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

The above-presented assertions, Chinese included,
did not really matter when China made Tibet a formal
part of the PRC in 1950. Indeed, in those days when
powerful nations did what they wanted and small
nations suffered what they must, few condemned
China for its incorporation of Tibet. However, these
arguments would not have been necessary had China
turned Tibet into a happy member of the Chinese
union. In fact, for at least the first 30 years of the PRC,
China’s administration of Tibet was a great failure. 172
The most devastating blow to the Chinese rule of
Tibet was no doubt the defection of the Dalai Lama
and his followers to India in 1959. Today, the Dalai
Lama is the longest-exiled prominent political and religious
figure in the world. He also has a large number
of followers. Presently, there are about 145,000 Tibetans
living outside of Tibet, about 101,000 of which in
Dharamshala, where the Tibetan Government-in-Exile
resides, 16,000 in Nepal, 2,000 in Bhutan, and 26,000 in
various other parts of the world. 173 There are also various
Tibetan-in-exile organizations in the United States
and Europe pursuing the cause of Tibet independence.
Although in the last 2 decades China has taken
measures to improve the standard of living in Tibet,
Chinese leaders nonetheless have many limitations in
dealing with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans-in-exile.
The Tibet question remains an unsettling block in China’s
nation-building business. It is also a thorny problem
between the United States and China because of
the U.S. involvement in this issue, which has become
even more complicated as a contentious component of
the ongoing U.S.-China power transition.
A comprehensive analysis of this issue goes beyond
the scope of this analysis. The following highlights
the milestones and the latest conflicting stands
on all sides about this complicated issue.
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