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March 29, 2008
Down with the CCP?
Posted by: SamMarvin from Univ. of Michigan
I won’t pretend to be an expert on China, but I like to think I know quite a bit.
China has had territorial claims of Tibet since the early Qing dynasty in the 17th century. In fact, the first Dalai Lama was installed as the political and spiritual leader of Tibet by Qing emperors. The same emperors also intervened militarily several times on the behalf of the Dalai Lama. I’ll avoid a lengthy recounting of history, but the facts are that China has legitimate historical claims to sovereignty over Tibet.
During the Republican and warlord era Tibet was autonomous from China and began to assert its independence. In 1951 the PLA invaded parts of Tibet and routed the Tibetan army. Following this military defeat the central government of Tibet negotiated surrender, acknowledging China’s suzerainty in a 17 point agreement. The agreement was between two legitimate governments and hence is the reason why almost every nation in the world recognizes China’s rule over Tibet.
The issue, according to the Dalai Lama himself, is not one of independence but of autonomy and he has called for Tibetans to accept Chinese rule.
None of this, however, excuses the particularly violent repressions of protesters at the hands of Chinese government forces.
I expect to see an easing of protests in the days to come. Tibetans obviously thought that China might succumb to international and media pressure to relax some of their policies and reactions. Unfortunately, China stuck to their old playbook of harsh repression.
If people want to talk more about China I encourage them to come the Roosevelt Institution’s China Policy Cente. We meet every Monday at 7pm in the Dana building.
Posted by google at March 29, 2008 12:46 AM