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Tibet: the Truth

In 1950 the Chinese People's Liberation Army entered the Land of Snows, the start of a story that would encompass an exiled reincarnate Lama, a Nobel peace prize, the interest of Hollywood stars and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Tibetan people. It is a story which has struck the hearts, minds and imaginations of millions of people around the world; a story which has, like so many issues of controversy around the world, lost facts in fiction, mired by propaganda on both sides of the argument. But was China truly justified in invading a seemingly insignificant country on the roof of the world?' And has the Chinese occupation of Tibet been a good thing or a bad thing?

Firstly, the idea that Tibet was insignificant from the Chinese point of view is wrong. China is a country, which is deeply afraid of foreign interference and expansionism; it still is today, with all its talk of "internal affairs". This isn't without cause, as any knowledge of the Opium Wars will tell you. But in late 1903 the British Empire itself invaded Tibet, something that was one of the more baffling moves of the late colonial period, with no clear motive but indelible repercussions'. 1
There were definitely repercussions. One of the main reasons for Communist China's invasion of Tibet was to drive out imperialist aggressive forces from Tibet' as Point 1 in the important 17-Point Agreement states (negotiated with China after their invasion in 1950). 2 Also before the actual invasion, any Tibetan with a radio would have heard the Chinese talk of imperialist presence in Tibet, something that was untrue at the time (the British left soon after they arrived, 47 years ago). 3
Another reason for China's invasion was their strong opinion of Tibet having always been a part of China and that Tibet had to return to the big family of the Motherland'. 4 However from the start of China being a republic (1912) to the invasion (1950), Tibet enjoyed undeniable de-facto independence they had no control whatsoever from the Chinese. Tibet's official status was more murky though as it was not officially recognised as independent.
Taking into account China's fear of Tibet being a weak buffer against foreign countries, it is not exactly the most logical of conclusions that it would affect China at all. In 1947 India had become independent and was in no mood to invade Tibet, especially as Tibet and India shared a long history together (it would be India, years later, who allowed

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