Tibet on the Verge of Annihilation :: Economy Government Papers

Tibet on the Verge of Annihilation China’s foreign policy towards Tibet must be changed if the Tibetan people are to live happily. Since the early 1950s China has taken over and occupied Tibet. At first China made it seem as if they were just trying to modernize Tibet, and help it assimilate into society, but in fact, all China wanted to do was to take control over Tibet, and its people while exploiting the land for its natural resources. China’s original agreement was to not interfere with the Tibetan’s religion, and their general way of life, but slowly, similar to the way the Nazis took control of the Jewish population in Europe, China began implementing laws and making rules which went against their original agreements. People tried to protest peacefully at first, until they were stopped violently. People were arrested, tortured, and killed. Eventually chaos broke out, and martial law was established in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The Chinese have been accused of genocide against the Tibe tan people and their culture. Tibet’s early history is one that is centered on isolationism mainly because they feared the Western world would corrupt their Buddhist way of life. Starting in the early twentieth century, only three non-Tibetans entered Tibet; they were Younghusband in 1904 and Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter in the mid 1940’s. Younghusband was the leader of a British expedition that entered Tibet from India. The British wanted to gain some control over Tibet for fear that Russia would gain an influence their by helping China, thereby, setting its sights on India, Britain’s crown jewel. Britain wanted to start negotiations with Tibet to begin trading there. They sent the Dalai Lama a series of letters which were later sent back to the British unopened. The Chinese would have been displeased with Tibet if they were to correspond with the British. The viceroy in India convinced Britain to send an â€Å"expedition† to Tibet. This expedition, which was led by Youn ghusband was to enter Tibet and start negotiations. Tibet refused to allow this expedition to continue, therefore the British sent troops and ordered the expedition deeper into Tibet to force communications. Battles between British forces and the Tibetan army ensued, but the Tibetan armies were soon crushed. The expedition entered and took over Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. China wanted the thirteenth Dalai Lama to negotiate with the British while all this was going on, but when the British got close to Lhasa, he escaped to Mongolia in hopes of getting the support of the Russians. Tibet on the Verge of Annihilation :: Economy Government Papers Tibet on the Verge of Annihilation China’s foreign policy towards Tibet must be changed if the Tibetan people are to live happily. Since the early 1950s China has taken over and occupied Tibet. At first China made it seem as if they were just trying to modernize Tibet, and help it assimilate into society, but in fact, all China wanted to do was to take control over Tibet, and its people while exploiting the land for its natural resources. China’s original agreement was to not interfere with the Tibetan’s religion, and their general way of life, but slowly, similar to the way the Nazis took control of the Jewish population in Europe, China began implementing laws and making rules which went against their original agreements. People tried to protest peacefully at first, until they were stopped violently. People were arrested, tortured, and killed. Eventually chaos broke out, and martial law was established in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The Chinese have been accused of genocide against the Tibe tan people and their culture. Tibet’s early history is one that is centered on isolationism mainly because they feared the Western world would corrupt their Buddhist way of life. Starting in the early twentieth century, only three non-Tibetans entered Tibet; they were Younghusband in 1904 and Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter in the mid 1940’s. Younghusband was the leader of a British expedition that entered Tibet from India. The British wanted to gain some control over Tibet for fear that Russia would gain an influence their by helping China, thereby, setting its sights on India, Britain’s crown jewel. Britain wanted to start negotiations with Tibet to begin trading there. They sent the Dalai Lama a series of letters which were later sent back to the British unopened. The Chinese would have been displeased with Tibet if they were to correspond with the British. The viceroy in India convinced Britain to send an â€Å"expedition† to Tibet. This expedition, which was led by Youn ghusband was to enter Tibet and start negotiations. Tibet refused to allow this expedition to continue, therefore the British sent troops and ordered the expedition deeper into Tibet to force communications. Battles between British forces and the Tibetan army ensued, but the Tibetan armies were soon crushed. The expedition entered and took over Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. China wanted the thirteenth Dalai Lama to negotiate with the British while all this was going on, but when the British got close to Lhasa, he escaped to Mongolia in hopes of getting the support of the Russians.