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FreeTibet

WHAT IS CHINA’S ARGUMENT ON TIBET?

China is very aware of the strength of the movement for Tibet’s freedom. Inside Tibet, it uses repression and violence against that movement. Outside of China, it uses propaganda.

These are the six key arguments in the Tibet sovereignty debate, which China relies on to justify its continued occupation of Tibet.

Read on to discover what China says versus the truth.

1. CHINA SAYS: TIBET IS PART OF CHINA

China’s argument:

Tibet was absorbed about 800 years ago during the Yuan Dynasty, becoming an inseparable part of China. It has not been a country since and no country has ever recognised Tibet as an independent state.

The facts:

It’s true that whilst Tibet maintained a unique culture, written and spoken language, religion and political system for centuries, it has never been a nation-state in the modern sense of the word.

At times in its long past, Tibet has influenced and been influenced by various foreign powers, including Britain and the Mongols, as well as China.

However, the Chinese government’s claim that Tibet has been part of China for around 800 years isn’t supported by the facts.

Tibet was not ruled by the Chinese government prior to the 1950 invasion. In 1912, the 13th Dalai Lama – Tibet’s political and spiritual leader – issued a proclamation reaffirming Tibet’s independence and the country maintained its own national flag, currency, stamps, passports and army. It signed international treaties and maintained diplomatic relations with neighbouring countries.

From a legal point of view Tibet remains an independent state under illegal occupation, a fact that China wishes it could whitewash from history.

Read more on our page Is Tibet a country?.

2. CHINA SAYS: OLD TIBET WAS BACKWARDS AND NEEDED CHINA TO LIBERATE IT

China’s argument:

From 1950 to 1959 China peacefully liberated and democratically reformed Tibet, ending the old feudal serfdom where brutality was rife; a hell on earth with the backwards masses enslaved by landlords and priests. This culminated in Serf Emancipation Day in March 1959 when the Tibetan government was declared illegal.

The facts:

In 1950, the newly established Communist regime in China invaded Tibet, which was rich in natural resources and had a strategically important border with India.

With 40,000 Chinese troops in its country, the Tibetan government was forced to sign the “Seventeen Point Agreement” which recognised China’s rule in return for promises to protect Tibet’s political system and Tibetan Buddhism.

Far from welcoming the Chinese as liberators, Tibetans across the country continued to resist China’s armed forces and China responded with widespread brutality.

Resistance culminated on the 10th of March 1959, when 300,000 Tibetans surrounded the Potala Palace to offer the Dalai Lama protection. This date is commemorated as National Uprising Day by Tibetans and supporters.

In 1950, many states that are today stable democracies were undemocratic and did not respect human rights. The 14th Dalai Lama was a teenager when his country was invaded and was never able to govern Tibet independently. In exile, he has won the Nobel Peace Prize and has entirely democratised the exiled Tibetan government. In contrast, the Chinese government continues to have no democratic authority.

China claims that its vision of a brutal past justifies its occupation. But Tibet under Chinese rule has experienced brutality on a massive scale – from the destruction of thousands of monasteries and the deaths more than one million Tibetans in Mao’s era, to torture, arbitrary arrests and the denial of fundamental freedoms today.

Read an overview on our Tibet’s history timelines.

For more:

https://freetibet.org/about/china-argument

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