Yan (March 2000). "Tibetan Population in China: Myths and Facts Re-Examined" (PDF). Asian Ethnicity. 1 (1): 24. doi:10.1080/146313600115054. S2CID 18471490. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  31. ^ . Amnesty International USA Group 133. 4 April 2004. Archived from the original on 4 June 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  32. ^ . Tibet.cn. 5 December 2008. Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  33. ^ a b "Govt. White Papers: Tibet's Modernization Achievements". China.org.cn. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  34. ^ Wax, Emily (23 November 2008). "Exiled Tibetans weigh freedom struggle". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  35. ^ "Ball State University Professor Leads Independence Movement". WIBC. 4 June 2008.
  36. ^ McDonald, Hamish (15 March 2005). "Tibet part of China: Dalai Lama". The Age. Fairfax. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  37. ^ Xia, Xiaohua. . RFA. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  38. ^ "About Free Tibet | Free Tibet". www.freetibet.org. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  39. ^ "Allahabad School Holds Solidarity Rally for Tibet on Uprising Day". Central Tibetan Administration. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  40. ^ "Google Books Ngram Viewer". books.google.com. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  41. ^ News-Tibet. Office of Tibet. 1986.
  42. ^ Perloff, James. "Tibet Marks 50th Anniversary of Lhasa Uprising". The New American. Retrieved 3 March 2011. (posted on The Buddhist Channel).
  43. ^ . AFP. 27 May 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  44. ^ "Dalai Lama still Stone's 'good friend'". independent.ie. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  45. ^ Carreon, Charles. "Steven Seagal comes out of the buddhist closet". Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  46. ^ Rinpoche, Penor. . Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  47. ^ "Bjork Tibet Cry: Blacklisting May Follow". Sky News. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  48. ^ Browne, David (31 October 1997). "INCITE AND SOUND". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  49. ^ "Why Just a Free Tibet? How About a Free China?". Pop Matters. 21 July 2004. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  50. ^ George, Matthew. "Tibetan Freedom Concert". Retrieved 8 February 2009.
  51. ^ See Phase One: Celebrity Take Down, Phase One: Celebrity Takedown 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  52. ^ "Evans gears up for a free Tibet tour". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 2008.

Bibliography edit

  • Allen, Charles (2004). Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa. London: John Murray, 2004. ISBN 978-0-7195-5427-8.
  • Bell, Charles (1924). Tibet: Past & Present. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Courtois, Stéphane; Mark Kramer; et al. (1999). The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, terror, repression. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-07608-2.
  • French, Patrick (2002). Tibet, Tibet: a personal history. New York: Knopf. ISBN 1-4000-4100-7.
  • McKay, Alex (1997). Tibet and the British Raj: The Frontier Cadre 1904–1947. London: Curzon. ISBN 978-0-7007-0627-3.
  • Shakya, Tsering (1999). The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11814-9.
  • Smith, Warren W. (Jr.) (1996). Tibetan Nation: A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino-Tibetan Relations. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-3155-3.

Further reading edit

  • Dowman, Keith (1988). The Power-Places of Central Tibet: The Pilgrim's Guide. Routledge & Kegan Paul. London, ISBN 978-0-7102-1370-9. New York, ISBN 978-0-14-019118-9.
  • Dunham, Mikel (2004). Buddha's Warriors: The Story of the CIA-Backed Freedom Fighters, the Chinese Communist Invasion, and the Ultimate Fall of Tibet. Penguin Group, ISBN 978-1-58542-348-4.
  • Goldstein, Melvyn C.; with the help of Gelek Rimpche. A History of Modern Tibet, 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers (1993), ISBN 978-81-215-0582-6. University of California (1991), ISBN 978-0-520-07590-0.
  • Grunfield, Tom (1996). The Making of Modern Tibet. ISBN 978-1-56324-713-2.
  • Norbu, Thubten Jigme; Turnbull, Colin (1968). Tibet: Its History, Religion and People. Reprint: Penguin Books (1987).
  • Pachen, Ani; Donnely, Adelaide (2000). Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun. Kodansha America, Inc. ISBN 978-1-56836-294-6.
  • Powers, John (2000). The Free Tibet Movement: A Selective Narrative. Journal of Buddhist Ethics 7
  • Samuel, Geoffrey (1993). Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies. Smithsonian ISBN 978-1-56098-231-9.
  • Schell, Orville (2000). Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood. Henry Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-4381-5.
  • Stein, R. A. (1962). Tibetan Civilization. First published in French; English translation by J. E. Stapelton Driver. Reprint: Stanford University Press (with minor revisions from 1977 Faber & Faber edition), 1995. ISBN 978-0-8047-0806-7.
  • Tamm, Eric Enno. "The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds: A Tale of Espionage, the Silk Road and the Rise of Modern China." Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2010, Chapter 17 & 18. ISBN 978-1-55365-269-4.[1]
  • Thurman, Robert (2002). Robert Thurman on Tibet. DVD. ASIN B00005Y722.
