CONFLICT ANALYSIS
Short description: In the People's Republic of China, the Tibetan problem occupies a special place in interethnic relations. At the same time, it is comprehended in several paradigms, depending on which its interpretation can change dramatically. In the Chinese paradigm, the Tibetan issue is considered a fabrication of the separatist Tibetan diaspora and forces hostile to China, in the Tibetan one it is a problem of the historical and political status of Tibet. At the heart of the main paradigms of the Tibetan issue is the conflict over the status of Tibet in relation to China, which is expressed in various forms, but most fiercely - in the struggle for the right to represent, or, in other words, the ideological struggle for the right to represent the Tibetan people and its history.
History of the conflict: Before turning to the context of the conflict itself, it is necessary to set out its history.
The People's Republic of China today is a multinational state. For the most numerous nationalities of China, five autonomous regions have been created: Tibet, Xinjiang Uighur, Guangxi Zhuang, Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia. But not all Tibetans, but only a little more than half of them, live in the Tibet Autonomous Region, while the rest live in smaller national entities that are part of the nearest provinces of the PRC. This happened because about half of historical Tibet is not part of the TAR.
Throughout the centuries of history, the status of Tibet has changed. From the 7th to the 9th century AD it was a large independent state, ruled by local rulers, then a period of fragmentation began. In the XIII-XIV centuries, Tibet, together with China, became part of the Mongol Empire.
In the future, Tibet was in varying degrees of dependence on the Chinese dynasties. Most often, he paid tribute to China, that is, he entered the unique system of the Chinese world order as a tributary entity. This tribute had not material, but symbolic, ritual meaning.
During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), Tibet's dependence on China increased, and two Qing officials who were constantly in Lhasa gained significant influence. After the Chinese revolution of 1911, in the conditions of turmoil and fragmentation, Tibet was practically independent, although the government of the Kuomintang Party, which was in power in China, always considered it a part of China.
By that time, a unique system of government had developed in Tibet. The Dalai Lama, the head of the most numerous Buddhist school, the Gelugpa, became the spiritual and secular leader in one person. The second most important leader in the Tibetan hierarchy was the Panchen Lama, who lived in the city of Shigatse, the reincarnation of Buddha Amitaba himself. The two main lamas of China are in complex religious and political relations with each other - they confirm the truth of each other's rebirth, that is, they play a key role in a complex system of transfer of power.
After coming to power in 1949, the CCP leaders decided to restore power over Tibet. In 1951, representatives of the Tibetan government signed an agreement in Beijing on measures for the peaceful liberation of Tibet. According to the 17 points of this document, Tibet was granted autonomy in internal affairs and retained the former system of government headed by the Dalai Lama, while the central government received the right to keep troops in Tibet, protect the external border and conduct foreign policy.
In 1959, on the day of the Chinese New Year, the 14th Dalai Lama was invited to a celebration at a Chinese military unit. Suspecting something was wrong, the people of Lhasa surrounded his palace to prevent the "kidnapping" of their leader. An anti-Chinese uprising began, which was brutally suppressed by the Beijing army. The Dalai Lama himself and many of his supporters fled the mountain paths to India, where they formed a Tibetan government in exile. Unlike the 14th Dalai Lama, the 10th Panchen Lama did not go into exile, but tried to cooperate with Beijing. He soon died of a heart attack. The new Panchen Lama, according to tradition, like any other "living Buddha", had to be found among Tibetan children.
In 1995, the Dalai Lama announced in India that a candidate had been found. It was a six-year-old boy named Gedhuna Chokyi Nyima. The Chinese government reacted immediately and "selected" their Panchen Lama, the boy Gyailtsen Norbu, and Gedhun Chokyi Nyima was taken "under protection" by the PRC authorities, his whereabouts are unknown since then. The Tibetan opposition calls him "the world's youngest political prisoner."
During the "cultural revolution" the culture of Tibet was almost completely destroyed. The Chinese plan to develop Tibet while instilling Chinese values ​​there and discrediting the "living Buddhas", whom the Tibetans themselves consider to be true spiritual leaders, was fraught with contradictions from the very beginning. The new educated elite turned out to be even more radical than the Dalai Lama's moderate émigrés, who do not advocate independence but only demand real autonomy, like that guaranteed by the 1951 agreement.
The latest events related to the uprising against the Chinese authorities took place in 2008 and were timed to coincide with the start of the Summer Olympic Games in China. The Tibetan government-in-exile insists it was a peaceful demonstration, but Beijing says the demonstration turned into a pogrom almost immediately, during which ethnic Chinese were targeted and their property destroyed. The rebellion was suppressed in a very harsh manner. The region was immediately closed to any foreign nationals for several months.

