1959 Tibetan uprising

Uprising in Lhasa, Tibet against China September 2021 1959 Tibetan uprising the Cold War Tsarong in captivity.jpg 300px Tsarong Dazang Dramdul and several Tibetan monks captured by the PLA during the uprising 10–23 March 1959 Lhasa, Tibet Area, ChinaAmid ongoing rebellion in Kham and Amdo Uprising suppressed Abolition of the Kashag Tibetan diaspora Flight of the 14th Dalai Lama to India Tibet (1912–1951) Tibetan and Khampa protesters and guerrillas Remnants of the Tibetan Army Ongoing rebellion in Kham and Amdo: Chushi Gangdruk-flag.svg Chushi Gangdruk Supported by: Republic of China United States (CIA) People's Republic of China Flag of the People's Liberation Army.svg People's Liberation Army Several leadersVan Schaik 2013 234: "Meanwhile, the crowd outside the Norbulingka was beginning to appoint representatives and a leadership was emerging, drawn from the ordinary people rather than the aristocracy. Sixty of these representatives were invited inside, and the Dalai Lama’s message was relayed to them." Tan Guansan 10,000 deaths (PRIO estimate); 85,000–87,000 deaths (TGIE claim) 2,000 killed 1959年西藏起義 1959年西藏起义 1959 nián Xīzàng qǐyì 1959 Tibetan armed rebellion 1959年西藏武裝叛亂 1959年西藏武装叛乱 1959 nián Xīzàng wǔzhuāng pànluàn 1959 Tibetan anti-riot movement 1959年西藏抗暴運動 1959年西藏抗暴运动 1959 nián Xīzàng kàngbào yùndòng 1959 Tibetan unrests 1959年藏區騷亂 1959年藏区骚乱 1959 nián Zàngqū sāoluàn The 1959 Tibetan uprising or Lhasa uprisingGuyot-Réchard 2017 172 began on 10 March 1959 as a series of protests in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, fueled by fears that the government of the People's Republic of China planned to arrest the Dalai Lama. Over the next ten days, the demonstrations evolved from expressions of support for the 14th Dalai Lama to demands for independence and the reversal of the 1951 Chinese annexation of Tibet.Van Schaik 2013 234Shakya 1999 186-191Robin 2020 13Croddy 2022 687Guyot-Réchard 2017 165, 172 After protesters acquired weapons, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) shelled protesters in the Dalai Lama's summer palace and deployed tanks to suppress the demonstrations. Bloody fighting continued for the next three days while the Dalai Lama escaped to India. Thousands of Tibetans were killed during the 1959 uprising, but the exact number is disputed. The 10 March anniversary of the uprising is observed by exiled Tibetans as Tibetan Uprising Day and Women's Uprising Day.Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin The Genesis Of The Tibetan Women's Struggle For Independence https://tibetanwomen.org/history/womens-uprising-day-tibet/ tibetanwomen.org 18 November 2011 Tibetan Women’s Association 30 January 2019 30 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190130221059/https://tibetanwomen.org/history/womens-uprising-day-tibet/ live Armed resistance in Kham and Amdo In 1951, the Seventeen Point Agreement between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and representatives of the Dalai Lama was put into effect. Socialist reforms such as redistribution of land were delayed in Tibet proper. However, eastern Kham and Amdo (western Sichuan / Xikang and Qinghai provinces in the Chinese administrative hierarchy) were outside the administration of the Tibetan government in Lhasa, and were thus treated more like other Chinese provinces, with land redistribution implemented in full. The Khampas and nomads of Amdo traditionally owned their own land.Grunfeld 1996 9 Armed resistance broke out in Amdo and eastern Kham in June 1956.March 2021 Prior to the PLA invasion, relations between Lhasa and the Khampa chieftains had deteriorated, although the Khampa remained spiritually loyal to the Dalai Lama throughout. Because of these strained relations, the Khampa had actually assisted the Chinese communists in their initial invasion, before becoming the guerrilla resistance they are now known for.https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/100_for_100/chinesetibet When the Chinese Came to Tibet Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs Norbu Dorwa September 1978 www.carnegiecouncil.org en-US 8 February 2018 21 March 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200321091318/https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/100_for_100/chinesetibet live Pandatsang Rapga, a pro-Kuomintang and pro-Republic of China Khampa revolutionary leader, offered the governor of Chamdo, Ngabo Ngawang Jigme, some Khampa fighters in exchange for the Tibetan government recognizing the independence of Kham. Ngabo refused the offer. After the defeat of the Tibetan Army in Chamdo, Rapga started mediating in negotiations between the PRC and the Tibetan rebels.March 2018 Rapga and Topgay engaged in negotiations with the Chinese during their assault on Chamdo. Khampas either defected to the Chinese PLA forces or did not fight at all. The PLA attack succeeded.Knaus 1999 71 In 1956, armed conflict between Tibetan guerrillas and the PLA started in the Kham and Amdo regions, which had been subjected to socialist reform. Guerrilla warfare later spread to other areas of Tibet.Li Jianglin https://books.google.com/books?id=jq85DQAAQBAJ&q=xunhua+incident+Tibetan+uprising+precursor&pg=PP67 Tibet in Agony 2016 Harvard University Press 978-0-674-97370-1 enLuo Siling 22 June 2016 西藏的秘密战争，究竟发生了什么？