  • Wilby, Sorrel (1988). Journey Across Tibet: A Young Woman's 1900-Mile Trek Across the Rooftop of the World. Contemporary Books. ISBN 978-0-8092-4608-3.
  • Wilson, Brandon (2005). Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith. Pilgrim's Tales. ISBN 978-0-9770536-6-7, ISBN 978-0-9770536-7-4.

External links edit

  • United for Tibet we stand
  • International Tibet Independence Movement 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  • International Campaign for Tibet
  • Free Tibet Campaign
  • Students for a Free Tibet
  • Central Tibetan Administration
  • Tibet Society
  1. ^ The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds: A Tale of Espionage, the Silk Road and the Rise of Modern China

tibetan, independence, movement, tibetan, རང, བཙན, rang, btsan, simplified, chinese, 西藏独立运动, traditional, chinese, 西藏獨立運動, political, movement, advocating, reversal, 1950, annexation, tibet, people, republic, china, separation, independence, tibet, from, china. The Tibetan independence movement Tibetan བ ད རང བཙན Bod rang btsan simplified Chinese 西藏独立运动 traditional Chinese 西藏獨立運動 is the political movement advocating for the reversal of the 1950 annexation of Tibet by the People s Republic of China and the separation and independence of Tibet from China The flag of Tibet is often used as a symbol of the Tibetan Independence Movement It was introduced by the 13th Dalai Lama in the early 20th century and is currently used by the Tibetan Government in Exile in India 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 Central Tibetan Administration is based in Dharamshala India The Tibetan independence movement is no longer supported by the Central Intelligence Agency which ended its Tibetan program after the 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China Later in the 1970s the 14th Dalai Lama who had backed it since 1961 also withdrew his support but now supports The Middle Way Approach 1 2 3 4 Contents 1 Historical background 1 1 Annexation 2 CIA and MI6 activities in Tibet 1950 1970 3 Positions on the status of Tibet 4 Positions on Tibet after 1950 5 Supporting organisations 6 Celebrity support Freedom Concerts and public awareness 7 Further reading 8 See also 9 References 9 1 Bibliography 9 2 Further reading 10 External linksHistorical background editMain article History of Tibet nbsp Map of East Asia in 1875 showing Qing China nbsp Map of Asia in 1890 showing Tibet within Qing China The map was published in the Meyers Konversations Lexikon in Leipzig in 1892 nbsp Map of Asia from the 1925 Finnish encyclopedia Pieni Tietosanakirja depicting Tibet within Republican China After the Mongol Prince Koden took control of the Kokonor region in 1239 he sent his general Doorda Darqan on a reconnaissance mission into Tibet in 1240 During this expedition the Kadampa monasteries of Rwa sgreng and Rgyal lha khang were burned and 500 people killed The death of the Mongol qaghan Ogedei Khan in 1241 brought Mongol military activity around the world temporarily to a halt Mongol interests in Tibet resumed in 1244 when Prince Koden sent an invitation to the leader of the Sakya sect to come to his capital and formally surrender Tibet to the Mongols The Sakya leader arrived in Kokonor with his two nephews Drogon Chogyal Phagpa Phags pa 1235 80 and Chana Dorje Phyag na Rdo rje 1239 67 in 1246 This event marked the incorporation of Tibet into the Mongol Empire Tibet was under administrative rule of the Yuan dynasty until the 1350s At that point Tibet regained its independence In 1720 the Qing dynasty army entered Tibet in aid of the locals and defeated the invading forces of the Dzungar Khanate thus began the period of Qing rule of Tibet Later the Chinese emperor assigned the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama to be in charge of religious and political matters in Tibet The Dalai Lama was leader of the area around Lhasa the Panchen Lama was leader of the area of Shigatse Prefecture By the early 18th century the Qing dynasty had started to send resident commissioners Ambans to Lhasa Tibetan factions rebelled in 1750 and killed the resident commissioners after the central government decided to reduce the number of soldiers to about 100 The Qing army entered and defeated the rebels and reinstalled the resident commissioner The number of soldiers in Tibet was kept at about 2 000 The defensive duties were assisted by a local force which was reorganized by the resident commissioner and the Tibetan government continued to manage day to day affairs as before At multiple places such as Lhasa Batang Dartsendo Lhari Chamdo and Litang Green Standard Army troops were garrisoned throughout the Dzungar war 5 Green Standard Army troops and Manchu Bannermen were both part of the Qing force which fought in Tibet in the war against the Dzungars 6 It was said that the Sichuan commander Yue Zhongqi a descendant of Yue Fei entered Lhasa first when the 2 000 Green Standard soldiers and 1 000 Manchu soldiers of the Sichuan route seized Lhasa 7 According to Mark C Elliott after 1728 the Qing used Green Standard Army troops to man the garrison in Lhasa rather than Bannermen 8 According to Evelyn S Rawski both Green Standard Army and Bannermen made up the Qing garrison in Tibet 9 According to Sabine Dabringhaus Green Standard Chinese soldiers numbering more than 1 300 were stationed