Tibet, China and the Western World

Tibet is now firmly embedded in the empire of the People's Republic of China. It has been dragged, willy-nilly, sometimes objecting, opposing and resisting from the Middle Ages into the twentieth century. The extent to which coercion was applied by the Chinese in imposing their rule is not easily discovered; estimates vary with the political views of the author. Some of those who most unequivocally praised the Chinese reforms now look rather foolish with the recent admissions of error in its Tibetan policies now being made by Peking. The Chinese in the first years of their takeover, and again since Mao died, have on the whole acted with patience and good sense, though in the years of the Great Cultural Revolution coercion was undoubtedly used. The Chinese have begun to create a better material life, a less harsh standard of living for the Tibetans and also to give relief from superstition and a stultifying and often cruel religion with its huge and parasitical priesthood. As Sir Charles Bell, one of Tibet's warmest friends, pointed out in the 1920s, three-quarters of the total revenues of Tibet were spent on the upkeep of the monasteries and the nobility.