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China and Tibet: Background to the Revolt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2009

George N. Patterson
George N. Patterson
Affiliation:
Aberdeen.
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Extract

The awakening Tibetan national sentiment foreseen by Sir Charles Bell has exploded into a major revolt against China. It has brought the Sino-Indian “Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence” policy into disrepute, has altered the balance of power in Asia and may yet in its continuing repercussions be the prime cause, in the solemn words of Prime Minister Nehru, of the Third World War. In 1960 it is imperative that Sir Charles Bell's warning concerning the importance of not overlooking ethnographic Tibet should be heeded. The cartographic manipulation which has taken place in the past has been possible because of the peculiar isolation of Tibet and can be partly ascribed to foreign ignorance. It will no longer be possible now that the Dalai Lama and his government is in India and the new generation of leaders is educated. It must be remembered that those responsible for the success of the revolt themselves come from what has been casually referred to as “ethnographic Tibet,” “de facto Tibet,” “Inner Tibet,” Sikang-Chinghai, Kham-Amdo and Szechuan, according to preference. Not only did the revolt begin in this area, it was carried on with increasing success until this year, and it is not unlikely that it will explode again at any time.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 1 , March 1960 , pp. 87 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 1960

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References

1 SirBell, Charles, Tibet Past and Present (Oxford University Press, 1924), Introduction Part 2, p. 5.Google Scholar

2 Bell, op. cit. pp. 22–23.Google Scholar

3 Quoted in Bell, , op. cit. p. 27.Google Scholar

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9 Ibid.; also Li, , op. cit. pp. 5 and 62.Google Scholar

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11 Ibid., pp. 33–34.

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14 Reported in The Statesman, Calcutta, 08 6, 1950.Google Scholar

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16 The present writer saw this copy.

17 The writer was told this by Taktser Rimpoche personally.

18 Dalai Lama's press statement of June 20, 1959, at Mussoorie, quoted in The Question of Tibet and the Rule of Law (Geneva: International Commission of Jurists, 1959), Document 19, p. 196.Google Scholar

19 Ibid.

20 The following two statements show the two different points of view: (a) the first is from a Mi-mang Tsong-du (“People's Party”) Appeal to the Dalai Lama in 1955: “We Tibetan people make the following appeal because we oppose the Chinese Communists who are destroying all our customs and systems, and also because of the complete breach of the 17-Point Agreement signed by them.… Since the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese Communists all the former organisations of the Government have ceased to function and the Chinese Communists have established a large number of illegal organisations in their place to carry out the administration.… The Chinese Communists have not only increased administrative organisations but they have also established organisations such as the ‘Patriotic Youth League,’ and the ‘Chinese Schools,’ with the sole object of indoctrinating the youth of Tibet in Communism, and thus to destroy the civilisation and culture of the nation. Moreover, in opposition to the will of the people the Chinese Communists have destroyed the social system of Tibet in which political and religious life are joined together, and have also destroyed the religion of the Tibetan people.…” The author saw a copy of this in Kalimpong.(b) The second is taken from the Peking, Shih-shih Shou-ts'e (Current Affairs Handbook) of 04 30, 1956Google Scholar, giving an account of progress in Tibet: “People's Banks had been opened in Lhasa, Shigatse, Chamdo and other places and in the previous four years had issued more than 1,700,000 yuan of non-interest agricultural loans, and more than 100,000 yuan of non-interest pastoral loans, as well as various amounts of low-interest handicraft and commercial loans. One hundred thousand farm implements had been issued, and 2,000,000 yuan's worth of tea, cloth and daily necessities. Twenty-seven primary schools had been established with a total enrolment of 2,000 Tibetan students. Books and stationery were supplied to students free of charge, and subsidies and living expenses were given to the really poor. Broadcasting stations were set up in various cities and towns. 4,000 Chinese medical workers had been sent to Tibet with 5,000,000 yuan for hygienic enterprises. Hospitals were built in Lhasa, Shigatse, Chamdo, etc.…”

21 Patterson, , op. cit. p. 109.Google Scholar

22 The writer was told this by Khamba officials. See also note 20 (a).

23 Ibid., also Tibet Mirror, periodical published in Kalimpong, June 1954, by a Tibetan long resident there. It appears sporadically but is generally accurate.

24 See note 20 (a) and (b).

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26 The author was told this by another brother of the Dalai Lama, Gyalu Thondup.

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28 The Dalai Lama, at his Press Conference in Mussoorie on June 20, 1959, was asked: “Is it true that a deliberate and precise campaign has been conducted by the Chinese in Tibet against the Tibetan religion?” He replied: “The report is correct in stating that, until 1958, over 1,000 monasteries were destroyed, countless lamas and monks killed and imprisoned, and the extermination of religion actively attempted. From 1955 onwards a full-scale campaign was attempted in the provinces of U and Tsang for the full-scale extermination of religion. We have documentary proof of these actions, and also of actions against the Buddha himself, who had been named as a reactionary element.” From The Question of Tibet and the Rule of Law, Document 20, pp. 200–201.Google Scholar

29 The writer was told of this by Khamba officials.

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31 Dalai Lama's statement in Tezpur, India, April 18, 1959, ibid., Document 17, pp. 192–193; Dalai Lama's Press conference, June 20, 1959, ibid., Document 20, p. 201.

32 “Communiqué on Rebellion in Tibet,” New China News Agency, March 28, 1959, quoted in Concerning the Question of Tibet, pp. 4–9.Google Scholar

33 Ibid. p. 10.

34 Dalai Lama's Press statement June 20, 1959: The Question of Tibet and the Rule of Law, Document 19, p. 196.Google Scholar

35 The Question of Tibet and the Rule of Law, Introduction, Part II, pp. 18–19.Google Scholar

36 Resolution on the Question of Tibet, adopted on April 28, 1959, by the First Session of the Second National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, Concerning the Question of Tibet, p. 179.