（下） https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20160622/cc22lijianglin2/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20210303194544/https://cn.nytimes.com/china/20160622/cc22lijianglin2/ 3 March 2021 15 July 2020 The New York Times zh By 1957, Kham was in chaos. Resistance fighters' attacks and People's Liberation Army reprisals against Khampa resistance groups such as the Chushi Gangdruk became increasingly brutal.Knaus 1999 134 Kham's monastic networks came to be used by guerrilla forces to relay messages and hide rebels.Knaus 1999 86 Punitive strikes were carried out by the Chinese government against Tibetan villages and monasteries. Tibetan exiles assert that threats to bomb the Potala Palace and the Dalai Lama were bluffs made by Chinese military commanders in an attempt to intimidate the guerrilla forces into submission. The Xunhua Incident of April 1958, taking place in Amdo, has been described as a precursor to the later Tibetan uprising. The Lhasa government continued to abide by the seventeen-point agreement and sent a delegation to Kham to quell the rebellion. After speaking with the rebel leaders, the delegation instead joined the rebellion.Chushi Gangdruk http://www.chushigangdruk.org/history/history05.html https://web.archive.org/web/20080325152021/http://www.chushigangdruk.org/history/history05.html 25 March 2008 dead Kham leaders contacted the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), but the CIA under President Dwight D. Eisenhower insisted it required an official request from Lhasa to support the rebels. Lhasa did not act. Eventually the CIA began to provide very covert support for the rebellion without word from Lhasa.Status Report on Tibetan Operations https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v30/d342 Office of the Historian 26 January 1968 20 August 2017 11 November 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201111235323/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v30/d342 live This CIA support was initially limited to the training of six Khampa militants in 1957,Conboy Morrison 2002 40-65 ten militants in 1958,Conboy Morrison 2002 86-118 and the delivery of 200 vintage British Lee-Enfield rifles along with radio gear in late 1958.Conboy Morrison 2002 74-80 In mid-February 1959 the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party's Administrative Office circulated the Xinhua News Agency internal report on how "the revolts in the Tibetan region have gathered pace and developed into a nearly full-scale rebellion," in a "situation report" for top CCP leaders. The next day, the Chinese leader saw a report from the PLA General Staff's Operations Department describing rebellions by Tibetans in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai. He again stressed that "rebellions like these are extremely favorable for us because they will benefit us in helping to train our troops, train the people, and provide a sufficient reason to crush the rebellion and carry out comprehensive reforms in the future".Jian 2006 69July 2022 The PLA used Hui soldiers, who formerly had served under Ma Bufang to crush the Tibetan revolt in Amdo.Smith 1997 443 Hui cavalry were stationed in Southern Kham.Smith 1997 444 The situation in all of Tibet became increasingly tense, as a growing number of Tibetans began to support the Khampa uprising,Van Schaik 2013 232 while "anti-Chinese communist agitation" spread among the Tibetans.Croddy 2022 687 The regional government in Lhasa neither wanted to back a rebellion nor publicly oppose it.Van Schaik 2013 232Guyot-Réchard 2017 172 Dissatisfied, the Chinese Communist Party put pressure on the Dalai Lama's government to join the operations against the rebels, and made it increasingly clear that a spread of the insurgency would lead to "all-out repression" in Tibet.Guyot-Réchard 2017 172 In this unstable situation, the Chinese generals resident in Lhasa was summoned back to mainland China, leaving the inexperienced PLA commander Tan Guansan in charge,Van Schaik 2013 232 just as the date of the Monlam Prayer Festival approached. This festival had previously been used by participants to voice "anti-Chinese sentiments".Guyot-Réchard 2017 172 Lhasa uprising left|thumb|alt=Photo of the Dalai Lama during a visit in India |The 14th Dalai Lama in 1956 According to historian Tsering Shakya, the Chinese government was pressuring the Dalai Lama to attend the National People's Congress in April 1959, in order to repair China's image in relation to ethnic minorities after the Khampa rebellion.zh-hans Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme zh:1959年西藏叛乱真相 The True Facts of the 10 March 1959 Event news.ifeng.com http://news.ifeng.com/history/1/jishi/200803/0319_2663_448567.shtml 1988 27 November 2018 zh-hans 达赖喇嘛在他的卧室会见他们时主动提出："听说西藏军区文工团在内地学习回来后演出的新节目很好，我想看一次，请你们给安排一下。"谭政委和邓副司令员当即欣然应允，并告诉达赖喇嘛，这事很好办，只要达赖喇嘛确定时间，军区可以随时派出文工团去罗布林卡为他演出专场。达赖喇嘛说，去罗布林卡不方便，那里没有舞台和设备，就在军区礼堂演出，他去看。 [While meeting with them (Tan Guansan and Deng Shaodong) in his room, the Dalai Lama initiated a request: "I have heard that after the Tibet Military District Cultural Workgroup completed their studies in China proper, their performance of their new program turned out very well, I would like to attend one such performance; please arrange for this."] 24 September 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180924005715/http://news.ifeng.com/history/1/jishi/200803/0319_2663_448567.shtml live March 2021 On 7 February 1959, a significant day on the Tibetan calendar, the Dalai Lama attended a religious dance, after which the acting representative in Tibet, Tan Guansan, offered the Dalai Lama a chance to see a performance from a dance troupe native to Lhasa at the Norbulingka to celebrate the Dalai Lama's completion of his lharampa geshe degree.Van Schaik 2013 232 According to the Dalai Lama's memoirs, the invitation came from Chinese General Zhang Jingwu, who proposed that the performance be held at the Chinese military headquarters; the Dalai Lama claimed that he had agreed.Lama Dalai https://archive.org/details/freedominexileau00bsta Freedom in exile: the autobiography of the Dalai Lama 1990 HarperCollins 0-06-039116-2 1st 21949769 registration130Dalai Lama's (1990) Freedom in Exile states that "General [Zhang Jingwu]... announced... a new dance troupe... Might I be interested to see them? I replied that I would be. He then said that they could perform anywhere, but since there was a proper stage with footlights at the Chinese military headquarters, it might be better if I could go there. This made sense as there were no such facilities at the Norbulingka, so I indicated that I would be happy to do so" (p. 130) However, Tibetologist Sam van Schaik stated that the Dalai Lama was the one who proposed that the dance should take place in the military headquarters as the Norbulingka was too small. Both parties did not yet agree on a date, and the Dalai Lama seemed to put the event "out of his mind", focusing instead on his ongoing examinations for his Geshe degree as well as the Monlam Prayer Festival.Van Schaik 2013 232 Besides Tan and the Dalai Lama, nobody was seemingly informed of the plans for the dance.Van Schaik 2013 232 As a result, the date for the planned performance was only finalized 5Shakya 1999 186–191 or 3 days beforehand when Tan reminded the Dalai Lama of the dance; the latter then suggested 10 March. The decision was seemingly concluded on a whim.Van Schaik 2013 233 Neither the Kashag nor the Dalai Lama's bodyguards were informed of the Dalai Lama's plansVan Schaik 2013 233 until Chinese officials briefed them on 9 March, one day before the performance was scheduled, and insisted that they would handle the Dalai Lama's security. The Dalai Lama's memoirs state that on 9 March the Chinese told his chief bodyguard that they wanted the Dalai Lama's excursion to watch the production conducted "in absolute secrecy"132 and without any armed Tibetan bodyguards, which "all seemed strange requests and there was much discussion" amongst the Dalai Lama's advisors.132 Some members of the Kashag were alarmed and concerned that the Dalai Lama might be abducted, recalling a prophecy that told that the Dalai Lama should not exit his palace.Shakya 1999 186–191Van Schaik 2013 233 right yes Tibet is independent! Chinese leave Tibet! right Slogans used by protesters during the early uprisingVan Schaik 2013 234 According to historian Tsering Shakya, some Tibetan government officials feared that plans were being laid for a Chinese abduction of the Dalai Lama, and spread word to that effect amongst the inhabitants of Lhasa.Shakya 1999 188-189 On 10 March, several thousandAvedon 1997 50 says 30,0001959 Tibetan Uprising | Free Tibet https://web.archive.org/web/20120505063139/http://freetibet.org/about/1959-tibetan-uprising 5 May 2012 goes as high as 300,000 Tibetans surrounded the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent him from leaving or being removed. The huge crowd had gathered in response to a rumor that the Chinese were planning to arrest the Dalai Lama when he went to a cultural performance at the PLA's headquarters.Jian 2006 71Guyot-Réchard 2017 165 This marked the beginning of the uprising in Lhasa, though Chinese forces had skirmished with guerrillas outside the city in December of the previous year. The protesters publicly pleaded that the Dalai Lama should not attend the meeting with the Chinese officials, claiming that he would be kidnapped.Guyot-Réchard 2017 165 Although CCP officials insisted that the "reactionary upper stratum" in Lhasa was responsible for the rumor, there is no way to identify the precise source.Jian 2006 72 The protests soon turned violent. At first, the violence was directed at Tibetan officials perceived not to have protected the Dalai Lama or to be pro-Chinese; attacks on Chinese started later.Shakya 1999 186–191 One of the first casualties of the mob was a senior lama, Pagbalha Soinam Gyamco, who worked with the PRC as a member of the Preparatory Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region, who was killed and his body dragged by a horse in front of the crowd for 2 km mi.Van Schaik 2013 234Guyot-Réchard 2017 165 The protesters also began to use openly anti-Chinese slogans such as "The Chinese must go, leave Tibet to Tibetans".Guyot-Réchard 2017 165 As protests and violence spread, the Dalai Lama informed the protesters that he would stay at the palace, yet this was no longer enough for the growing crowd. Protesters began to demand Tibetan independence, and urged the Dalai Lama's government to publicly endorse their actions.Guyot-Réchard 2017 165 Barricades went up on the streets of Lhasa, and Chinese government soldiers and Tibetan rebel forces began to fortify positions within and around Lhasa in preparation for conflict. A petition of support for the armed rebels outside the city was taken up, and an appeal for assistance was made to the Indian consul. Chinese and Tibetan troops continued moving into position over the next several days, with Chinese artillery pieces being deployed within range of the Dalai Lama's