Conflict context:
After the Tibetan uprising in 1959, the political, economic and social system of Tibetan society was destroyed in Tibet and a new socialist one was built. Many years have passed since Tibet embarked on the path of socialist construction within the framework of a unitary Chinese state, but the question still remains: was the “great creation” possible on the ruins of the “great destruction”?
The People's Republic of China is a unitary multinational state in which, according to the constitution of the People's Republic of China, "socialist national relations of equality, unity and mutual assistance have developed and continue to strengthen." In areas densely populated by national minorities, a system of regional national autonomy has been established. In ethnic Tibet, the territory of which is almost a quarter of the territory of the PRC, the Tibet Autonomous Region and 10 autonomous regions were created as part of four Chinese provinces. At the forefront of China's national policy towards national minorities, the central government has set the dual task of developing the economy and ensuring stability in the region. Currently, Tibet is the national region of China with one of the highest GDP. At the same time, Tibet continues to be one of the most unstable regions in the PRC, with very high levels of poverty, huge income disparities between urban and rural populations, and the weakest performance in education.
The "Cultural Revolution" (1966 - 1976) was perceived by the Tibetans as the destruction of the Tibetan way of life and the ethnic identity of the Tibetans, and its consequences had a painful, intractable conflict on ethnic and religious grounds. During the period of reforms that began in 1980 and continue to the present, the standard of living of the Tibetans has significantly increased, the economic and social life of the people has been modernized, and culture and religion have been restored. However, the stability-development dilemma underlying Beijing's strategic course remains unresolved in Tibet. Despite the modernization of Tibet, its economy is entirely dependent on central subsidies. The liberal policy in the field of religion and culture led to a spontaneous revival of all forms of functioning of religion, and at the same time to such undesirable consequences for Beijing as anti-Chinese protests, which were catalyzed by Buddhist monks.
Large-scale unrest in Tibet in the spring of 2008 was evidence of another crisis in the Sino-Tibetan conflict. Hopes that the Tibetan issue would be resolved after the end of the Olympic Games did not come true. The pressure on China from the world community does not go unnoticed in Beijing. Such pressure can undermine ethnically oriented policymakers and benefit hardliners.
These facts may indicate the incompleteness of the process of nation-building in the PRC. The Dalai Lama proposed a "middle path" in which Tibet remains part of China and uses a democratic system that ensures Tibet's full autonomy. The Dalai Lama's plan does not sit well with China, which sees the system it has proposed as a veiled form of independence.
Parties to the Conflict:
- primary side: The primary parties to the conflict are China and the Central Asian region of Tibet, which is part of it.
For China, the fundamental national interest in holding onto Tibet is that Tibet serves as China's anchor in the Himalayas. If this territory is opened, and if Xinjiang becomes independent, a wide buffer between China and the rest of Eurasia will be broken. China cannot foresee the evolution of forces - India, Islam or Russian power - in the changing conditions of our world. And, as a guarantee, they want to keep both of these provinces, and Tibet in particular.
Tibet, in turn, believes that the Tibetan ethnic group has been targeted for destruction since the beginning of the annexation by China in 1950. The Dalai Lama considers Tibet more of an autonomy than an independent territory, and is ready to discuss the situation with the Chinese government at any time.
- secondary,tertiary parties: China has taken note of the fact that the Dalai Lama has been in India since the Chinese invasion of Tibet. And China sees him as an Indian puppet. They see that the latest turmoil in Tibet has been engineered by the Indian government, which is using the Dalai Lama to destabilize Chinese Tibet and open the door for Indian expansion. However, the Indian government would be very reluctant to irritate Beijing with any imprudent word or action, looking back at India's own vulnerability in the context of the situation in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the unresolved Kashmir problem.
It should be added that China also sees America's influence on the Tibet problem. China sees that the US has mainly focused on the Islamic world - and has encouraged India and the Dalai Lama to "test" China, the goal being partly to make it difficult to hold the Olympics and partly to increase pressure on the central government. The central government, in order to ensure the security of the Olympic Games, has focused its efforts on security as the Games approach. Beijing also noted the similarity of what happened in Tibet to the "color" revolutions supported by the United States in the former Soviet Union.
Any threat or problem can come from the west and therefore China considers Tibet to be a fundamental element of national security, and they view the pro-Tibetan agitation in the West as an attempt to strike at the heart of Chinese national security.
China is also a strategic partner of the Russian Federation, which determines the specific attitude of the government of the Russian Federation to the Tibetan issue, which is expressed, in particular, in the repeated refusals of the Russian Foreign Ministry to grant an entry visa to the Dalai Lama. This position of the government causes dissatisfaction on the part of Russian Buddhists (Buryats, Kalmyks, Tuvans, etc.), who consider the Dalai Lama the hierarch of their Buddhist tradition (Gelukpa), especially since Buddhism is officially recognized as one of the traditional religions of the Russian Federation. The presence of these factors makes the Tibetan problem very relevant for Russia's foreign policy, thanks to the existing contacts of Russian Buddhists with the Dalai Lama and other representatives of the Tibetan diaspora in India.
The UN General Assembly, in turn, has repeatedly adopted resolutions condemning the violation of the human rights of the Tibetan people, but all resolutions remain only on paper.
The situation in Tibet remains unclear, but it is clear that the PRC is unlikely to condescend to the demands of the Tibetans or the pressure of the international community.

“Thousands of people from Kham and Amdo fled to Lhasa and set up their camps in the valley outside the city.
They told such horrific stories that I couldn't believe them for years.
I fully believed what I heard only in 1959 when I read the report
International Commission of Jurists: crucifixion, ripping open
abdomen and amputation of limbs. Decapitation and digging were also used.
alive, burned and beaten to death. People were tied to horse tails,
hung upside down and thrown into the icy water with hands and feet tied.
And so that they do not shout: “Long live the Dalai Lama!” on the way to execution, they were pierced
tongues with butcher hooks ... "

March 10, 2009 is a kind of anniversary: ​​the 50th anniversary of the largest uprising by Tibetans against Chinese rule. Why did it happen? How was it suppressed? How did they make a country that had never been part of China before part of China? On the Chinese Internet sites devoted to the history of Tibet, there is a gap here. I'll try to fill it up.

On September 2, 1949, the Xinhua News Agency announced that the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) would liberate all of China, including Tibet. But it has never been a part of China (1)… On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed. And immediately began preparations for a military invasion (2). It was scheduled for the spring of 1950. Actually, it was not the whole country that was to be "liberated". Almost half (Kam and Amdo regions) had been annexed long before. Now the main Chinese forces have moved from here. They had an overwhelming superiority over the Tibetan army in manpower and weapons. Tibetan troops retreated and surrendered. On October 19, 1950, the Chinese occupied the city of Chamdo.

To the north of it, fighting unfolded. The Tibetans were defeated. On October 25, a statement appeared that the PLA units were ordered to move deep into Tibet in order to liberate it from imperialist oppression and strengthen the defense of China's borders (3). In response, the leaders of Tibet issued a manifesto. It said that this was the capture and occupation of the country of free people under the pretext of liberation. On November 7, Tibet sent an appeal to the UN calling for an end to the aggression. But the discussion was postponed. The Dalai Lama had to send a delegation to China for negotiations. Their outcome was the Agreement on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet, known as the 17-Point Agreement (4). It was signed on May 23, 1951 in Beijing. And under what circumstances.

