With the victory over the Communists, the Chinese government was in control over most of the territory it claimed. China had come a long way in the last 40 years. But there was still a lot of land that the Republic of China claimed without actually controlling. The Republic of China was the successor state to the Qing Dynasty, and thus sought to recreate the Qing Dynasty’s borders. There were some exceptions, as China relinquished its claims to Mongolia and parts of the Soviet Union (it continued to claim other Soviet territory) during the 1940s. In order to take back some of this territory, China would need to go to war with the Soviet Union or India, neither of which was appealing to very many Chinese. There was one large part of the former Qing Empire that wasn’t protected by a large army and/or nuclear weapons, however.
After the fall of the Qing Dynasty the 13th Dalai Lama declared Tibet an independent country. China didn’t recognize Tibet as independent, but was unable to do anything about it at that time. Over the next four decades, internal conflict and invasion by Japan meant that China had more pressing concerns. The 13th Dalai Lama died in 1935 and was succeeded by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, in 1940. The country was ruled as a feudal theocracy. Its independence was recognized by countries such as Britain, India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Some Tibetans were unhappy with the status quo. A group of Tibetans who were pro-Chinese and wanted to modernize their country joined the Tibet Improvement Party. Many of the people involved in the party were forced to flee the country. When reformist Buddhist monk Gendün Chöphel, a member of the Tibet Improvement Party, returned to Tibet he was arrested and remained in jail until he died in 1951. Meanwhile, the founder of the Tibet Improvement Party, Pandatsang Rapga, was living in exile in Shanghai.
In 1954, soldiers were gathered in Central China for an invasion of Tibet. They were led by Ma Bufang. The Dalai Lama, who was now old enough to rule on his own, was informed that he must accept Chinese rule over Tibet. He would be allowed to keep some of his power, with Tibet becoming an autonomous region within China. He refused. And thus, the invasion began. The Tibetans were vastly outnumbered and had inferior weapons, and the invasion lasted only a few months. In total, over 8,000 people died during the invasion of Tibet. As Chinese troops closed in on Lhasa, the Dalai Lama agreed to negotiate. He soon found that the terms given to him were a lot less generous than they were in the original offer. The Dalai Lama would be allowed to stay in Potala Palace and live a life of luxury, but he would no longer be Tibet’s political leader. He reluctantly agreed to the deal, knowing that he would still be an influential figure due to being the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.
The Chinese invasion of Tibet was condemned by Britain, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Mongolia. Nepal withdrew its application to join the Organization for East Asian Cooperation. Chiang Kai-shek did not care. He thought that Britain’s condemnation of the annexation of Tibet was laughable, considering all the countries Britain had invaded and occupied across the globe. Nevertheless, this was the beginning of the rift between China and India. Ma Bufang, under orders from Chiang Kai-shek, installed Thubten Kunphela, a pro-Chinese Tibetan politician, as the governor of Tibet. A government was quickly formed that was made up almost entirely of ethnic Tibetans. The first action of the new Tibetan government was to officially declare Tibet to be an autonomous region within China. In addition, Buddhism lost its place as the state religion and the government embarked on a campaign to end serfdom.