China is a unified, multi-ethnic nation. Tibet is a part of China and the ethnic Tibetans are important members of the big Chinese family. Tibet, located in the southwestern part of China, covers an area of more than 1.2 million square km. With an average elevation of over 4,000 meters, it is known as the "roof of the world". It constitutes China's borders with India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, and Myanmar, giving it an important strategic position. Before its peaceful liberation in 1951, Tibet followed a rule characteristic of temporal and religious administration. Upper class monks and the aristocrat laymen held the authority. The broad masses of the Tibetans lived a life of misery. Social and economic development stagnated. Tibet had a population of 1.2 million. Tibetans accounted for 94 percent of the population, and most of these were devotees of Lamaistic Buddhism. Traditional culture and customs were deeply influenced by religious beliefs. Separated from the outside world by high mountains and nearly total lack of transportation and communication facilities, Tibet was a land of mystery and isolation.
　　Since the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), China's Central Government has exerted sovereignty over Tibet. The Yuan court sent officials to oversee the rule of the region. Since then, Tibet has been an integral part of the Chinese territory. In the following hundreds of years, local Tibetan authorities have further developed relations with the central authorities, and strengthened cultural, commercial, and social ties with the hinterland regions.
　　During the modern era, foreign imperialism reared its ugly head. The United Kingdom subjected the emaciated Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to a multitude of humiliations. Later, Britain was joined by Germany, Tsarist Russia and the United States. China was forced into a semi-colonial, semi-feudal state. The emerging Western empires sought to carve up the Chinese territory into spheres of influence, including the territory of Tibet. Britain sent expeditionary forces into Tibet, invading Chinese territory first in 1888, and then again in 1904. However, both British forces were repelled by the joint efforts of the Tibetan and Han peoples. During the second effort at invading Tibet, the British forces reached Lhasa. The 13th Dalai Lama fled to the Chinese hinterland. Under duress, Prince Regent Gandain Chiba Abbot signed the Lhasa Convention. As the Qing Government opposed the convention, it could not be enforced as a separate agreement reached between two sovereign powers, instead being only an addendum to the Beijing Convention signed by the Chinese and British governments in 1906. Although this was not a move based on national strength, this maneuvering effectively held off the British attempts to deny China's sovereignty over Tibet through direct negotiations between Tibetan authorities and a foreign government.
　　Russia also attempted to get its hand in Tibetan affairs when they intruded on Chinese territory in the northwest. Britain and Russia interfered with China's sovereignty over Tibet through the 1907 Russa-British Convention. They set Tibet as a separate chapter in the treaty. However, since this treaty ignored the rights of China in relation to Tibet, the treaty was invalid and illegal.
Not realizing their dream to control Tibet by armed force, the British Government began to sow discord among the different ethnic groups in the region and to develop pro-imperialist factions in the upper strata of Tibetan society. In 1910, Britain dispatched Charles Bell, their commissioner in Sikkim, to Darjeeling, the capital of Bengal, to draw in the 13th Dalai Lama, who had originally firmly resisted British aggression but then fled to India because of his dissatisfaction with the Qing Government. The commissioner persuaded the Dalai Lama to break with the Chinese court. The Revolution of 1911 overthrew the Qing Government. Taking the opportunity of China's turbulent political situation, the British minister in Beijing, John Jordan, place five demands on the Chinese Government. These five demands required China to cease any actions that might "interfere in the internal affairs of Tibet," and removed recognition of Tibet as a province of China. The Chinese Government refused these demands. The British responded by closing all roads from India to Tibet. During the Simla Conference of 1913-14 plotted by Britain, the British representatives conducted secret negotiations with the Tibetan representatives, plotting to declare the McMahon Line as the new border between China and India. By doing so, they could take away 90,000 square km of land from China in support of "Tibetan independence. "At the same time, the British drew up an illegal treaty, openly dividing Tibet into "Inner Tibet" and "out Tibet" and declaring China's role in Tibet as one of suzerain instead of sovereign. The conference in fact was a secret deal to whip up the fervor for "Tibet independence". The Chinese Government firmly opposed the Simla Convention and the McMahon Line. In order to control Tibet, Britain pushed Tibetan Army Commander-in-Chief Charong Dasang Zhamdong to stage a coup d'etat , but their plan failed. The 13th Dalai Lama saw through the British plot and began to shift closer to the Chinese Central Government. When the 13th Dalai demised, Britain continued to work hard for Tibetan independence".
　　The aggressive British policies fostered a hostile attitude toward the Central Government on the part of the upper strata of Tibetan society. As a result, relations between the Central Government and the Tibetan authorities became tense and abnormal. This aroused discontent among the Chinese masses, including the ordinary Tibetans. During the reign of Kuomintang Government, from 1911 to the end of World War II, no country, not even Britain, recognized Tibet as an independent country, regardless of the abnormal relations between the Central Government and the Tibetan authorities. Tibet was not separated from the rule of the Central Government.