The Tibetan delegates were under pressure, they did not have with them the government seals necessary for the conclusion of the treaty by Tibet (5). They had personal seals, but in front of the Chinese they denied it to express their disagreement. Then the seals with their names were made in Beijing and they attached them to the document (6). The Agreement did not specify the boundaries of the territory to which it applied. The Tibetans understood it as all their lands, including Kam and Amdo, and the Chinese - only what was not included in their provinces. The Tibetans were ordered to help the PLA move through their territory. According to the instructions, the Tibetan delegates were to consult with the Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama on all important issues (7). They were not given such an opportunity, in fact, by presenting an ultimatum. There was only one choice left: sign the Agreement or be responsible for the immediate start of a military operation against Lhasa. The Tibetans warned that they were only signing the document in their own name, without authority from the Dalai Lama or the government.

On September 9, 1951, advanced units of the PLA entered Lhasa. The main forces were on the way. To avoid the worst, the Tibetans could only hope for the implementation of the Agreement. On October 24, the Chinese representative, General Zhang Jinwu, on behalf of the Dalai Lama, sent a telegram to Mao Zedong supporting the Agreement (8). This document is available online (9). It is not certified by the seal of the Dalai Lama - and in those days in Tibet, not a single document, even in the outback, could do without a seal! This telegram cannot be considered an act of ratification. Later, the Dalai Lama, having the opportunity to freely express his will, did not recognize the 17-point Agreement.

In Lhasa, Chinese troops occupied a lot of space, demanding food and equipment (2). At first they paid, then they began to demand a loan. Stocks dried up, prices skyrocketed, and inflation set in. Since 1956, the Chinese began to form the Preparatory Committee for the Education of the TAR. Its structures appeared on the ground. The committee became a façade for the representation of Tibetans under the de facto power of the Chinese. All this violated the 17-point Agreement. But the democratic reform here has been postponed for the time being.

“I asked for advice from the state oracle. To my surprise,
he exclaimed, “Go away! Tonight!" The medium, continuing to be in a trance,
staggered forward and, seizing paper and pen, wrote quite clearly and distinctly
the way I must go from Norbulingka to the last Tibetan city
on the Indian border. The direction was unexpected. Having done this, the young monk
named Lobsang Jigme lost consciousness, which was a sign of the departure of the deity
George Drakden from his body. Looking back on this event over the years,
I feel confident: Dorje Drakden always knew that I should leave
Lhasa on the 17th, but did not say this so that the prediction would not become known to others.

From the Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

But in Kama and Amdo it was launched at full speed. The basis of this reform is in the words of a famous character: "Take everything and share." The reform did not meet with the sympathy of the people - neither the "top" nor the "bottom". Coercion began, in response - resistance. Most Tibetans have remained true to their traditions. Then they began to gather rallies, where people were divided into "serfs" and "slave owners", on the one hand, "serfs" and "slaves" - on the other (10). They tried to force the latter to "fight" the former. It did not work out, then the Chinese themselves carried out the reform, repressions and executions. Large estates were confiscated, wealthy peasants were driven out of their homes, land was redistributed, new taxes were introduced, religious organizations were dispersed, monasteries were closed, monks were forced to marry, a nomadic lifestyle was declared barbaric, and so on. Marxists are mistaken that "the resistance had a very narrow base in Tibet" (11). In fact, the "narrow foothold" was with the Maoists.

In August 1954, the Tibetans rebelled in southern Kama. The uprising expanded. Fierce fighting began. The Chinese began shelling and aerial bombardment of settlements and monasteries, mass repressions. For example, in 1956, during the celebration of the Tibetan New Year in Batang, a large monastery was bombed from the air. More than 2 thousand monks and pilgrims died (12). In August 1956, the uprising also spread among the Tibetans of Amdo. The PLA made progress, but not immediately. In the "liberated" areas, leaders and lamas were arrested, tortured and killed, then reform was carried out. The Chinese drove the inhabitants to watch the reprisals against their fellow countrymen, and the most respected ones. Meanwhile, Maoist propaganda lied to the world about the general love of Tibetans for the Central Government of the PRC, their demands for reform, and so on. This still finds support among some writers on the left (11). But then, seeing the failure of the reform in Kama and Amdo, the Chinese leaders themselves declared that there was no need to rush to carry it out in central Tibet ...

Meanwhile, the rebels have set up a base in southern Tibet. By the summer of 1958, several tens of thousands of partisans had already united and began to operate ever closer to Lhasa (5). They were mostly armed with light weapons. Some were seized from the Chinese, some from a raid on a Tibetan government warehouse. We got some obsolete weapons from the CIA. Partisans were trained in the CIA camp. The goal was to put pressure on the PRC: America was not going to make Tibet independent. The Tibetans accepted this help not because they supported the US plans, but because no one else helped. It should not be forgotten that the CCP also came to power thanks to foreign (Soviet) assistance.

More and more refugees appeared in central Tibet. The Dalai Lama and his government found themselves in a difficult position: they sympathized with the rebels, but were forced to advise laying down their arms and returning, due to the clear superiority of the PLA. The rebels used the help of fellow countrymen in Lhasa. The Chinese authorities demanded that the Government of Tibet put down the uprising with military force. But it did not fulfill this requirement, nor could it. By the end of 1958, the rebel army of 80 thousand people. already controlled all the districts of southern Tibet and part of the eastern one. And by March 1959, its number may have reached 100-200 thousand people. (10).