by the Qing in Tibet to support the 3 000 strong Tibetan army 10 In the mid 19th century arriving with an Amban a community of Chinese troops from Sichuan who married Tibetan women settled down in the Lubu neighborhood of Lhasa where their descendants established a community and assimilated into Tibetan culture 11 Hebalin was the location of where Chinese Muslim troops and their offspring lived while Lubu was the place where Han Chinese troops and their offspring lived 12 In 1904 the British Empire launched an expedition to Tibet to counter perceived Russian influence in the region The expedition which initially set out with the stated goal of resolving border disputes between Tibet and Sikkim quickly turned into an invasion of Tibet The forces of the expedition invaded and captured Lhasa with the 13th Dalai Lama fleeing to the countryside After the British captured Lhasa a treaty was signed between the two nations known as the Convention Between Great Britain and Tibet which gained for the British great economic influence in the region while ensuring that Tibet remained under Chinese control Just two years later however the British signed a new treaty with the Qing government known as the Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet which affirmed Chinese control of Tibet The British agreed not to annex or interfere in Tibet in return for indemnity from the Chinese government while China engaged not to permit any other foreign state to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet The Anglo Chinese Convention of 1906 recognized Chinese suzerainty over the region 13 The Anglo Russian Convention of 1907 without Lhasa s or Beijing s acknowledgement recognized the suzerainty of China over Tibet 14 The Qing central government claimed for sovereignty and direct rule over Tibet in 1910 The 13th Dalai Lama fled to British India in February 1910 In the same month the Chinese government issued a proclamation deposing the Dalai Lama and instigating the search for a new incarnation 15 When he returned from exile the Dalai Lama declared Tibetan independence 1912 The subsequent outbreak of World War I and civil war in China meant that the Chinese factions only controlled part of Tibet The government of the 13th Dalai Lama controlled U Tsang Dbus gtsang and western Kham roughly coincident with the borders of the Tibet Autonomous Region today Eastern Kham separated from it 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 by warlord Ma Bufang of Hui ethnicity who constantly strove to exert control over the rest of Amdo Qinghai General Ma Fuxiang the chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission and also of Hui ethnicity stated that Tibet was an integral part of the Republic of China Our Party the Kuomintang takes the development of the weak and small and resistance to the strong and violent as our sole and most urgent task This is even more true for those groups which are not of our kind Ch fei wo zulei zhe Now the peoples minzu of Mongolia and Tibet are closely related to us and we have great affection for one another our common existence and common honor already have a history of over a thousand years Mongolia and Tibet s life and death are China s life and death China absolutely cannot cause Mongolia and Tibet to break away from China s territory and Mongolia and Tibet cannot reject China to become independent At this time there is not a single nation on earth except China that will sincerely develop Mongolia and Tibet 16 Annexation edit Main article Annexation of Tibet by the People s Republic of China In 1950 the People s Liberation Army of the People s Republic of China invaded Tibet after taking over the rest of China from the Republic of China during the five years of civil war In 1951 the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet a treaty signed by representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama provided for rule by a joint administration under representatives of the central government and the Tibetan government citation needed The Chinese have claimed that most of the population of Tibet at that time were serfs bound to land owned by lamas This claim has been challenged by other researchers see serfdom in Tibet controversy Any attempt at land reform or the redistribution of wealth would have proved unpopular with the established landowners The Seventeen Point Agreement was put into effect only in Tibet proper ergo eastern Kham and Amdo being outside the administration of the government of Tibet were treated like territory belonging to any other Chinese province with land reform implemented in full As a result a rebellion broke out in these regions in June 1956 The rebellion eventually spread to Lhasa but was crushed by 1959 The 14th Dalai Lama and other government principals fled to exile in India CIA and MI6 activities in Tibet 1950 1970 edit nbsp According to the 14th Dalai Lama the CIA supported the Tibetan independence movement in the 1960s not because they the CIA cared about Tibetan independence but as part of their worldwide efforts to destabilize all communist governments 17 Main articles CIA Tibetan program and Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950 Agents of Western governments had infiltrated Tibet by the mid 1950s a few years after Tibet had been annexed by the People s Republic of China Beginning