summer palace, the Norbulingka.Guyot-Réchard 2017 165 thumb|right| 17 March 1959: Thousands of Tibetan women surround the Potala Palace, the main residence of the Dalai Lama, to protest against Chinese rule and repression in Lhasa, Tibet. Hours later, fighting broke out and the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to safety in India. Photograph: AP On 12 March thousands of women gathered in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa on the ground called Dri-bu-Yul-Khai Thang.The Tibetan uprising: 50 years of protest https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2009/mar/09/tibet-dalailama The Guardian 10 March 2009 30 January 2019 30 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190130220846/https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2009/mar/09/tibet-dalailama live The leader of this nonviolent demonstration was Pamo Kusang.Vandenbrink Rachel Women Energize Tibetan Struggle https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/women-03052012193309.html Radio Free Asia 5 March 2012 30 January 2019 30 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190130221309/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/women-03052012193309.html live This demonstration, now known as Women's Uprising Day, started the Tibetan women's movement for independence. On 14 March at the same location thousands of women assembled in a protest led by "Gurteng Kunsang, a member of the aristocratic Kundeling family and mother of six who was later arrested by the Chinese and executed by firing squad."Li Jianglin http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088894 Tibet in Agony: Lhasa 1959 2016 Harvard University Press 978-0-674-08889-4 157 30 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190131041051/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088894 31 January 2019 live After consulting the state oracle and concluding that the situation had become too unstable, the Dalai Lama and his close confidants opted to flee Lhasa.Guyot-Réchard 2017 165–166 On 15 March, preparations for the Dalai Lama's evacuation from the city were set in motion, with Tibetan troops being employed to secure an escape route from Lhasa. On 17 March, two artillery shells landed near the Dalai Lama's palace,Shakya 1999 186–191Smith 1997 446Richardson 1984 209–210 triggering his flight into exile. The Dalai Lama secretly left the palace the following night and slipped out of Lhasa with his family and a small number of officials. The Chinese had not strongly guarded the Potala, as they did not believe it likely that the Dalai Lama would try to flee.Van Schaik 2013 235, 236 After reaching Lhoka, the Dalai Lama linked up with Kham rebels who began protecting him and upon reaching Lhotse at the Indian border, he proclaimed the restoration of Tibet's independence.Guyot-Réchard 2017 165–166 left|thumb|alt=The last fighting of the uprising took place at the Jokhang, here pictured in 1938 |The Jokhang, on whose roof the last Tibetan rebels had placed machine guns to defend themselves against the PLAVan Schaik 2013 236 Rumours about the Dalai Lama's disappearance began to spread rapidly on the next day, though most still believed that he was in the palace. Meanwhile, the situation in the city became increasingly tense, as protesters had seized a number of machine guns.Van Schaik 2013 236 At this point, remnants of the Tibetan Army had joined the protesters' ranks.Guyot-Réchard 2017 166 On 20 March, the Chinese army responded by shelling the Norbulingka to disperse the crowd, and placed its troops at a barricade that divided the city into a northern and southern part in the following night. The battle began early on the following day and proved to be "bloody". Fighting in the streets continued for the next three days.Van Schaik 2013 236 The last Tibetan resistance was centered on the Jokhang, where Khampa refugees had set up machine guns, while a large number of Tibetans circumambulated the temple in reverence. The PLA started to attack the Jokhang on 23 March, and a hard-fought, three hours-long battle with many casualties on both sides ensued. The Chinese eventually managed to break through using a tank, whereupon they raised the flag of China on the temple, ending the uprising.Van Schaik 2013 236 Lhasa's streets were reportedly littered with corpses, and at least 4,000 people were arrested.Guyot-Réchard 2017 166 Two British writers, Stuart and Roma Gelder, visited the Chensel Phodrang palace in the Norbulingka in 1962 and "found its contents meticulously preserved".Stuart and Roma Gelder, Timely Rain: Travels in New Tibet, in Monthly Review Press, New York, 1964, facing p. 160 : "He [the dalai-lama] was told this building with other palaces in the Jewel Park was reduced to ruin by Chinese gunfire soon after he left. We found its contents meticulously preserved." The Indian government under Nehru expressed concerns of the Tibetan people and condemned China as an aggressive power due to the violent suppression of the revolt by the PLA.https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1959/12/india-and-the-tibetan-revolt/642964/ India and the Tibetan Revolt The Atlantic December 1959 20 June 2023 20 June 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230620142634/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1959/12/india-and-the-tibetan-revolt/642964/ live Involvement of the Republic of China Pandatsang Rapga, a pro-Kuomintang and pro-Republic of