“I am not afraid of death, and I was not afraid to be one of the victims of the Chinese attack.
We cannot count how many births and deaths we experience in this ocean of samsara.
Missing, because of the obscurations of the mind, this high understanding and believing in the exclusivity of death,
immature people experience tragedy when there is a need to give their lives
for the sake of the motherland is a non-Buddhist attitude. However, I understood that neither the people,
no officials can share my feelings. For them, the identity of the Dalai Lama was
the highest value. The Dalai Lama symbolized Tibet, the Tibetan way of life,
most precious to them. They were convinced that if this body ceased to exist
in the hands of the Chinese, the life of Tibet will end."

From the Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

By March 1959, up to 100,000 refugees and pilgrims had accumulated in Lhasa. A rumor spread (probably not unfounded) that the Chinese wanted to detain the Dalai Lama during a theatrical performance to which he was invited to the Chinese headquarters. On March 9, a crowd began to gather around the summer palace of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama and the ministers tried to peacefully resolve the conflict, negotiated with the Chinese command and the rebels. Unsuccessfully. Those assembled on March 10 elected the Freedom Committee, which declared the 17-Point Agreement null and void. The Chinese, meanwhile, had drawn large forces to the city, including tanks and artillery. An assault was being prepared. On the night of March 17, 1959, the Dalai Lama and his entourage secretly left Lhasa and headed for India.

Meanwhile, the rebels called for a fight for freedom: “Since the Communist Party wants to destroy our religion and nation, all the people of our snowy land who eat tsampa and recite mani (i.e. Tibetans - ed.) should unite, take up arms and fight for independence" (13). They mobilized men aged 18–60. On the night of March 19, the rebels attacked the headquarters and other Chinese organs. And on the night of March 20, the PLA began shelling the capital. By March 22, the Chinese had taken control of all of Lhasa. 10-15 thousand Tibetans died. On March 28, an order was issued by the State Council of the People's Republic of China in connection with the uprising in Tibet (14). The Tibetan government was dissolved, blamed for what happened was unreasonably blamed, and power was transferred to the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the TAR. The Chinese side terminated the 17-point Agreement.

Suppressing the uprising, the Chinese used different types of execution, and not only to the partisans. Tibetans were beheaded, beaten to death, limbs cut off, crucified, drowned, burned, cut into pieces, buried, hung, boiled, and so on. (5). Family members were forced to watch torture and executions, children were forced to shoot their parents. The monks were killed in special ways, before being tortured they tried to humiliate them. There were no such scales of torture and executions under the feudal system. According to a secret PLA report captured by partisans, from March to October 1959 alone, 87,000 Tibetans were killed in Lhasa and its environs (15). Another 25,000 were arrested (5). There were many times more prisoners than under feudalism. Their excess caused difficulties in maintenance (16). Still: 10–15% of the population of Tibet ended up in prisons and concentration camps (17). Most of them died of starvation and deprivation.

At the same time, the Maoists destroyed the feudal-theocratic system, religion, redistributed the land, and destroyed the very civilization of the Tibetans. The party leadership finally achieved its goal: in Tibetan society, they managed to organize a split and create a layer of activists from the darkest sections of the population. Since 1960, the shock collectivization of the peasantry began. Naturally, it led to the collapse of agriculture. In 1961–1964 Unprecedented famine gripped Tibet. But under the feudal lords, there never was a famine there. Collectivization had to be stopped.

In 2009, there was an uproar in the PRC over two antique items that were put up for auction in France (18). These items were stolen by Europeans in the 19th century. from a palace in Beijing. But what did the Maoists do in the twentieth century.

According to Chinese data, in the early 1960s. in the future TAR there were 2469 monasteries with 110 thousand monks and novices (19). All in all, there were over 6,000 monasteries in Greater Tibet. After the democratic reform, about 70 monasteries with about 7,000 monks remained. In just a few years! The destruction of religious buildings was carried out according to the following scheme (20). Special teams of Chinese mineralogists came to identify and seize precious stones. Then metallurgists came for the same purpose, then everything of value was taken out by trucks. The walls were blown up, wooden beams and supports were taken away. Clay sculptures were destroyed in the hope of finding precious stones. Hundreds of tons of valuable statues, thangka icons, metal products and other treasures were taken to China. There were whole caravans of military trucks with metal statues (21).

This looting was called the redistribution of wealth during the period of democratic reform. The most valuable items were transferred to Chinese museums, sold at international auctions, stolen by Chinese officials. Such items from time to time pop up at auctions and now. For foreigners, the authorities issue export permits (21). But most of the art was destroyed. Thangkas were burned, metal products were melted down. Only one foundry near Beijing purchased approx. 600 tons of Tibetan metal "in the form of handicrafts". And in total there were at least five such foundries ... Since then, old works of Tibetan art have been a rarity in their homeland.

“A pitiful sight must have been revealed to a group of Indian border guards who
met us at the border: eighty travelers who had passed the ordeal and
exhausted in body and soul. … None of us had any idea that information
about our escape were on the front pages of newspapers around the world, and that in distant Europe
and America, people have been waiting with interest, and, I hope, with sympathy, when
know if I have escaped."

From the Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Clinging to power, Mao Zedong launched in 1966 the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The goal was to eliminate the old party cadres, and the real content was the destruction of cultural heritage, traditions, and the creation of a generational conflict. In Tibet, this was to perpetuate Chinese domination. The army and officials were supposed to ensure the success of the Hongweipings (red guards) and zaofans (rebels). In May 1966, the first group of Red Guards was brought from Beijing to Lhasa. Began zombification of youth. The Red Guards declared war on the "four old": ideas, culture, habits and customs (10). They made a program of 20 points for the destruction of religion - they banned almost everything, even sorting out the rosary. Tibetans were forced to change their national clothes for "Mao Zedunov" of a semi-prison style, they were forbidden to wear braids, bow, use traditional greetings, etc. In fact, everything Tibetan was to be destroyed. Educational institutions did not work: students were introduced to the "rebellion".

Gangs of Red Guards and Zaofans terrorized the population, broke into houses, broke everything that they saw as local traditions. Former aristocrats, lamas and anyone suspected of disloyalty were subjected to sessions of "tamzing" - "criticism". It consisted in the public beating of a person, accompanied by bullying. Sessions of "criticism" could be daily or more rare, on the stage or on the street. They were repeated regularly, sometimes for many months in a row. Victims often became crippled or died.

