The history and crimes of the occupation of Tibet by communist China since 1950

In 1949, Mao Tse-Tung's communists took over mainland China after a long civil war in that country.

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Mao's failure with Taiwan and his order to invade Tibet

The Nationalist faction took refuge in Taiwan and other islands, which have since become an independent country officially called the Republic of China, a territory over which the communist dictatorship in Beijing claims a nonexistent right, since it was never under its control. Unable to take Taiwan, in December 1949, two months after proclaiming the People's Republic of China, Mao ordered preparations to begin for the invasion of Tibet, an independent country located southwest of mainland China.

An invasion followed by an agreement signed under duress

In 1950, the Beijing dictatorship threatened Tibet with war if it did not accept the demands of communist China to renounce its independence and allow itself to be annexed by the Asian giant. Without waiting for a response from the Tibetan government, on October 7, 1950, communist China invaded Tibet, taking the border city of Chamdo, where Chinese troops killed several thousand Tibetan soldiers. On May 23, 1951, Tibetan representatives in Beijing, under duress, signed an agreement authorizing China to annex their country. Mao's dictatorship cynically called the annexation a "Peaceful Liberation of Tibet." The agreement theoretically guaranteed broad autonomy for Tibet, but Beijing violated it.

The Tibetan rebellion of 1959 and the Dalai Lama's exile in India

In 1959, Mao initiated the brutal agrarian reform known as the "Great Leap Forward," which culminated in a colossal famine with tens of millions of deaths. There was an uprising in Tibet, and the Dalai Lama, the country's head of state, denounced the agreement signed with China, stating that it had been made under duress. Following this, he went into exile in India. That same year a Tibetan government in exile was formed, the Central Tibetan Administration, located in Dharamshala, India, and which still functions today as a constitutional monarchy headed by the Dalai Lama and represents some 150,000 Tibetan exiles, who hope to one day recover the country that China usurped from them.

“An estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of Chinese occupation”

The Tibetan government in exile states: "The Tibetan people are a distinct race with its own spoken and written language, culture, traditions, food and dress. In 1959 the population of Tibet was estimated at six million. An estimated 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a direct result of Chinese occupation."

According to an estimate published in "The Black Book of Communism" (Harvard University Press, 1997), 70,000 Tibetans lost their lives during the so-called "Great Leap Forward," which became one of the largest massacres in history. In addition, Chinese troops killed 2,000 Tibetan Buddhist monks and pilgrims in the 1956 Chinese bombing of the great monastery of Chode Gaden Phendeling. Likewise, between 2,000 and 10,000 Tibetans died in Hasta Lhasa during the Tibetan Jam uprising of 1959.

The arguments of communist China used to justify the invasion

Regarding the arguments of the Chinese communist dictatorship to justify its annexation, the Central Tibetan Administration states: "China does not only claim that Tibet has ‘always’ been a ‘part of the mother land’ (China), but the Chinese also claim that they have brought progress to Tibet and that the Tibetan people are ‘happy’ under their rule. History bears witness to the fact that there is no basis for the Chinese’ claim of Tibet being a ‘part of China’. It is true that Tibet came under the influence of the Mongols, who also ruled in China. At the same time, the Manchus, who were the last imperial rulers of China, also interfered in Tibetan affairs. But never before 1949 had the Chinese ever exercised any control over Tibet."

One million Tibetan children have been forcibly separated from their families

The Chinese military occupation of Tibet has resulted in systematic violations of the human rights of Tibetans, as the UN has confirmed, crimes that are especially despicable with regard to minors. In 2023, UN experts noted that one million Tibetan children have been forcibly separated from their families and sent to residential care facilities in a process of forced assimilation, violating international human rights standards.

It is frankly grotesque to see that the same communist dictatorship that has militarily occupied Tibet for 76 years now dares to speak of "international law" to criticize other countries, while it continues to illegitimately subjugate a country that is not its own, violating the human rights of its inhabitants and attempting to deprive them of their language and culture. It is shameful to see leaders of democratic countries whitewashing and blessing this criminal dictatorship, as, for example, the Spanish socialist leader Pedro Sánchez does, who has never once mentioned Tibet nor criticized the Chinese military occupation of that country. Is this his idea of ​​"international law"?