China revolutionary Khampa leader, was instrumental in the revolt against the communists.April 2013 The Kuomintang had a history of using Khampa fighters to oppose both the Dalai Lama's Tibetan government, and battle the Chinese Red Army.April 2013 Rapga continued to cooperate with the ROC government after it fled to Taiwan.Garver 1997 172Garver 1997 170 The ROC government disagreed with the US government on whether Tibet should be independent, since the ROC claimed Tibet as part of its territory. Rapga agreed to a plan in which the revolt against the communists would include anti feudalism, land reform, a modern government, and to give power to the people.Garver 1997 171 Tibetans in Taiwan, who are mostly of Kham origin, support the Republic of China's position that Tibet is part of the ROC, and were against both the Tibetan exile community in India who live under the Tibetan Government-in-Exile (TGIE) and the communists in mainland China, with some regarding them as having compromised the Tibetan cause by recognizing the ROC's legal sovereignty. However, the Dalai Lama's first visit to Taiwan in 1997 was said to have somewhat improved the two communities' general relationship, although "tension" allegedly still exists between them due to considerable differences. The Dalai Lama's visit also allowed for Tibetans to visit Taiwan without directly contacting the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, and some Tibetans in Taiwan (such as Changa Tsering, an incumbent MTAC committee member) subsequently attended the celebration of the Dalai Lama's visit in 1997.http://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2261/8135/1/ioc152014.pdf Lessons from Tibetans in Taiwan: Their history, current situation, and relationship with Taiwanese nationalism 588–589, 596, 599, 602–603, 607 Kensaku Okawa University of Tokyo 2007 The Memoirs of the Institute of Oriental Culture 152 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120424231213/http://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2261/8135/1/ioc152014.pdf 24 April 2012 The Tibetan community in Taiwan was also formerly divided between loyalty to the Dalai Lama and Taiwan's MTAC, although the MTAC was formally dissolved in 2017. The employees and responsibilities of the commission were thus officially reassigned to two places: the Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center under the Ministry of Culture, and the expanded Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs under the Mainland Affairs Council.Chung Lawrence 16 August 2017 Taiwan Calls Time on Mongolia and Tibet Affairs Commission https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2106907/taiwan-calls-time-mongolia-and-tibet-affairs-commission 26 April 2020 South China Morning Post en 25 June 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200625050723/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2106907/taiwan-calls-time-mongolia-and-tibet-affairs-commission live Charlier Phillip 14 August 2017 Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission to be Dissolved: Lim Applauds http://taiwanenglishnews.com/mongolian-and-tibetan-affairs-commission-to-be-dissolved/ 14 August 2017 Taiwan English News 15 July 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180715064357/http://taiwanenglishnews.com/mongolian-and-tibetan-affairs-commission-to-be-dissolved/ live Casualties Sinologist Colin Mackerras states: "There was a major rebellion against Chinese rule in Tibet in March 1959, which was put down with the cost of much bloodshed and lasting bitterness on the part of the Tibetans."Mackerras Colin 1988 Drama in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. 25161492 Asian Theatre Journal 5 2 198–219 The TGIE reports variously, 85,000, 86,000, and 87,000 deaths for Tibetans during the rebellion, attributed to "secret Chinese documents captured by guerrillas".Official Website of the Tibetan Government in Exile. History Leading up to March 10th 1959 https://web.archive.org/web/20190904233353/http://www.tibet.org/Why/march10.html 4 September 2019 . 7 September 1998. Retrieved 16 March 2008.http://www.mitbbs.com/pc/pccon.php?id=2306&nid=33279&s=all Inside Story of CIA's Black Hands in Tibet The American Spectator December 1997 28 February 2009 19 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110719031507/http://www.mitbbs.com/pc/pccon.php?id=2306&nid=33279&s=all dead Tibetologist Tom Grunfeld said "the veracity of such a claim is difficult to verify".Grunfeld 1996 247 Warren W. Smith, a writer with Radio Free Asia, writes that the "secret documents" came from a 1960 PLA report captured by guerrillas in 1966, with the figures first published by the TGIE in India in 1990. Smith states that the documents said that 87,000 "enemies were eliminated", but he does not take "eliminated" to mean "killed", as the TGIE does. Demographer Yan Hao could find no reference to any such figure in the published speech, and he concluded, "If these TGIE sources are not reluctant to fabricate Chinese sources in open publications, how can they expect people to believe in their citations of so-called Chinese secret internal documents and speeches that are never available in originals to independent researchers?"http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/booksAndPapers/tibetan.population.in.china.pdf Tibetan Population in China: Myths and Facts Re-examined Yan Hao Asian Ethnicity 1 1 March 2000 20 10.1080/146313600115054 18471490 2 