in the 1950s the Central Intelligence Agency CIA trained Tibetans as paramilitaries 18 British MI6 agent Sydney Wignall in his autobiography 19 reveals that he and John Harrop travelled to Tibet together in 1955 posing as mountaineers Captured by the Chinese authority Wignall recalled that he was surprised to find two CIA agents were already under Chinese detention Clandestine military involvement by the U S began following the series of uprisings in the eastern Tibetan region of Kham in 1956 Several small groups of Khampa fighters were trained by the CIA camp and then airdropped back into Tibet with supplies In 1958 with the rebellion in Kham ongoing two of these fighters Athar and Lhotse attempted to meet with the Dalai Lama to determine whether he would cooperate with their activities citation needed However their request for an audience was refused by the Lord Chamberlain Phala Thubten Wonden who believed such a meeting would be impolitic citation needed According to Tsering Shakya Phala never told the Dalai Lama or the Kashag of the arrival of Athar and Lhotse Nor did he inform the Dalai Lama of American willingness to provide aid 20 Following a mass uprising in Lhasa in 1959 during the celebration of the Tibetan New Year and the ensuing Chinese military response the Dalai Lama went into exile in India The Dalai Lama s escape was assisted by the CIA After 1959 the CIA trained Tibetan guerrillas and provided funds and weapons for the fight against China However assistance was reduced during the course of the 1960s and finally ended when Richard Nixon decided to seek rapprochement with China in the early 1970s Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison in The CIA s Secret War in Tibet 21 reveal how the CIA encouraged Tibetan revolt against China and eventually came to control its fledgling resistance movement The New York Times reported on 2 October 1998 that the Tibetan exile movement received 1 7 million a year in the 1960s from the CIA The Dalai Lama said in his autobiography that his brothers were responsible and that they didn t tell him about it knowing what his reaction would be Lodi Gyari the Dalai Lama s personal representative in Washington said he had no knowledge of the annual subsidy of 180 000 marked as for the Dalai Lama or how it was spent The government in exile say they knew that the CIA trained and equipped Tibetan guerrillas who raided Tibet from a base camp in Nepal and that the effect of those operations only resulted in more suffering for the people of Tibet Worse these activities gave the Chinese government the opportunity to blame the efforts of those seeking to regain Tibetan independence on the activities of foreign powers whereas of course it was an entirely Tibetan initiative 22 23 The budget figures for the CIA s Tibetan program were as follows Subsidy to the Dalai Lama US 180 000 24 Support of 2 100 Tibetan guerrillas based in Nepal US 500 000 24 Other costs US 1 06m 24 Total US 1 73m 24 Positions on the status of Tibet editMain article Tibetan sovereignty debate The status of Tibet before 1950 especially in the period between 1912 and 1950 is largely in dispute between supporters and opponents of Tibetan independence According to supporters of Tibetan independence who Tibet was a distinct nation and state independent between the fall of the Mongol Empire in 1368 and subjugation by the Qing Dynasty in 1720 and again between the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912 and its incorporation into the PRC in 1951 citation needed Moreover even during the periods of nominal subjugation to the Yuan and Qing Tibet was largely self governing citation needed As such the Central Tibetan Administration CTA views current PRC rule in Tibet as illegitimate motivated solely by the natural resources and strategic value of Tibet and in violation of both Tibet s historical status as an independent country and the right of the Tibetan people to self determination citation needed It also points to PRC s autocratic and divide and rule policies and assimilationist policies regarding those as an example of imperialism bent on destroying Tibet s distinct ethnic makeup culture and identity thereby cementing it as an indivisible part of China citation needed After the fall of the Qing Dynasty both Mongolia and Tibet declared independence and recognized each other as such citation needed On the other hand opponents who assert that the PRC rules Tibet legitimately by saying that Tibet has been part of Chinese history since the 7th century as the Tibetan Empire had close interactions with the Chinese dynasties through royal marriage In addition to the de facto power that the Chinese has since then Yuan Dynasty conquest in the 13th century and that all subsequent Chinese governments Ming Dynasty Qing Dynasty Republic of China and People s Republic of China have been exercising de jure sovereignty power over Tibet citation needed In addition as this position argues that no country gave Tibet diplomatic recognition between 1912 and 1950 they say that China under the Republic of China government continued to maintain sovereignty over the region and the leaders of Tibet themselves acknowledged Chinese sovereignty by sending delegates to the following the Drafting Committee for a new constitution of the Republic of China in 1925 the National Assembly of