The Snow Lion and the Dragon:
Tibet-China Relations continues.....

Also a factor in Sino-Tibetan relations since medieval times has been Tibet’s special religious relationship with the rulers of Buddhist Mongolia, who have seen themselves as ‘protectors’ of Tibet. When the Mongols were strong, Tibet had no Chinese interference. China was conquered by Chinggis Khan’s greatest general Subedei (Sabutai) and Chinggis’ two youngest sons, Ogedei and Tolui The conquest was taken to conclusion by Tolui’s son Kublai, who founded the Mongol dynasty when he became the Khan of the eastern part of the Mongol empire, which by 1260 CE included Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea,

Tibet and all of northern and central China. By about 1300 CE it included all of China, the Mongols having conquered the southern Chinese empire of the Song. When the Mongols themselves ruled China, Tibet was independent, or almost so, as we shall see.

When the Han Chinese say that Tibet has always been part of China, or that it was incorporated into China during the Yuan (i.e., Mongol) dynasty, they are perverting history for the sake of political expediency and for misinforming their people in the interest of fostering a spirit of nationalism. They do this by claiming that Chinggis Khan and Kublai were Chinese. And so, therefore, is Tibet. QED .

The Mongolian people and government on the other hand have always held that it was they who conquered both China and Tibet, under separate arrangements for each, and even today their history books reflect this reality. The Tibetans too, of course, have always said that they were never ‘a part of China’, so two out of the three peoples involved have an entirely different version of the same history from that of the Chinese.

To be continued......