January 2011 14 May 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110514232604/http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/booksAndPapers/tibetan.population.in.china.pdf live The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) estimated 10,000 Tibetan and 2,000 PLA battle deaths. Lhasa had a population of sixty to seventy thousand at the time. Estimates covering 1956–59 including areas outside Lhasa put civilian deaths at around 60,000 and military deaths at around 40,000.Lacina Bethany 2009 PRIO battle deaths dataset, 1946-2008, version 3.0: Documentation of coding decisions https://www.prio.org/data/1 Peace Research Institute Oslo 129 Aftermath thumb|The Dalai Lama during his flight to exile across the Himalayas during the Tibetan uprising, March 1959 Following the uprising, the Chinese government launched a wide-reaching campaign to consolidate control and implement socialist reforms across Tibet. Lhasa's three major monasteries - Sera, Ganden, and Drepung were heavily damaged by shelling, with Sera and Drepung reportedly left nearly beyond repair. According to the TGIE, members of the Dalai Lama's bodyguard who were remaining in Lhasa were disarmed and publicly executed, along with Tibetans who were found to be harbouring weapons in their homes. Thousands of Tibetan monks were executed or arrested, and monasteries and temples around the city were looted or destroyed. After the 12 March Women's Uprising demonstration, many of the women who were involved in it were imprisoned, including the leader of the demonstration, Pamo Kusang. "Some of them were tortured, died in prison, or were executed." Known as Women's Uprising Day, this demonstration started the Tibetan women's movement for independence. Meanwhile, the CIA continued to support Tibetan resistance from 1957 to 1972, training agents in the United States and inserting them into Tibet to organize rebellions against the People's Liberation Army (PLA). CIA officer Bruce Walker, who oversaw the program, later expressed concern about the hostility that the radio teams encountered from the local population inside Tibet, with at least one group reportedly betrayed by his own brother, and all three agents were arrested. Despite the arrests, those agents were not mistreated and were later released across the Indian border after undergoing less than a month of propaganda sessions.Conboy Morrison 2002 213Conboy Morrison 2002 220 In April 1959, the 19-year-old Panchen Lama, the second ranking spiritual leader in Tibet, residing in Shigatse, called on Tibetans to support the Chinese government.Feigon 1996, pg. 163 However, after a tour through Tibet in May 1962, he wrote a document which is known as the 70,000 Character Petition. The document was addressed to Zhou Enlai and in it, he criticized Chinese abuses in Tibet. Shortly afterward, he met with Zhou in order to have a discussion about the document. The outlined petition dealt with the brutal suppression of the Tibetan people both during and after the PLA's invasion of Tibethttp://www.savetibet.org/campaigns/pl/10th.php https://web.archive.org/web/20081123035502/http://www.savetibet.org/campaigns/pl/10th.php dead The 10th Panchen Lama 23 November 2008 and the sufferings of the people in The Great Leap Forward. In this document, he criticized the suppression that the Chinese authorities had conducted in retaliation for the 1959 Tibetan uprising.Hostage of Beijing: The Abduction of the Panchen Lama, Gilles Van Grasdorff, 1999, 978-1-86204-561-3 :fr:Pétition en 70 000 caractères But in October 1962, the PRC authorities who were dealing with the population criticized the petition. Chairman Mao called the petition "...a poisoned arrow shot at the Party by reactionary feudal overlords." In 1967, the Panchen Lama was formally arrested and imprisoned until his release in 1977.International Campaign for Tibet, http://www.savetibet.org/campaigns/pl/10th.php International Campaign for Tibet: Campaigns: The Panchen Lama: The 10th Panchen Lama dead https://web.archive.org/web/20081123035502/http://www.savetibet.org/campaigns/pl/10th.php 23 November 2008 In June 1959, the Buddhist monk Palden Gyatso was arrested for demonstrating during the March uprising by Chinese officials.Spencer Metta The heart of Tibetan resistance http://peacemagazine.org/archive/v14n2p08.htm Peace Magazine Mar–Apr 1998 8 January 2019 24 July 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200724120857/http://peacemagazine.org/archive/v14n2p08.htm live He spent the next 33 years in Chinese prisons and laogaiProviding for certain measures to increase monitoring of products of People's Republic of China made with forced labor gpo.gov Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 153, 5 November 1997 https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-1997-11-05/html/CREC-1997-11-05-pt1-PgH10080-2.htm 8 January 2019 10 December 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181210063444/https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-1997-11-05/html/CREC-1997-11-05-pt1-PgH10080-2.htm live or "reform through labor" camps, the longest term of any Tibetan political prisoner.Rosenthal, A. M. On My Mind; You Are Palden Gyatso, The New York Times, 11 April 1995Huckenpahter Victoria A Bodhisattva's Ordeal/ https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/a-bodhisattvas-ordeal/ Snow Lion 1 October 1996 8 January 2019 30 November 