ABSTRACT
The occupation of Kham appears to have been a component of a strategic decision by Beijing to make a bold stand in defence of what in Communist Chinese eyes were significant national interests. However, there was congruence in Tibetan and Chinese circles as to the immediate reason behind the attack. The Tibetans began taking greater interest in the possibility of negotiations. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Kham had, in the meanwhile, not only released Ngabo from imprisonment, but had appointed him Vice-Chairman of ‘the Chamdo Liberation Committee’. This was a group of Chinese and Tibetan officials and army commanders brought together at Beijing’s behest to advise Kham’s Chinese administrators and prepare the province for eventual ‘democratic reforms’. The Chamdo Liberation Committee was also to provide a model for similar committees set up elsewhere in Tibet subsequently in the wake of the PLA’s westward march.