During the Cultural Revolution, almost all the remaining monasteries were destroyed. As a result, either 7 or 13 monasteries remained in Greater Tibet (23). They tried to destroy it with the hands of the locals: those who refused to participate were subjected to "criticism". Among the destroyed were the greatest shrines and monuments of world culture: the first Tibetan monastery - Samye (VII century AD), the main monasteries of Tibet confessions: Ganden (the main monastery of the Gelug school), Sakya (Sakya schools), Tsurphu (Kagyu schools), Mindroling (Nyingma schools), Menri (Bon religions), etc. The main temple of Tibet, the Jokhang, was destroyed. The shrines located there, the masterpieces of religious art, were mostly broken. A "headquarters" of the Red Guards and a pigsty were made in the temple. The shrines of local Muslims were desecrated and destroyed. To our time, only half of what was destroyed in Tibet has been restored ... But modern "leftists" extol the Cultural Revolution and justify its crimes (24).

Destroying religion and culture, the "rebels" did not forget about the liquidation of the old party cadres. But they fought back: they organized their own bands of zaofan (10). Skirmishes began, turning into multi-day battles with the use of weapons. They killed thousands of people. In 1968, Beijing recognized that the events in Tibet were tantamount to a civil war. Power was handed over to the army, revolutionary committees began to be created everywhere. It was not immediately possible to take the "rebels" under control, many more people died.

And so the communists returned to their age-old dream - the collectivization of agriculture. A mass campaign to create communes unfolded in 1968-1969. (10). Everything was collectivized up to teapots, people were obliged to eat in a common dining room, etc. The main function of the communes was to serve and feed the troops. "Freed from the feudal lords" labor could last day and night. The "help" of the military in harvesting often amounted to its confiscation, and the peasants were forced to eat what the meager nature of the highlands gave - for example, wild roots. In 1968–1973 Tibet was struck by a new famine from the replacement of traditional grains with winter wheat (unsuitable under the given conditions), food requisitions for the PLA, the transfer of nomads to settled life and collectivization.

“After I left the country, about 60,000 refugees followed me into exile,
despite the difficulties that awaited them when crossing the Himalayas, and the danger of falling
into the hands of Chinese guards. Many of them left by routes much more difficult
and dangerous than mine. Among them were lamas, very famous in our country, erudite scholars,
about five thousand monks, government officials, merchants, soldiers and a great many
simple peasants, nomads and artisans. Some brought with them their families, children
others died while crossing the mountains. These refugees are now scattered throughout the settlements in India,
Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal.

From the Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Having removed the Tibetans from governing their country, the Maoists transformed it at their own discretion: they developed industry, led party building, carried out militarization, and so on. But the "liberated" people continued to fight. The Tibetans were disunited and poorly armed. And yet, until 1960, they held part of Amdo and western Tibet, then moved to central and southern. In 1962–1976 there were 44 open uprisings (7). The CIA assisted the guerrillas, but most of the groups operated independently. There was no coordination. Before the Cultural Revolution between the river. Tsangpo and the Nepalese border operated 30-40 thousand Tibetan partisans, and after collectivization the struggle intensified. Not all groups were formed and supplied from abroad. Independent detachments of thousands of people were formed. They prevented collectivization, attacked Chinese soldiers, government officials, destroyed communications, military installations, etc. More than a thousand soldiers and personnel were killed and wounded. In response, there were raids, show trials and executions. The United States stopped helping the Tibetan guerrillas after establishing ties with the PRC. Mao, who had accused the USSR of "revisionism" for improving relations with the US and easing tensions, now made contacts with the "stronghold of imperialism" himself. The guerrilla warfare in Tibet came to naught. Nothing else threatened the power of the PRC.

The period of Mao's rule is the purposeful destruction of the Tibetan religion, culture and way of life, the extermination or "re-education" of their carriers, the forced sinicization of the people. According to various estimates, from 5 to 30% of Tibetans died in Greater Tibet, and more than 100,000 became refugees. This falls under the UN Convention on the Prevention of Genocide (25). This assessment was given by the Committee on the Rule of Law of the International Commission of Jurists associated with the UN (20). But it must be emphasized that the blame for these excesses cannot be placed on any people as a whole, including the Chinese. As I.V. Stalin, "Hitlers come and go, but the German people remain."

So, in the 1950s. Tibet became part of China for the first time in its history. But the question of the legality of this is not closed. The agreement on the "peaceful liberation" of Tibet was signed under the threat of force, the members of the delegation did not have the proper authority, the seals were forged, the Chinese side first violated the Agreement, and then completely tore it up. That's why Mao said: "They gave me a pretext to start a war... The more powerful the rebellion, the better" (26). Finally, the Agreement itself has not been officially ratified by the Tibetan side, and no documents replacing it have appeared. According to experts in international law, this Agreement was illegitimate from the very beginning, the military invasion of the PRC contradicted the UN Charter and a number of other international documents, and the subsequent possession of the territory did not legitimize the seizure (7). Therefore, Tibet is an occupied country.