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181130202221/https://www.shambhala.com/snowlion_articles/a-bodhisattvas-ordeal/ live He was tortured, including with a cattle prod that was activated in his mouth and which led to the loss of his teeth.Torture and Impunity: 29 Cases of Tibetan Political Prisoners https://www.savetibet.org/newsroom/torture-and-impunity-29-cases-of-tibetan-political-prisoners/#17 savetibet.org 27 February 2015 International Campaign for Tibet 8 January 2019 19 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190119164220/https://www.savetibet.org/newsroom/torture-and-impunity-29-cases-of-tibetan-political-prisoners/#17 live Moffett Shannon Monk Reflects on Time in Prison https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford20000502-01.2.5&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- 50 The Stanford Daily 2 May 2000 8 January 2019 30 November 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181130202134/https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford20000502-01.2.5&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- live As part of the occupation of Tibet, in July 1959, the PLA occupied several Bhutanese enclaves in western Tibet which were under Bhutanese administration for more than 300 years, having been ceded to Bhutan by Ngawang Namgyal in the 17th century.http://www.ide.go.jp/library/English/Publish/Download/Jrp/pdf/132_3.pdf#page-168 Economic and political relations between Bhutan and the neighbouring countries pp-168 Institute of developing economies Japan external trade organisation 29 June 2020 18 December 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201218163840/https://www.ide.go.jp/library/English/Publish/Download/Jrp/pdf/132_3.pdf#page-168 dead These included Darchen, Labrang Monastery,Of all the sources listed, only John Bray mentions a "Darchen Labrang", which is almost certainly not the Labrang Monastery that this page links to, which is in Gansu. April 2025 Gartok and several smaller monasteries and villages near Mount Kailas.Ranade Jayadeva 16 July 2017 A Treacherous Faultline https://www.dailypioneer.com/2017/sunday-edition/a-treacherous-faultline.html The Pioneer 10 October 2023 27 June 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200627001047/https://www.dailypioneer.com/2017/sunday-edition/a-treacherous-faultline.html liveK. Warikoo https://books.google.com/books?id=w_Z8AgAAQBAJ&dq=gartok+bhutan+enclave&pg=PA149 Himalayan Frontiers of India: Historical, Geo-Political and Strategic Perspectives Routledge 2019 9781134032945 240Arpi Claude 16 July 2016 Little Bhutan in Tibet https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/little-bhutan-in-tibet-1500238963.html The Statesman 10 October 2023 26 June 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200626073203/https://www.thestatesman.com/opinion/little-bhutan-in-tibet-1500238963.html livehttps://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/jbs/pdf/JBS_26_01.pdf Ladakhi and Bhutanese Enclaves in Tibet John Bray 2023-10-10 2022-12-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20221202165632/https://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/jbs/pdf/JBS_26_01.pdf live Chinese authorities have interpreted the uprising as a revolt by the Tibetan elite against socialist reforms that were improving the lives of Tibetan serfs. Tibetan exile sources and some independent sources, on the other hand, have usually interpreted it as a popular uprising against Chinese rule. Historian Tsering Shakya has argued that the revolt reflected widespread dissatisfaction both with the Chinese authorities and also with the Tibetan government in Lhasa, which was seen as unable to protect the Dalai Lama's authority and Tibetan sovereignty.http://www.buddhistethics.org/6/mills991.html A Review of The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947 https://web.archive.org/web/20090903002804/http://www.buddhistethics.org/6/mills991.html 3 September 2009 dead The Dalai Lama, fearing for his safety, fled Lhasa on March 17, 1959, and eventually found refuge in India. Upon reaching India, he and his followers were granted asylum by the Indian government, marking the beginning of his exile. From his residence in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, the Dalai Lama played a major role in promoting Tibetan Buddhism internationally and raising awareness of the Tibetan cause. According to Chope Paljor Tsering, a former minister in the Central Tibetan Administration, “Buddhism has not only survived, but been revived and appreciated... by many cultures around the world,” suggesting that the Dalai Lama has helped reshape global perceptions of Buddhism.2019-03-16 The Dalai Lama's biggest battle with China may come after his death https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-17/dalai-lama-fled-tibet-60-years-ago-changed-buddhism-forever/10900140 2025-06-22 ABC News en-AU The 10 March anniversary of the uprising is observed by exiled Tibetans as Tibetan Uprising Day and Women's Uprising Day. On 19 January 2009, the PRC-controlled legislature in the Tibet Autonomous Region chose 28 March as the national anniversary of Serfs Emancipation Day. American Tibetologist Warren W. Smith Jr. describes the move as a "counter-propaganda" celebration following the 10 March 2008 unrest in Tibet.http://www.jamyangnorbu.com/blog/2009/03/20/warren-smith-on-serf-emancipation-day/ Warren Smith on "Serf Emancipation Day" 20 March 2009 Shadow Tibet Jamyang Norbu Jamyang Norbu 10 March 2021 2 April 