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With the exception of a few decades in its 2,000 year history, Tibet had always been an independently operating state. They were a deeply spiritual people whose art, music and architecture all drew from their Buddhist religion. They were for the most part a peaceful people led by a political and spiritual leader known as the Dalai Lama. Tibet was a country with a long heritage which they valued deeply. This all changed when the People's Republic of China took over the country in 1950. Now more than 50 years later Tibetan society is teetering on the brink of oblivion.

China bases its claim to power over Tibet on the fact that more than 700 years ago the small country had been controlled by a predecessor of the current Chinese government. At the same time they acknowledge UN treaties that state that forcible occupation of a territory gives no right to power to the aggressor over the occupied territory.

Since taking over Tibet, the Chinese government has tried to erase every cultural and ethnic distinction of the country. More than 6,000 monasteries have been destroyed, and the beautiful 10,000 square foot Potala Palace, once the home of the Dalai Lama, has been turned into a museum. The Chinese have further attempted to eliminate the Tibetan culture by encouraging their own people to settle the area. The Chinese government has gone as far as changing the official language of Tibet to Chinese. Tibetans are now a minority in their own country.

Tibetans have since been trying to stop the demise of their culture through gaining their independence, but to no avail. Many of the monks and nuns who speak out about an independent Tibet have been jailed, tortured, and forced to flee the country. Peaceful demonstrators have been shot without warning. More than 100,000 Tibetans including the entire government have had to leave the country and are now living in India. So far attempts to liberate themselves have been unsuccessful.

China claims that their occupation of Tibet has improved the lives of Tibetans and has allowed them to advance economically. They site more roads, increased economic production, longer life expectancy, and the creation of a secular education system as evidence. They claim that under its previous government Tibet would never have made these accomplishments. What they haven't acknowledged is the destruction of the century-old Tibetan culture and way of life, which is more important to them than secular advancement. In a 2005 television interview the current Dalai Lama stated, "what we demand from the Chinese authority is more autonomy for Tibetans to protect their culture." The Tibetan people are simply interested in preserving a culture that has existed for the past 2,000 years, and as the past five decades have shown this cannot and will not happen as long as they are controlled by China.

Learn more about this author, Nicole Parris.
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