Semyon Kitaev

Details
(1)
(2) Goldstein M.C. 2007. A history of modern Tibet. Vol. 2. The calm before the storm: 1951-1955. Berkeley-Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press.
(3) Shakabpa V.D. 2003. Tibet: A Political History. St. Petersburg: Nartang.
(4) Text
(5) Dalai Lama. 1992. Freedom in exile. St. Petersburg: Nartang; Dalai Lama. 2000. My land and my people. St. Petersburg: Nartang - Corvus.
(6) Promises and lies: "The 17-point Agreement". The full story as revealed by the Tibetans and Chinese who were involved. 2001. - Tibetan Bulletin, March–June, p.24-30.
(7) Van Walt van Praag M.C. 1987. The status of Tibet: History, rights, and prospects in international law. Boulder, Colorado; Westview Press.
(8) Promises and lies…
(9) news.xinhuanet.com ..
(10) Bogoslovsky V.A. 1978. Tibet region of the PRC (1949–1976). M.: Science.
(11) M. Parenti.
(12) blackrotbook.narod.ru.
(13)www.asiafinest.com
(14) For text, see: On the Tibetan Question. 1959. Beijing: ed. lit. to foreign lang., pp.1-3.
(15) Tibet under Communist China: 50 years. 2001. Dharamsala: Dep. inform. and international rel.
(16) www.asiafinest.com
(17) www.friends-of-tibet.org.nz.
(18) www.russian.xinhuanet.com.
(19) Kychanov E.I., Melnichenko B.N. 2005. History of Tibet from ancient times to the present day. M.: Vost. lit.
(20) .
(21) http://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/cambodia_cullumoped-04042008160706.html/tibet_smith-04042008160846.html.
.html
(23) Tsering B.K. 1985. Religion in Tibet today. – Tibetan Bulletin, v. 16, no. 1, p. 14-15.
(24) For example, rwor.org.
(25) http://www.un.org/russian/documen/convents/genocide.htm.
(26) Yun Zhang, Holliday J. 2007. Unknown Mao. M.: Tsentrpoligraf, p.481.

In the battles for the Celestial Empire. Russian trace in China Okorokov Alexander Vasilyevich

Sino-Tibetan Conflict in the 1950s-1960s

Brief historical and geographical reference

Tibet is a mountainous country in Central Asia. It emerged as an independent state with the capital Lhasa at the beginning of the 7th century. By the 8th century The Tibetan empire stretched from Lanzhou in central China to Kashgar in Central Asia and northern India. For some time, this monarchy was a serious competitor to the Chinese Tang dynasty. During this period, a specific religious culture was formed in Tibet, based on a combination of a special form of Buddhism - Theravada, Tantric Buddhism and ancient shamanism. Together they gave Lamaism (Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism), on the basis of which at the turn of the XIV - XV centuries. A Buddhist sect, the Gelutba (yellow hats), was founded. Head of a sect from the XVT century. began to bear the title of Dalai Lama (in translation - "the highest sea of ​​\u200b\u200bwisdom"). In 1642, the Gelutba established itself as the dominant religion in Tibet, and the Dalai Lama became the spiritual and secular head of the country. From the end of the XVIII century. Tibet was part of China (since 1965 - an autonomous region of China), but by the end of the 19th century. became almost independent. As a result of the military expedition of 1903-1904. Tibet was occupied by England, which in 1906 transferred control of the country to representatives of China, thereby formally recognizing Beijing's sovereignty over it. This angered the Tibetans, and after the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, they expelled Chinese officials from the country and maintained independence until 1950.

The first attempts to establish friendly relations between Russia and Tibet were made by Catherine II. It is known, in particular, that she sent gifts to the Dalai Lama through the Kalmyks who went to Tibet to worship the Living God.

Since the end of the XIX century. England is showing tremendous interest in Tibet, which thus tried to secure its position in India - the "pearl of the British crown." Here, in Tibet, only China really opposed British interests. The British managed to push back their eastern competitor, gain a foothold in Tibet and reorient its economy towards India. Such an active policy of the British is not a waste to disturb St. Petersburg.

On February 27, 1893, a document was laid down on the table of the Russian emperor, entitled "Badmaev's note to Alexander III on the tasks of Russian policy in the Asian East." It outlined the plan for the colonial movement of Russia in Asia and the possibility of joining Mongolia, China and Tibet to the Russian possessions.

The author of the "Notes" was the court adviser P.A. Badmaev. To implement his project, Badmaev proposed to arrange a settlement beyond Baikal, near the Onona River, in an area very convenient for cattle breeding and arable farming. This settlement, according to the intentions of the author of the Notes, was to become a kind of center of Russian influence in the East. However, Badmaev's plan was never implemented.

The next attempt to "infiltrate" Tibet is associated with the name of Lama Agvan Dorzhiev (translated from Tibetan "Dorzhiev" - "Thunder Roll"). As a Russian citizen, for many years he was the Dalai Lama's ambassador to the Russian Empire, and later to the USSR.

It is known that Agvan Dorzhiev was born in Siberia, somewhere to the east of Lake Baikal. Around 1880, he arrived with many other novice monks in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. In those days he was known as Chomang Lobzang. In Tibet, a young monk entered the Drepung Monastery - one of the three most significant centers of religious activity in the country. However, he soon had to enter politics. In 1898, when the threat from Britain became quite real for Tibet, Dorzhiev, on behalf of the Dalai Lama, went to St. Petersburg. Thanks to the help of the Russian consul in Tianjin and the will of circumstances in the embassy of Prince Esper Ukhtomsky, he managed to get an audience with Nikolai P. In St. Petersburg, Dorzhiev made useful contacts and returned to Tibet with numerous gifts from the Russian imperial court. His report made a huge impression on the then Dalai Lama. Moreover, the traditional ally of Tibet, China, no longer had significant military power and was almost completely under the control of the British. Russia was a real military force. However, further relations between Russia and Tibet did not develop.