　　However, during China's War of Liberation, Tibetan separatists turned again to collusion with the imperialists in an attempt to shift political power away from the Central Government and split Tibet from China.
　　In early July, the British-Indian commercial commander in Lhasa began spreading rumors that members of the Communist Party of China had wormed their way into Lhasa and were inviting the People's Liberation Army to enter Tibet. Taking advantage of the fact that the Kuomintang was about to be toppled, the Tibetan authorities ordered the members of the KMT Lhasa Office to "leave Tibet".
　　Meanwhile, the Tibetan government sent a telegram through the Indian Kalimpong Radio Station to the Nanjing-based KMT Commission for Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs. The telegram read in part: "To prevent the CPC from infiltrating into Tibet, we appeal to all staff of the Central Government to withdraw from Tibet. We have told all members of various ethnic groups to take their families and return to the inland areas in the given time." They also dispatched troops to monitor the withdrawal, which was given a window of two weeks. The Tibetan authorities closed the radio station and schools run by the Kuomintang Office in Lhasa and forced 300 office members and their families to return to the hinterland by way of India. This action raised the concern of the CPC Central Committee. On September 2, 1949, the Xinhua News Agency published an editorial under the headline Foreign Invaders Are Resolutely Not Al/owed to Annex China's Territorv-Tibet. The editorial revealed that the purpose of driving the Ran people out of Tibet was to prevent the Tibetan people from being liberated by the PLA when it was to liberate whole China, so that the Tibetans would remain under the yoke of slavery and imperialism. The editorial declared that "Tibet is part of the Chinese territory. Any foreign aggression is forbidden. The Tibetan people are an inseparable part of the Chinese nation, and any attempt to divide them from China will fail," and the PLA must liberate Tibet. On September 7, People's Doily published an article under the headline Chinese People Bound to Liberate Tibet, pointing out that the CPC upholds the principle of equality among various ethnic groups. pursues unity and mutual aid between the Chinese ethnic groups, protects the interests of the ethnic minorities, and respects their customs and habits, as well as their freedom of religion. The article went on to call upon the Tibetan people to unite, reveal the plots of the imperialists, cast off the yoke of imperialism and make ready for the PLA to enter Tibet.
　　A conference of high-ranking Tibetan officials convened on September 16 put forth measures to mobilize the Tibetan military. calling for a universal male draft and increasing grain levies. On November 9, the conference decided to send representatives to the United States, Britain, India and Nepal to seek military aid. In letters to these governments, the Tibetan officials referred to Tibet as an "independent country" and accused the PLA of invading Tibet. In letters to the US and Indian governments, the Tibetan officials asked for machine guns, artillery, and planes left over from the Second World War, as well as personnel to operate the equipment. A telegram sent to the United Press International by Prince Regent Dagzha on January 14,1950, read in part, "Our National Parliament has reached a consensus to send several friendly delegations to visit Britain, the United States, India and Nepal. We will also send a delegation to China to declare the independence of Tibet and explain our reasons.
　　Of course, this development raised great concern among the Central Government. The Xinhua News Agency released the text of a speech by the Foreign Ministry spokesman on January 20, 1950: "Tibet is the territory of the People's Republic of China. Everyone in the world knows the fact and no one has ever denied the fact. Hence, the Tibetan authorities do not have the right to unilaterally dispatch the 'mission,' and further do not have the right to declare 'independence' from China. If preaching 'Tibetan independence' among the US, British, Indian and Nepalese Governments was not masterminded by the UPI, it was a farce conducted by the US imperialists and other conspirators in Tibet. This goes against the Tibetan people's demand to become a member of the PRC family." "If the Lhasa authorities send delegates to Beijing to negotiate the peaceful liberation of Tibet, they will be well received." However, the Central Government will not tolerate the Lhasa authorities' actions in betraying the motherland.
　　We also consider those countries that receive such an illegal 'mission' shall be taken as a hostile action against China.
　　During this period of time, the pro-imperialist separatists on the upper echelon of the Tibetan ruling clique headed by Prince Regent Dagzha took part in increasingly outlandish moves for "Tibetan independence" and against the CPC. The Central Government decided to dispatch PLA troops to Tibet. Only in this way could the pawns of the imperialist powers in Tibet he dealt with and the southwestern frontier of China he safeguarded. In January 1950, Chairman Mao Zedong ordered the CPC South-western Bureau, the No.2 Field Army, the CPC Northwestern Bureau and the No.1. Field Army to send troops to Tibet.
On September 30, 1950, Premier Zhou Enlai pointed out :"The PLA is determined to liberate the Tibetan people and safeguard China's frontier-a necessary step taken for the safety of the motherland. However, we would like to realize our aim through peaceful negotiations. The ardent patriots in Tibet have already expressed their support for this decision. We hope the Tibetan authorities will not hesitate to seek a peaceful solution to this problem."