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The Tibet Area was a province-level administrative division of the Republic of China which consisted of
Ü-Tsang Ü-Tsang is one of the three traditional provinces of Tibet, the others being Amdo in the north-east, and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Geographically Ü-Tsang covered ...
(central Tibet) and
Ngari Ngari Prefecture () or Ali Prefecture () is a prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region covering Western Tibet, whose traditional name is Ngari Khorsum. Its administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Shiquanhe. History Ngar ...
(western Tibet) areas, but excluding the
Amdo Amdo ( �am˥˥.to˥˥ ) is one of the three traditional Tibetan regions, the others being U-Tsang in the west and Kham in the east. Ngari (including former Guge kingdom) in the north-west was incorporated into Ü-Tsang. Amdo is also the ...
and Kham areas. However, the Republic of China never exercised control over the territory, which was ruled by the
Ganden Phodrang The Ganden Phodrang or Ganden Podrang (; ) was the Tibetan system of government established by the 5th Dalai Lama in 1642; it operated in Tibet until the 1950s. Lhasa became the capital of Tibet again early in this period, after the Oirat lo ...
government in
Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...
. The People's Republic of China, which overthrew the ROC in 1949, invaded Chamdo (not part of Tibet Area until 1951) in 1950 and incorporated the Dalai Lama-controlled regions in 1951. After the
1959 Tibetan rebellion The 1959 Tibetan uprising (also known by #Names, other names) began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the China, People's Republic of China since the Seventeen ...
, the State Council of the PRC ordered the replacement of the Tibetan
Kashag The Kashag (; ), was the governing council of Tibet during the rule of the Qing dynasty and post-Qing period until the 1950s. It was created in 1721, and set by Qianlong Emperor in 1751 for the Ganden Phodrang in the 13-Article Ordinance for ...
government with the "Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region" (PCTAR). The current
Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of � ...
was established as a province-level division of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1965.


Background

In the 18th century, the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
established a protectorate over Tibet. After the 1904
Younghusband expedition The British expedition to Tibet, also known as the Younghusband expedition, began in December 1903 and lasted until September 1904. The expedition was effectively a temporary invasion by British Indian Armed Forces under the auspices of the T ...
, China attempted to exert more direct control over Tibet, including incursions and occupation of the Kham region. However, after the 1911
Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...
which overthrew the Qing dynasty, Tibet disarmed and expelled all the Chinese officials from the Tibet Area. The newly established Republic of China unilaterally declared Tibet as being part of the "Five Races under One Union". However its policy was not consistent. While its constitution and communications with external powers maintained that Tibet was a "province" of the Republic of China, it recognized that Tibet was not part of China, inviting them to "join" China. The
Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...
and the Tibetan administration consistently refused the invitation. They maintained that under the priest–patron relationship that prevailed under the Qing dynasty, Tibet enjoyed wide independence and they wished to preserve it. Although there was no Chinese control over Tibet throughout the life of Republican China, the ROC asserted that "Tibet was placed under the sovereignty of China" when the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
(1636–1912) ended the brief Nepalese invasion (1788–1792) of parts of Tibet in c. 1793. In 1912 the ROC established a cabinet-level
Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) was a ministry-level commission of the Executive Yuan in the Republic of China. It was disbanded on 15 September 2017. History The first model was created during the Qing dynasty in 1636 ...
(MTAC) led by the Executive Yuan in charge of the administration of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
and Outer Mongolia regions. The People's Republic of China (PRC), after its establishment, fought and defeated the Tibetans at the 1950
Battle of Chamdo The Battle of Chamdo (or Qamdo; ) occurred from 6 to 24 October 1950. It was a military campaign by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to take the Chamdo Region from a ''de facto'' independent Tibetan state.Shakya 1999 pp.28–32. The campa ...
, and took control of Tibet. The ROC government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, continued to claim Tibet as an integral part of its territory, contrary to the claims of the Dalai Lama's Central Tibetan Administration which claimed Tibetan independence. After the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion, Chiang Kai-shek announced in his Letter to Tibetan Compatriots () that the ROC's policy would be to help the
Tibetan diaspora The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside Tibet. Tibetan emigration has three separate stages. The first stage was in 1959 following the 14th Dalai Lama's defection to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh, India. The s ...
overthrow the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
's rule in Tibet. The MTAC sent secret agents to India to disseminate pro-
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
(KMT) and anti-Communist propaganda among Tibetan exiles. In the following years, the MTAC recruited Tibetans to Taiwan to study and work, roughly 400 in number.''The last of the Tibetans''
By Ian Buruma
After democratization in mid 1990s, the position of the Republic of China with regard to Tibet shifted. In the opening speech to the International Symposium on Human Rights in Tibet on 8September 2007, ROC President
Chen Shui-bian Chen Shui-bian (; born 12 October 1950) is a retired Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. Chen was the first president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) whic ...
of the Democratic Progressive Party stated that his offices no longer treated exiled Tibetans as Chinese mainlanders. The MTAC was dissolved in 2017 by the
Tsai Ing-wen Tsai Ing-wen (; born 31 August 1956) is a Taiwanese politician serving as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She served as ...
administration, with its remaining functions to be taken on by the Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs of the
Mainland Affairs Council The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) is a cabinet-level administrative agency under the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China in Taiwan. The MAC is responsible for the planning, development, and implementation of the cross-strait relations ...
as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


Administrative divisions


1956–1959

* Administrative divisions setup by the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region


See also

*
Tibet (1912–1951) Tibet was a ''de facto'' independent state between the collapse of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in 1912 and its annexation by the People's Republic of China in 1951. ; The Tibetan Ganden Phodrang regime was a protectorate of the Qing dynasty ...
*
Sino-Tibetan War The Sino-Tibetan War (, lit. Kham–Tibet dispute) was a war that began in 1930 when the Tibetan Army under the 13th Dalai Lama responded to the attempted seizure of a monastery. Chinese-administered eastern Kham region (later called Xikang), ...
(1930–1932) * Qinghai–Tibet War (1932) *
Central Tibetan Administration The Central Tibetan Administration (, , ), often referred to as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, is a non-profit political organization based in Dharamshala, India. Its organization is modeled after an elective parliamentary government, comp ...
(established 1959)


References


Bibliography

* {{Coord missing, Taiwan Provinces of the Republic of China (1912–1949) Territorial disputes of the Republic of China History of Tibet Former administrative divisions of China 1920s in Tibet 1930s in Tibet 1940s in Tibet 1950s in Tibet 1960s in Tibet