Another attempt to establish contact with Tibet was made in the autumn of 1918 by Soviet Russia. On September 27, the Izvestia newspaper published a short article entitled "In India and Tibet." It spoke of the struggle allegedly started by the Tibetans, following the example of the Indians, against the “foreign enslavers”: “To the north of India, in the heart of Asia, in sacred Tibet, the same struggle is going on. Taking advantage of the weakening of Chinese power, this forgotten country has raised the banner of rebellion for self-determination. The publicist's speculations about a spontaneous protest brewing among the Tibetans against the British oppressors were pure fiction, since at that moment there were no signs of a national liberation movement in Tibet. The appearance of this note is explained by the fact that in September 1918 the Cheka released Agvan Dorzhiev, the representative of the Dalai Lama in Russia, from the Butyrka prison. The latter, along with two companions, was arrested at the Urbakh railway station (not far from Saratov) on suspicion of trying to export valuables outside Soviet Russia. In fact, these were funds collected by Dorzhiev among the Kalmyks for the construction of a hostel at a Buddhist temple in Petrograd. From execution, almost inevitable, Dorzhiev was saved only by the intervention of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs. The condition for the release of the Tibetan diplomat, apparently, was his agreement to cooperate with the Soviet diplomatic department - it was not very difficult to attract Dorzhiev to such cooperation, knowing about his long-standing Anglophobia and active mediation in order to bring Tibet under the protection of Russia. Thus, Chicherin, the head of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, opened up a real prospect - through Dorzhiev to establish friendly ties with the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan theocrats, thanks to which it would be possible to advance the revolution to the countries of the Buddhist East and deliver a tangible blow to "the main stronghold of British imperialism in Asia - India ".

As part of this plan, it was decided to organize two scientific expeditions; to East Turkestan and Kashmir - under the leadership of the chairman of the Russian Committee for the Study of Central and East Asia, which was under the jurisdiction of the NKID, Academician Oldenburg, and to Tibet - under the supervision of Professor Shcherbatsky. Both expeditions, although they were formally assigned purely scientific tasks, at the same time were supposed to serve the political goals of the Bolsheviks. Thus, the project of the Tibetan expedition stated that, "by the way, it should collect information about the relationship, mutual penetration and influence of the Mongol tribes along the northern border of Tibet." However, due to the outbreak of the civil war, which cut off Moscow from Eastern Siberia and Mongolia, these expeditions were not destined to come true. More successful was the expedition organized with the support of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs by the Commissioner of the Comintern in the Far East, Shumyatsky. Here is what Shumyatsky informed Chicherin about the preparation of the expedition in a letter dated July 25, 1921: “Tib. the expedition is hastily equipping me, I called the head of the expedition, Yampilov, to Irkutsk to instruct him according to your instructions. I am waiting for the radio device to be sent and those things for which I left you an extract. We worked out a route for the expedition with the expectation of bypassing all dangerous points. The entire journey is designed for 45 - 60 days, including stops and possible delays. I am looking for the head of the convoy from among the Kalmyk communists. One of these days one of the candidates will come to me for acquaintance, on July 22, in extreme cases, on August 4, the expedition sets out. The expedition will not take the camels previously purchased by the previous organizers, because it is much more secret to follow on hired camels, like pilgrims. I have already summoned Sampilon to Irkutsk. He is now headlong into work in Mongolia. I had to take him away from work. Upon arrival, I will process it a little and send it to you for polishing and so that you get to know him personally, we will finally decide whether to send him or not. The problem of selecting a candidate for the role of "leader of the convoy" was resolved quickly. They became the Kalmyk communist Vasily Khomutnikov (real name - Vasily Kikeev), commander of the Kalmyk cavalry regiment of the Southwestern and Caucasian fronts. After a long and difficult journey, on April 9, 1922, the Shcherbatsky-Khomutnikov expedition reached Lhasa. The Dalai Lama received the messengers rather warily. The audience took place the next day in the winter palace of the ruler in the Potala and lasted about six hours.

On behalf of the Soviet government, gifts were presented to the Vicegerent of Buddha: one hundred arshins of brocade, a gold watch with the monogram "RSFSR", a silver tea set, and, finally, a "wonderful machine" - a small radiotelegraph apparatus. Along with the gifts, the Dalai Lama was presented with an official message from the Soviet government signed by Deputy Chicherin and a letter from Atvan Dordjiev. This expedition did not bring any special results, except for reconnaissance ones. The Dalai Lama was in no hurry to break the treaties with Great Britain, especially since the British supplied weapons and military advisers to Tibet for the war with China. Khomutnikov submitted his travel report to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs on October 28, 1922. At least the headings of the main sections of this document speak of the kind of information he obtained on the trip: “The Dalai Lama and his mood”, “The Ministers of the Dalai Lama”, "Tibet and England", "Tibet and China", "Tibetan Army" and so on.

Almost immediately, the discussion turned to the organization of the next expedition, the purpose of which was to consolidate the success of the first. Such an expedition under the guise of a caravan of pilgrims took place in 1924 and entered Lhasa on 1 August. It was headed by an employee of the Eastern Department of the NKID Sergey Stepanovich Borisov. This time, the Tibetans greeted the Soviet delegation cordially and even with some honors - a guard of honor was put up at their meeting. The next day, an audience was held at the summer palace of the Dalai Lama. It began, according to custom, with the presentation of gifts to the ruler of Tibet, which included porcelain vases, gold goblets, silver dishes and much more. Together with the gifts, Borisov, who appeared under the secret name of Tserendorzhi, also handed him two official letters - from the Central Executive Committee (signed by Kalinin) and from the government of the USSR. Gifts and letters were received "favorably".

Borisov's expedition stayed in Lhasa for about three months and returned to Moscow in May 1925. Negotiations with the Dalai Lama were unsuccessful, although their details remain largely unknown (283) . In the summer of 1920, another project of a "scientific and propaganda expedition" to Tibet, owned by the writer and scientist Alexander Barchenko, was discussed in Chicherin's department, which I spoke about in the previous chapter. Barchenko defined the official goal of the expedition as "exploring Central Asia and establishing contact with the tribes inhabiting it", although in reality he intended to find the center of "prehistoric culture" in Tibet - the legendary Shambhala of northern Buddhists. However, this expedition did not take place.