the Republic of China in 1931 the fourth National Congress of the Kuomintang in 1931 the National Constituent Assembly of the Republic of China zh which drafted a new Chinese constitution in 1946 and finally to another National Assembly for drafting a new Chinese constitution in 1948 25 Finally some within the PRC who considers all movements aimed at ending Chinese sovereignty in Tibet starting with the expedition of 1904 to the CTA today as one interconnected campaign abetted by malicious Western powers aimed at destroying Chinese integrity and sovereignty thereby weakening China s position in the world The PRC also points to what it calls the autocratic and theocratic policies of the government of Tibet before 1959 as well as its renunciation of South Tibet claimed by China as a part of historical Tibet occupied by India as well as the Dalai Lama s association with India and as such claims the CTA has no moral legitimacy to govern Tibet citation needed Positions on Tibet after 1950 editMain article History of Tibet 1950 present Main article Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950 nbsp Atrocities in Tibet sign ManaliTibetan exiles generally say that the number that have died in the Great Leap Forward violence or other unnatural causes since 1950 is approximately 1 2 million 26 However this number is controversial According to Patrick French a supporter of the Tibetan cause who was able to view the data and calculations the estimate is not reliable because the Tibetans were not able to process the data well enough to produce a credible total with many persons double or triple counted There were however many casualties perhaps as many as 400 000 27 This figure is extrapolated from a calculation Warren W Smith made from census reports of Tibet which show 200 000 missing from Tibet 28 Even anti Communist resources such as the Black Book of Communism expresses doubt at the 1 2 million figure but does note that according to the Chinese census the total population of ethnic Tibetans in the PRC was 2 8 million in 1953 but only 2 5 million in 1964 It puts forward a figure of 800 000 deaths and alleges that as many as 10 of Tibetans were interned with few survivors 29 Chinese demographers have estimated that 90 000 of the 300 000 missing Tibetans fled the region 30 The Central Tibetan Administration also says that millions of Chinese immigrants to the TAR are diluting the Tibetans both culturally and through intermarriage citation needed Exile groups say that despite recent attempts to restore the appearance of original Tibetan culture to attract tourism the traditional Tibetan way of life is now irrevocably changed citation needed It is also reported that when Hu Yaobang the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party visited Lhasa in 1980 he was unhappy when he found out the region was behind neighbouring provinces Reforms were instituted citation needed and since then the central government s policy in Tibet has granted most religious freedoms but monks and nuns were sometimes imprisoned 31 and many Tibetans mostly monks and nuns fled Tibet yearly citation needed The government of the PRC claims that the population of Tibet in 1737 was about 8 million It claims that due to the backward rule of the local theocracy there was rapid decrease in the next two hundred years and the population in 1959 was only about one million 32 Today the population of Greater Tibet is 7 3 million of which 5 million is ethnic Tibetan according to the 2000 census According to the PRC the increase is viewed as the result of the abolishment of the theocracy and introduction of a modern higher standard of living citation needed Based on the census numbers the PRC also rejects claims that the Tibetans are being swamped by Han Chinese instead the PRC says that the border for Greater Tibet drawn by the government of Tibet in Exile is so large that it incorporates regions such as Xining that are not traditionally Tibetan in the first place hence exaggerating the number of non Tibetans citation needed The government of the PRC also rejects claims that the lives of Tibetans have deteriorated pointing to rights enjoyed by the Tibetan language in education and in courts and says that the lives of Tibetans have been improved immensely compared to the Dalai Lama s rule before 1950 33 Benefits that are commonly quoted include the GDP of Tibet Autonomous Region TAR today is 30 times that before 1950 it has 22 500 km of highways all built since 1950 all secular education in the region was created after integration into the PRC there are 25 scientific research institutes all built by the PRC infant mortality has dropped from 43 in 1950 to 0 661 in 2000 life expectancy has risen from 35 5 years in 1950 to 67 in 2000 the collection and publishing of the traditional Epic of King Gesar which is the longest epic poem in the world and had only been handed down orally before allocation of 300 million Renminbi since the 1980s to the maintenance and protection of Tibetan monasteries 33 Supporting organisations edit nbsp Free Tibet LED Banner at Bird s Nest Beijing 19 August 2008 nbsp Pro Tibetan protesters come into contact with pro Chinese protesters in San FranciscoOrganisations which support the Tibetan independence movement include Tibetan Youth Congress Located at Dharamsala the seat of the Government of