The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

was erected at the Tibet-China border; and the
third one was at China’s capital Changan (长
安), today’s Xian (西安); the latter two vanished
long ago):
. . . 今蕃汉二国所守见管本界, 以东悉为大唐国
疆, 已西尽是大蕃境土, 彼此不为寇敌, 不举兵
革, 不相侵谋. 封境或有猜阻捉生, 问事讫, 给以
衣粮放归. 今社稷叶同如一, 为此大和 (an unofficial
translation: . . . Today, Tubo [Tibet] and
Han [Tang China] each has secured its border
at this demarcation, to its east is the Great
Tang’s territory; and to the west, the territory
of the Great Tubo; each pledges not to be enemy
of the other, not to wage war against each
other. In case of border closing and intrusion,
each side should properly question the intruders,
and then release them with clothes and
food provided. Today both nations are equals;
this treaty is for a great harmony between the
two). 170
Of note is that China has never mentioned the
above in any of its White Papers about Tibet.
• The Tibetans-in-exile accept that since the
Mongol-ruled Yuan, Tibet had been subject to
interference from China. However, Tibet was
able to retain its independence and maintain its
own government. 171 Moreover, more than half
of the time during the 678 years between the
founding of the Yuan Dynasty in 1271 and the
fall of the ROC in 1949, Tibet was dealing with
the Mongols and the Manchus; the Chinese
were a conquered people [亡国奴], they did not
have much to do with the relations between the
Mongol and Manchu-ruled “China” and Tibet.
159