Enter the Dragon: Chinese Invasion
of Tibet continues....

The ‘liberation’ of Tibet began by the end of 1949, with the PLA entering certain areas of Eastern Tibet, mainly in Amdo Province, but the full invasion of Tibet was yet to happen.

The Chinese were quite aware that the occupation of Kham was likely to be contested. At the same time, India was debating what to do about this situation.

But though a political decision not to militarily intervene in Tibet was more or less taken, it was not ruled out till 1950, when Gen. Cariappa stated that it was militarily not feasible. B.N. Mullik, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, was discouraged and disappointed, as he had favoured military intervention in Tibet to save it from China.

In January 1950, soon after the Communist state was established in China, Peking declared its intention to ‘liberate’ Kham, by means of a written ultimatum to Topgay Pangdatshang, the Khampa leader. It also announced its intention to ‘liberate’ the rest of Tibet, and after that Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan.

This was not surprising, even though it was alarming, since it warned the Tibetans of Kham to cooperate or be annihilated. It was not surprising because Mao Zedong himself, in his 1939 book, The Chinese Revolution and the Chinese Communist Party had listed Burma,
Nepal and Bhutan, and other areas elsewhere, as Chinese territory.

To be continued...