Tibet in Exile in India claims 30 000 members 34 International Tibet Independence Movement Located in Indiana United States It was formed in March 1995 and is now a 501 c 3 non profit organization for informing about Tibetan independence 35 International Tibetan Aid Organization Located in Amsterdam Netherlands this organization was formed in 2004 citation needed However Tenzin Gyatso the current Dalai Lama the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists is no longer calling for independence He has spoken in many international venues including the United States Congress and the European Parliament In 1987 he has also started campaigning for a peaceful resolution to the issue of the status of Tibet and has since then advocated that Tibet should not become independent but that it should be given meaningful autonomy within the People s Republic of China This approach is known as the Middle Way 36 In November 2017 he stated that the past was the past and that he believed that China after opening up its economy has changed 40 to 50 percent of what it was earlier He claimed that Tibetans didn t want independence and instead wanted to stay and have more economic development from China 4 3 In October 2020 he stated that he did not support Tibetan independence and hoped to visit China as a Nobel Prize winner He said I prefer the concept of a republic in the People s Republic of China In the concept of republic ethnic minorities are like Tibetans the Mongols Manchus and Xinjiang Uyghurs we can live in harmony 37 Some organisations either support the Middle Way or do not adopt a definitive stance on whether they support independence or greater autonomy Such organisations include Free Tibet Campaign Located in London United Kingdom formed in 1987 stands for the right of Tibetans to determine their own future and for the future of their own country 38 International Tibet Support Network Located in London United Kingdom established in 2000 umbrella organization for Tibet related organization worldwide citation needed Shiv Ganga Vidya Mandir Phaphamau Allahabad organized a Tibet Freedom Solidarity Rally in Allahabad on 9 April 2016 drawing more than 3000 participants 39 Celebrity support Freedom Concerts and public awareness editMain article Tibetan Freedom Concert The Tibetan independence movement became cause celebre in the US and Europe as the words Free Tibet and the Tibetan flag gained worldwide fame in the press and public consciousness starting from 1987 40 The movement gained strength and popular support in the west from 1987 to 2008 until the 2008 Tibetan unrest The initial spark for the awareness of Free Tibet and the Tibetan flag was probably street demonstrations perhaps specifically the 1986 Ottawa demonstration in Canada 41 Eventually The flag of Tibet and words were printed globally on t shirts cushions mugs bookmarks badges bracelets bags and other merchandise and almost all Westerners became aware of the cause of Tibetan independence The Free Tibet movement is supported by some celebrities such as Richard Gere and Paris Hilton 42 British comedian Russell Brand also occasionally mentions his support for the movement on his BBC Radio 2 show Richard Gere is one of the most outspoken supporters of the movement and is chairman of the board of directors for the International Campaign for Tibet Actress Sharon Stone caused significant controversy when she suggested that the 2008 Sichuan earthquake may have been the result of bad karma because the Chinese are not being nice to the Dalai Lama who is a good friend of mine 43 The Dalai Lama confirmed that he did not share Stone s views although he confirmed that he had met the lady 44 U S actor and martial artist Steven Seagal has been an active supporter of Tibetan independence for several decades and makes regular donations to various Tibetan charities around the world 45 He has been recognized by Tibetan Lama Penor Rinpoche as the reincarnation of tulku Chungdrag Dorje the treasure revealer of Palyul Monastery He also claims to have the special ability of clairvoyance in a November 2006 interview he stated I was born very different clairvoyant and a healer 46 The Milarepa Fund is an organisation which organises concerts to give publicity to the Tibetan independence movement The fund was named after Milarepa the revered 11th century Tibetan yogi who used music to enlighten people It was originally established to disburse royalties from the Beastie Boys album Ill Communication in 1994 to benefit Tibetan monks who were sampled on two songs The Milarepa Fund organizers also jointed the Beastie Boys as they headlined the 1994 Lollapalooza Tour Inspired by this tour they began to organise a concert to promote Tibetan independence in the style of Live Aid Organized in June 1996 the first concert in San Francisco opened with Icelandic singer Bjork and featured acts such as Radiohead The Smashing Pumpkins Cibo Matto Rage Against the Machine Red Hot Chili Peppers and De La Soul 47 48 49 The concerts continued for three more years which helped to generate publicity for the Tibetan independence movement It also reportedly led to the growth of Tibetan independence organisations such as Students for a Free Tibet and Free Tibet Campaign worldwide 50 Gorillaz the virtual band have shown support through a TV spot showing animated frontman 2D meditating