ABSTRACT

Tibet was invaded by the People’s Liberation Army in 1951 and annexed as part of China. In 1959 the Dalai Lama and 80,000 Tibetans fled to India, where the Tibetan people set up a government in exile in Dharamsala. But no governments recognize this government in exile, and the Dalai Lama has not been successful in convincing the Chinese government to offer Tibetans autonomy under Chinese rule. The Chinese government embarked on a so-called Tibetan liberalization and modernization policy in 1980, but tensions between the Chinese authorities and the Tibetan people have always been great, and there have been a number of violent Tibetan rebellions over the years. The Chinese government has induced many Han Chinese to settle in Tibet, and now there are half as many Chinese in the Tibetan plateau as Tibetans. This represents an attempt to overwhelm Tibetan culture by bringing so many Chinese into the country, but this move has exacerbated the problem between China and the Tibetan people, who see their culture in danger of being destroyed.