Functioning State
Before the Chinese Communist invasion of 1950, Tibet was a fully functioning and
independent state. It threatened none of its neighbors, fed its population unfailingly,
year after year, with no help from the outside world. Tibet owed no money to any
country or international institutions, and maintained basic law and order. Tibet
banned capital punishment in 1913 (mentioned by a number of foreign travelers1)
and was one of the first countries in the world to do so. There is no record of it
persecuting minorities (e.g. Muslims2) or massacring sections of its population from
time to time as China (remember Tiananmen) and some other countries still sadly
do. Although its frontiers with India, Nepal and Bhutan were completely unguarded,
very few Tibetans fled their country as economic or political refugees. There was not
a single Tibetan immigrant in the USA or Europe before the Communist invasion.
Foreign Military Invasion not “Peaceful Liberation”
On the dawn of 6th October 1950, the 52nd, 53rd & 54th divisions of the 18th
Army3 of the Red Army (probably over 40,000 troops) attacked the Tibetan frontier
guarded by 3,500 regular soldiers and 2,000 Khampa militiamen. Recent research by a
Chinese scholar reveals that Mao Zedong met Stalin on 22nd January 1950 and asked
for the Soviet air force to transport supplies for the invasion of Tibet. Stalin replied:
“It’s good you are preparing to attack Tibet. The Tibetans need to be subdued.”4
An English radio operator (employed by the Tibetan government)….
Scarica l’articolo completo in formato pdf Final-IndepTibet di Jamyang Norbu