with fellow supporters outside of the Chinese embassy followed by a brief message encouraging people to join the Free Tibet Campaign In addition during the holographic performances of Clint Eastwood 2D is wearing a shirt saying FREE TIBET 51 During the 2008 Liege Bastogne Liege cycling race Australian rider Cadel Evans wore an undershirt with Free Tibet printed on it bringing attention to the movement months before the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing 52 In 2011 an Indian movie Rockstar depicted poster of Free Tibet slogan in Sadda Haq song People waving the Free Tibet flag in the backdrop was shown in the song video This triggered a dispute between Central Board of Film Certification and movie director Imtiaz Ali when the Board ordered Ali to blur the flag and Free Tibet slogan before the film hit the theatre but the director refused to do it However Ali had to remove the sequence from the video to get the film s censor done Deletion of the Tibetan flag from the video caused wide protests in Tibet Dharamsala and Chennai Further reading editListed chronologically Tibet The Road Ahead by Dawa Norbu 1997 HarperCollins Publishers India ISBN 978 0 712 670630 The Dragon in the Land of Snows by Tsering Shakya 1999 Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0 231 11814 9 Tibet A History by Sam van Schaik 2011 Yale University Press ISBN 978 0 300 154047See also edit nbsp Society portalList of active separatist movements Tibet under Yuan rule Sino Tibetan relations during the Ming dynasty Tibet under Qing rule Patron and priest relationship Tibet 1912 51 Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950 Secession in China Affirmative action in China Human rights of ethnic minorities in China Boycott Chinese products Students for a Free Tibet Sinicization of Tibet Stateless nationReferences edit Smith Warren W 2008 China s Tibet Autonomy or Assimilation Rowman amp Littlefield p 214 ISBN 978 0 7425 3989 1 Reasonable Demands Needed From Dalai Lama a b PTI 23 November 2017 Tibet Wants to Stay With China Seeks Development Dalai Lama TheQuint Retrieved 5 December 2021 a b Past is past Dalai Lama says Tibet wants to stay with China wants development Hindustan Times 23 November 2017 Retrieved 5 December 2021 Wang 2011 p 30 Dai 2009 p 81 Dai 2009 pp 81 2 Elliott 2001 p 412 Rawski 1998 p 251 Dabringhaus 2014 p 123 Yeh 2009 p 60 Yeh 2013 p 283 Smith Tibet p 162 Goldstein History p 830 Smith Tibet p 175 Jonathan Neaman Lipman 2004 Familiar strangers a history of Muslims in Northwest China Seattle University of Washington Press p 167 ISBN 0 295 97644 6 Retrieved 28 June 2010 CIA Gave Aid to Tibetan Exiles in 60s Files Show The Los Angeles Times Retrieved 8 September 2013 In his 1990 autobiography Freedom in Exile the Dalai Lama explained that his two brothers made contact with the CIA during a trip to India in 1956 The CIA agreed to help not because they cared about Tibetan independence but as part of their worldwide efforts to destabilize all Communist governments the Dalai Lama wrote The CIA s Secret War in Tibet Kenneth Conboy James Morrison The University Press of Kansas 2002 Wignall Sydney Spy on the Roof of the World New York NY Lyons amp Burford 1996 ISBN 1 55821 558 1 Shakya Tsering The Dragon in the Land of Snows A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 London Pimlico 1999 ISBN 0 7126 6533 1 Cf pg 177 Conboy Kenneth Morrison James The CIA s Secret War in Tibet Lawrence University Press of Kansas 2002 ISBN 0 7006 1159 2 Dalai Lama Group Says It Got Money From C I A The New York Times 2 October 1998 Retrieved on 29 March 2008 Grunfeld A Tom Reassessing Tibet Policy Washington DC Foreign Policy In Focus 12 October 2005 a b c d CIA Gave Aid to Tibetan Exiles in 60s Files Show The Los Angeles Times Retrieved 8 September 2013 The budget figures for the CIA s Tibetan program are contained in a memo dated Jan 9 1964 It was evidently written to help justify continued funding for the clandestine intelligence operation Support of 2 100 Tibetan guerrillas based in Nepal 500 000 the document says Subsidy to the Dalai Lama 180 000 After listing several other costs it concludes Total 1 735 000 The files show that this budget request was approved soon afterward 西藏在辛亥革命后变成一个独立国家吗 in Chinese the Embassy of the PRC in the ROK Archived from the original on 19 December 2012 Retrieved 8 February 2009 Human rights Central Tibetan Administration 2 February 1996 Archived from the original on 29 June 1998 Retrieved 8 February 2009 French Tibet pp 278 82 Smith Tibetan p 600 Internment Est page 545 cites Kewly Tibet p 255 Tibet Death Est page 546 Black Book ISBN 978 0 674 07608 2 Hao Yan March 2000 Tibetan Population in China Myths and Facts Re Examined PDF Asian Ethnicity 1 1 24 doi 10 1080 146313600115054 S2CID 18471490 Retrieved 25 April 2008 Who Are the Drapchi 14 Amnesty International USA Group 133 4 April 2004 Archived from the original on 4 June 2004 Retrieved 25 April 2008 A breach of constitution under pretext of religion Tibet cn 5 December 2008 Archived from the original on 6 September 2009 Retrieved 8 February 2009 a b Govt White Papers Tibet s Modernization Achievements China org cn Retrieved 25 April 2008 Wax Emily 23 November 2008 Exiled Tibetans weigh freedom struggle Washington Post Retrieved 12 December 2012 Ball State University Professor Leads