Tibet Area (administrative division)

The Tibet Area (, also translated as Tibet Region in the 1954 Sino-Indian Agreement) was a province-level administrative division of China in the 20th century. It was de jure created after the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, and nominally includes the Ü-Tsang (central Tibet) and Ngari (western Tibet) areas, but not the Amdo and Kham areas.Tibet, worldpopulationreview.com, 2018: "Tibet is an autonomous region located in the People's Republic of China. Tibet was established in 1965 and replaced the administrative division known as the Tibet Area."Geoffrey Migiro, Is Tibet a Country?, worldatlas.com, September 14, 2018:"Tibet is an autonomous region of People's Republic of China which was established in 1965 to replace an administrative region known as Tibet Area which they inherited from Republic of China." The territories were merely claimed by the ROC, but actually controlled by an independent Tibet with a government headed by the Dalai Lama in Lhasa. At this time, the scope of de facto independent Tibet included the "Tibet area" and the Chamdo area west of the Jinsha River, which claimed by China. The ROC retreated to Taiwan and lost control of mainland China to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949; afterwards, the ROC continued to claim Tibet.

The PRC annexed Tibet in 1951 and continued to call it Tibet Area.: "In 1951, the Chinese Communists had set up the Work Committee of the CCP for the Tibet Area. It became the supreme power organization in the Tibet area during the revolt." It merged with the Chamdo Region and was transformed to Tibet Autonomous Region in 1965 after the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

Background Early-Republican China Tibet became a protectorate of Qing China in the 18th century; imperial authority was symbolized by a Qing resident called amban in Lhasa. After the Chinese 1911 Revolution and the end of the Qing Empire, Tibet expelled the Chinese delegation and became independent. The ROC claimed Tibet as a province. It considered Tibet be part of the "Five Races under One Union" and held that "Tibet was placed under the sovereignty of China" following the Sino-Nepalese War (1788–1792).Sperling (2004) pp.6,7. Goldstein (1989) p.72. Both cite the ROC's position paper at the 1914 Simla Conference. The Nationalist government's Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) was established in 1928 to nominally govern those regions. In 1934, diplomatic relations between Tibet and China resumed. ROC proposed that Tibet recognize Chinese sovereignty. Tibet rejected the proposal but agreed to host a Chinese mission in Lhasa; a MTAC mission was established in 1939. It was expelled in July 1949 to make it more difficult for the Chinese Communists to establish an official presence.

Relations with the People's Republic of China

The PRC received early insight into the politics of Tibet by recruiting from MTAC members after the Kuomintang was defeated during the Chinese Civil War. In 1949, Tibet opened negotiations with the Chinese Communists, who were expected to win the civil war, and through them, with the future PRC. As with the ROC, Tibet refused to accept Communist demands that Tibet recognize Chinese sovereignty. Following some border skirmishes, the PRC invaded Tibet in October 1950; the Chinese defeated the Tibetans at the Battle of Chamdo, Chamdo being part of Xikang rather than Tibet Area from the Chinese point of view. They stopped to allow further negotiations. Tibet was unable to secure international support, and military resistance was hopeless. In 1951, the PRC formally annexed Tibet through the Seventeen Point Agreement. In the first few years, the Chinese focused on creating an administration independent of the Tibetan government; the latter was unable to cope with the work demanded by the Chinese and became increasingly redundant. Social reform was not emphasized due to the difference in culture and the dependence of PRC institutions on local resources. Basic services, trade, and technology were introduced to win over the population and the ruling elite. Tibetan opposition built around the two prime ministers of the Tibetan government, and was strengthened by the Chinese criticism of those officers.

The Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet (PCART) was formed in 1955 as an interim governing body. It replaced the Chinese Tibet Military Commission, which frequently opposed the Tibetan government and was viewed with hostility by the Tibetans. The PRC hoped that Tibetan integration would be easier with the Chinese–Tibetan PCART. The relevance of the native Tibetan government continued to erode; the Kashag continued to meet but its influence was mainly symbolic.

The Tibet Autonomous Region was created in 1965 after the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

Relations with Taiwan after 1949 After the ROC retreated to Taiwan, the ROC government continues to claim Tibet as part of its territory per Article 4 of its 1947 Constitution.

Chiang Kai-shek responded to the 1959 uprising with a Letter to Tibetan Compatriots (), which set the ROC's policy of aiding Tibetan rebels against the PRC. ROC continued to operate MTAC, which undertook propaganda work among the Tibetan diaspora in India. In the following years, 400 Tibetans were recruited to work and study in Taiwan.The last of the Tibetans By Ian Buruma

The ROC's attitude on Tibet started to shift after the former's democratization in mid-1990s. In 2007, ROC President Chen Shui-bian spoke at the International Symposium on Human Rights in Tibet and stated that his offices no longer treated exiled Tibetans as Chinese mainlanders.'President Chen Shui-bian's Remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the 2007 International Symposium on Human Rights in Tibet' Sep 8, 2007 In 2017, the Tsai Ing-wen administration announced that MTAC would be dissolved and its remaining functions transferred to the Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs of the Mainland Affairs Council as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, despite the shift in attitude, the current day ROC government continues to regulate its affairs with Tibet as part of Mainland China under the Cross-Strait Act, on the basis it is part of "areas under control of the Chinese Communists."

Administrative divisions

1956–1959 Administrative divisions setup by the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region

Division ()TibetanSimplified ChineseHanyu PinyinCounty ()Lhasa Division OfficeLāsà Bànshìchù9 countiesXigazê Division OfficeRìkāzé Bànshìchù12 countiesNagqu Division OfficeHēihé Bànshìchù4 countiesNgari Division OfficeĀlǐ Bànshìchù8 countiesLhoka Division OfficeShānnán Bànshìchù10 countiesDakong Division OfficeTǎgōng Bànshìchù6 countiesGyangzê Division OfficeJiāngzī Bànshìchù6 countiesQamdo Division OfficeChāngdū Bànshìchù18 counties

Tibet Area (administrative division)

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