In October 1950, Chairman of the People's Republic of China Mao ordered his army to begin a campaign against Tibet. Parts of the PLA entered there through a hard-to-reach area

Chambo and proceeded to "appease" him. The Dalai Lama, the supreme spiritual leader of Tibet, respecting Buddhist traditions, responded to the Chinese invasion with passive defiance. So did the Hamda and Amdo tribes that inhabited the desert. But in less than a few years, the "oppression of the Chinese occupation," as the Western media later claimed, provoked the tribes to rebel. Moreover, by 1957, the PLA grouping that had entered Tibet, which had previously had a significant numerical superiority, had already encountered, however, a poorly armed, but 80,000-strong cavalry army (284) . In reality, the reason for the "popular uprising" was the dissatisfaction of the local feudal lords with the loss of influence on the common population. The sympathy of the Tibetans for the Chinese tactics of “making friends with good deeds” and the appearance of doctors, veterinarians, agronomists in the “Middle Ages reserve”, as the Soviet journalist Ovchinnikov, who visited there in 1955 and 1990, dealt a tangible blow to the feudal-theocratic regime of religious fanatics (285) .

The unfolding insurgency against communist China could not remain unnoticed by the United States. Moreover, Tibet occupied a unique strategic position: it was like a crossroads between the Soviet Union, India and China. In addition, almost all Asian rivers originated in these remote and desert regions.

In 1957, the administration of US President Eisenhower decided to help the Tibetan resistance movement. The task of training the guerrillas and providing the rebel groups with weapons and other supplies was entrusted to the CIA. He had to solve a very difficult problem. The fact is that the government of India, fearing to displease its northern neighbor - the Soviet Union, did not allow the United States to use its territory as a base for anti-communist rebels. The only possible alternative was the covert delivery of aid by air over a long range. Moreover, taking into account the high-mountain features of Tibet, not without reason called the "roof of the world", where the lowlands are located at altitudes of about 4267 m. However, the CIA by this time did not have either the pilots of the required class or the required aviation equipment. All this was found a little later, in Okinawa. The backbone of the special aviation group was made up of young officers who served in the 2nd detachment of the 1045th observation, evaluation and training group for special operations. The "Tibetan group" was headed by Major Aderholt ("Heini"), who had an unsurpassed reputation as a master of guerrilla operations during the Korean War. The most suitable aircraft for the task was the four-engine C-118 aircraft, which was widely used by the CIA-owned Civil Air Transport (CAT) airline.

The rest was a matter of technique.

For flights to Tibet at maximum range, the C-118 aircraft was loaded in Okinawa with weapons from the countries of the communist bloc and supplies (4082 tons in total), which were already prepared for parachute drop over rebel strongholds in the southeastern regions of the country. The plane usually took off from Okinawa, made an intermediate landing at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, where it refueled and picked up long-range communications specialists, and then flew over Indochina and landed at an abandoned English airfield in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). There, the Air Force crew changed to the crew of the SAG airline, which piloted the aircraft on the last leg of the route: to the north (to Tibet) and back.

By the beginning of 1959, the CIA managed to obtain from the US Air Force several long-range tactical transport aircraft C-130 Hercules, manufactured by Lockheed. In terms of its technical characteristics, the S-130 was significantly superior to the used S-118. The opportunities that have arisen have made some adjustments to the conduct of further operations.

The airfield in East Pakistan has been replaced by the more convenient Takli air base of the Royal Thai Air Force, located in the north of the country. On it, under the control of people from the Aderholt unit, the arriving C-130s underwent “sterilization” (removal of identification marks of nationality) and the replacement of military crews with Air America crews, which then flew to the end point of the route in Tibet.

The military crews that ferried the S-130 to Takli immediately returned to the base by another aircraft. Personnel from the 2nd Detachment, the CIA, and Air America remained in Takli. To protect themselves in the event of a possible appearance of Chinese interceptor fighters, the crews performed all flights only at night, during periods of “full moon windows”.

In a typical case, in one sortie, several parachuted pallets with caps of weapons and supplies were delivered to the target area, as well as a small group of Tibetans who had received special training in CIA camps. , was a special US CIA military camp on the island of Saipan in the Marianas archipelago, which was under the jurisdiction of the United States. Here, the Hamda and Amdo warriors learned to read maps, work at a radio station, use weapons, and underwent parachute training. Beginning around 1959, Tibetan guerrillas began to receive military training at Camp Hale, an army training center near the mining community of Leadville, Colorado. This center was created during the Second World War and was intended for the training of mountain rifle units. At Camp Haley, the Tibetans underwent intensive military training: they studied weapons, subversion, radio communications, and guerrilla tactics (286). According to some sources, in 1959 - 1962. 170 cadets (287) were passed through Camp Hale.

At the end of combat training, the Tibetans were immediately sent back to Asia and parachuted from "sky boats", as the rebels called C-130 aircraft, somewhere on the high plateau of Tibet.

In 1959, another anti-Chinese uprising broke out in the country. Armed clashes began in the capital of Tibet, Lhasa. The reason for them was an alleged attempt by the Chinese authorities to seize the head of the lamaist church and secular power of the Dalai Lama Tenjing Zhazzo and replace him with the Panchen Lama controlled by Beijing (288) . The inhabitants of Lhasa and the tribes living in the vicinity of the capital came to the defense of the Dalai Lama. In response, the Chinese brought additional army units into the autonomous region. As a result, about 30 thousand Tibetans were killed. The Dalai Lama and his several thousand associates were forced to flee the country. The rebellion changed the lives of those who fled and those who stayed. Peking's harsh methods in Tibet ultimately led to the elimination of feudal relations in the region, the liberation of farmers and pastoralists from serfdom. Those who fled abroad were warmed up by Western intelligence services. The “outstanding human rights activist of our time,” the Dalai Lama and his supporters, have become a weapon of psychological struggle against communist China.

In 1960, the Eisenhower administration decided to end the special air resupply operations for the Tibetan rebels. However, the struggle of the Tibetan partisans not only did not end there, but also continued to periodically intensify. The aid provided by the Soviet Union played a significant role in this. Ironically, during the Cold War era, it was the USSR that became a kind of successor to the United States in supporting the Tibetan rebels. This was a consequence of the Soviet-Chinese crisis, which aggravated relations between the two states for many years.