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150402172420/http://www.jamyangnorbu.com/blog/2009/03/20/warren-smith-on-serf-emancipation-day/ live See also 1987–1989 Tibetan unrest 2008 Tibetan unrest 2010 Tibetan language protest Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China Human rights in Tibet Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950 Tibetan independence movement Tibetan sovereignty debate Tibetan Uprising Day and Women's Uprising Day Yearly Commemoration Xunhua Incident Notes References Citations Sources Avedon John In Exile from the Land of Snows: The Definitive Account of the Dalai Lama and Tibet Since the Chinese Conquest 1997 Harper Perennial 978-0-06-097741-2 https://archive.org/details/inexilefromlando00aved_0 Kenneth M. Bauer High Frontiers: Dolpo and the Changing World of Himalayan Pastoralists Columbia University Press 2004 978-0-231-12390-7 https://books.google.com/books?id=h8P3yUXZX0wC Croddy Eric China's Provinces and Populations: A Chronological and Geographical Survey 2022 Springer 978-3-031-09164-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=CoidEAAAQBAJ 18 December 2022 18 December 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221218113628/https://books.google.com/books?id=CoidEAAAQBAJ live Conboy Kenneth Morrison James The CIA's Secret War in Tibet 2002 University Press of Kansas 978-0-7006-1159-1 Feigon Lee Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of the Snows 1996 Ivan R Dee 978-1-56663-089-4 https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781566630894 Garver John W. The Sino-American Alliance: Nationalist China and American Cold War Strategy in Asia https://books.google.com/books?id=SDqjW8G5H4cC Illustrated, reprint 1997 M.E. Sharpe 978-0-7656-0053-0 36301518 Grunfeld A. Tom The Making of Modern Tibet 1996 East Gate Book 978-1-56324-713-2 Guyot-Réchard Bérénice Shadow States: India, China and the Himalayas, 1910–1962 2017 Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17679-9 https://books.google.com/books?id=FbktDQAAQBAJ 18 December 2022 18 December 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221218113631/https://books.google.com/books?id=FbktDQAAQBAJ live Jian Chen Chen Jian (academic) The Tibetan Rebellion of 1959 and China's Changing Relations with India and the Soviet Union Journal of Cold War Studies 8 3 Summer 2006 54–101 10.1162/jcws.2006.8.3.54 153563687 http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/jcws.2006.8.3.pdf 16 March 2008 8 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110608020445/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/jcws.2006.8.3.pdf live Knaus Robert Kenneth Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival 1999 PublicAffairs 978-1-891620-18-8 https://archive.org/details/orphansofcoldwar00john Laird Thomas The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama 2006 Grove Press 978-0-8021-1827-1 https://archive.org/details/storyoftibetconv00lair Li Janglin Tibet in agony, Lhasa 1959 2016 Harvard University Press 978-0-674-08889-4 14th Dalai Lama Freedom in exile: the autobiography of the Dalai Lama https://archive.org/details/freedominexileau00bsta registration 1990 HarperCollins 0-06-039116-2 1st 21949769 Richardson Hugh E Tibet and its History Second, Revised and Updated 1984 Shambhala 978-0-87773-376-8 Robin Francoise Introduction Resistant Hybridities: New Narratives of Exile Tibet 2020 Lexington Books 9781498552363 1–16 https://books.google.com/books?id=33sGEAAAQBAJ 18 December 2022 18 December 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221218113631/https://books.google.com/books?id=33sGEAAAQBAJ live Shakya Tsering The Dragon In The Land Of Snows 1999 Columbia University Press 978-0-231-11814-9 registration https://archive.org/details/dragoninlandofsn00tser_0 Smith Warren W. Jr Tibetan Nation: A History Of Tibetan Nationalism And Sino-tibetan Relations 1997 Westview press 978-0-8133-3280-2 Van Schaik Sam Sam van Schaik Tibet: A History 2013 Yale University Press 978-0-300-19410-4 Watry David M Diplomacy at the Brink: Eisenhower, Churchill, and Eden in the Cold War Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press 2014 978-0-8071-5718-3 External links March Winds https://web.archive.org/web/20190202041517/http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=24032&article=MARCH+WINDS+-+Jamyang+Norbu 2 February 2019 , 7 March 2009 – Jamyang Norbu Tibetan Government in Exile's account of the events leading to the March 10, 1959, uprising Kopel, Dave. "The Dalai Lama's Army". National Review, April 5, 2007. Patterson, George N. The Situation in Tibet The China Quarterly, No. 6. (Apr.–Jun., 1961), pp 81–86. Ginsburg, George and Mathos, Michael. Communist China's Impact on Tibet: The First Decade. Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 29, No. 7. (July,1960), pp. 102–109. The Tibetan Uprising of 1959 https://web.archive.org/web/20111005015236/http://asianhistory.about.com/od/colonialisminasia/a/1959tibetupr.htm 5 October 2011 Category:1959 conflicts Category:1950s in Tibet Category:1959 in China Category:20th-century rebellions Category:Military history of Tibet Category:Tibetan independence movement Category:Civil wars in China Category:Protests in China Category:Separatist rebellion-based civil wars Category:Rebellions in China Category:Urban warfare in Asia Category:Proxy wars Category:March 1959 in Asia Category:March observances Category:1959 protests Category:History of Lhasa Category:Politicides