Independence Movement WIBC 4 June 2008 McDonald Hamish 15 March 2005 Tibet part of China Dalai Lama The Age Fairfax Retrieved 12 March 2012 Xia Xiaohua The Dalai Lama emphasizes that he does not support Tibetan independence and hopes to visit China as a Nobel Prize winner RFA Archived from the original on 2 October 2020 Retrieved 2 October 2020 About Free Tibet Free Tibet www freetibet org Retrieved 17 March 2021 Allahabad School Holds Solidarity Rally for Tibet on Uprising Day Central Tibetan Administration 10 March 2017 Retrieved 8 August 2017 Google Books Ngram Viewer books google com Retrieved 19 April 2023 News Tibet Office of Tibet 1986 Perloff James Tibet Marks 50th Anniversary of Lhasa Uprising The New American Retrieved 3 March 2011 posted on The Buddhist Channel Sharon Stone quake karma remarks spark anger in China AFP 27 May 2008 Archived from the original on 12 September 2009 Retrieved 8 February 2009 Dalai Lama still Stone s good friend independent ie 28 February 2014 Retrieved 13 August 2015 Carreon Charles Steven Seagal comes out of the buddhist closet Retrieved 8 February 2009 Rinpoche Penor Steven Seagal The Action Lama Archived from the original on 9 February 2009 Retrieved 8 February 2009 Bjork Tibet Cry Blacklisting May Follow Sky News 7 March 2008 Retrieved 8 February 2009 Browne David 31 October 1997 INCITE AND SOUND Entertainment Weekly Retrieved 8 February 2009 Why Just a Free Tibet How About a Free China Pop Matters 21 July 2004 Retrieved 8 February 2009 George Matthew Tibetan Freedom Concert Retrieved 8 February 2009 See Phase One Celebrity Take Down Phase One Celebrity Takedown Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Evans gears up for a free Tibet tour Sydney Morning Herald 13 June 2008 Bibliography edit Allen Charles 2004 Duel in the Snows The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa London John Murray 2004 ISBN 978 0 7195 5427 8 Bell Charles 1924 Tibet Past amp Present Oxford Clarendon Press Courtois Stephane Mark Kramer et al 1999 The Black Book of Communism Crimes terror repression Cambridge Mass Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0 674 07608 2 French Patrick 2002 Tibet Tibet a personal history New York Knopf ISBN 1 4000 4100 7 McKay Alex 1997 Tibet and the British Raj The Frontier Cadre 1904 1947 London Curzon ISBN 978 0 7007 0627 3 Shakya Tsering 1999 The Dragon in the Land of Snows A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 New York Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0 231 11814 9 Smith Warren W Jr 1996 Tibetan Nation A History of Tibetan Nationalism and Sino Tibetan Relations Boulder CO Westview Press ISBN 978 0 8133 3155 3 Further reading edit Dowman Keith 1988 The Power Places of Central Tibet The Pilgrim s Guide Routledge amp Kegan Paul London ISBN 978 0 7102 1370 9 New York ISBN 978 0 14 019118 9 Dunham Mikel 2004 Buddha s Warriors The Story of the CIA Backed Freedom Fighters the Chinese Communist Invasion and the Ultimate Fall of Tibet Penguin Group ISBN 978 1 58542 348 4 Goldstein Melvyn C with the help of Gelek Rimpche A History of Modern Tibet 1913 1951 The Demise of the Lamaist State Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers 1993 ISBN 978 81 215 0582 6 University of California 1991 ISBN 978 0 520 07590 0 Grunfield Tom 1996 The Making of Modern Tibet ISBN 978 1 56324 713 2 Norbu Thubten Jigme Turnbull Colin 1968 Tibet Its History Religion and People Reprint Penguin Books 1987 Pachen Ani Donnely Adelaide 2000 Sorrow Mountain The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun Kodansha America Inc ISBN 978 1 56836 294 6 Powers John 2000 The Free Tibet Movement A Selective Narrative Journal of Buddhist Ethics 7 Samuel Geoffrey 1993 Civilized Shamans Buddhism in Tibetan Societies Smithsonian ISBN 978 1 56098 231 9 Schell Orville 2000 Virtual Tibet Searching for Shangri La from the Himalayas to Hollywood Henry Holt ISBN 978 0 8050 4381 5 Stein R A 1962 Tibetan Civilization First published in French English translation by J E Stapelton Driver Reprint Stanford University Press with minor revisions from 1977 Faber amp Faber edition 1995 ISBN 978 0 8047 0806 7 Tamm Eric Enno The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds A Tale of Espionage the Silk Road and the Rise of Modern China Vancouver Douglas amp McIntyre 2010 Chapter 17 amp 18 ISBN 978 1 55365 269 4 1 Thurman Robert 2002 Robert Thurman on Tibet DVD ASIN B00005Y722 Wilby Sorrel 1988 Journey Across Tibet A Young Woman s 1900 Mile Trek Across the Rooftop of the World Contemporary Books ISBN 978 0 8092 4608 3 Wilson Brandon 2005 Yak Butter Blues A Tibetan Trek of Faith Pilgrim s Tales ISBN 978 0 9770536 6 7 ISBN 978 0 9770536 7 4 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tibetan independence movement United for Tibet we stand International Tibet Independence Movement Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Independent Tibet Network International Campaign for Tibet Free Tibet Campaign Students for a Free Tibet Tibetan Youth Congress Central Tibetan Administration Tibet Society The Horse That Leaps Through Clouds A Tale of Espionage the Silk Road and the Rise of Modern China Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tibetan independence movement amp oldid 1199730486, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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