Tibet,or Greater Tibet,is a region in the central part of East Asia,covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi). It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as the Monpa,Tamang,Qiang,Sherpa and Lhoba peoples and,since the 20th century,considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui settlers. Since the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1951,the entire plateau has been under the administration of the People's Republic of China. Tibet is divided administratively into the Tibet Autonomous Region,and parts of the Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. Tibet is also constitutionally claimed by the Republic of China as the Tibet Area since 1912. Tibet is the highest region on Earth,with an average elevation of 4,380 m (14,000 ft). Located in the Himalayas,the highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest,Earth's highest mountain,rising 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft) above sea level.
The Tibet Autonomous Region,officially the Xizang Autonomous Region,often shortened to Tibet or Xizang,is an autonomous region of China,considered part of Southwestern China. It comprises the traditional Tibetan regions of Ü-Tsang and Kham.
Chinese autonomous administrative divisions are associated with one or more ethnic minorities that are designated as autonomous within the People's Republic of China. These areas are recognized in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and are nominally given a number of rights not accorded to other administrative divisions of China. For example,Tibetan minorities in autonomous regions are granted rights and support not given to the Han Chinese,such as fiscal and medical subsidies.
The autonomous regions are one of four types of province-level divisions of China. Like Chinese provinces,an autonomous region has its own local government,but under Chinese law,an autonomous region has more legislative rights,such as the right to "formulate self-government regulations and other separate regulations." An autonomous region is the highest level of minority autonomous entity in China,which has a comparably higher population of a particular minority ethnic group.
The Tibetan sovereignty debate refers to two political debates. The first political debate is about whether or not the various territories which are within the People's Republic of China (PRC) that are claimed as political Tibet should separate themselves from China and become a new sovereign state. Many of the points in this political debate rest on the points which are within the second historical debate,about whether Tibet was independent or subordinate to China during certain periods of its recent history.
The history of Tibet from 1950 to the present includes the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950,and the Battle of Chamdo. Before then,Tibet had been a de facto independent nation. In 1951,Tibetan representatives in Beijing signed the Seventeen Point Agreement under duress,which affirmed China's sovereignty over Tibet while it simultaneously supported the establishment of an autonomous administration which would be led by Tibet's spiritual leader,and then-political leader,the 14th Dalai Lama. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising,when Tibetans attempted to prevent his possible assassination,the Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet and moved to northern India,where he established the Central Tibetan Administration,which rescinded the Seventeen Point Agreement. The majority of Tibet's land mass,including all of U-Tsang and areas of Kham and Amdo,was officially established as the Tibet Autonomous Region,within China,in 1965.
Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme was a Tibetan senior official who assumed various military and political responsibilities both before and after 1951 in Tibet. He is often known simply as Ngapo in English sources.
Tibetan Uprising Day,observed on March 10,commemorates the 1959 Tibetan uprising which began on March 10,1959,and the Women's Uprising Day of March 12,1959,involving thousands of women,against the presence of the People's Republic of China in Tibet.
The serfdom in Tibet controversy is a prolonged public disagreement over the extent and nature of serfdom in Tibet prior to the annexation of Tibet into the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1951. The debate is political in nature,with some arguing that the ultimate goal on the Chinese side is to legitimize Chinese control of the territory now known as the Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region,and others arguing that the ultimate goal on the Western side is to weaken or undermine the Chinese state. The argument is that Tibetan culture,government,and society were feudal in nature prior to the PRC takeover of Tibet and that this only changed due to PRC policy in the region. The pro-Tibetan independence movement argument is that this is a misrepresentation of history created as a political tool in order to justify the Sinicization of Tibet.
The sinicization of Tibet includes the programs and laws of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to force cultural assimilation in Tibetan areas of China,including the Tibet Autonomous Region and the surrounding Tibetan-designated autonomous areas. The efforts are undertaken by China in order to remake Tibetan culture into mainstream Chinese culture.
Padma Choling is a Chinese retired politician of Tibetan ethnicity. He was the eighth chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR),but in January 2013,was replaced by his deputy Losang Jamcan. Later he served as the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress. As Chairman of TAR,Choling was the "most senior ethnic Tibetan in the regional government",though he was subordinate to the TAR Communist Party Chief Zhang Qingli,and later his successor Chen Quanguo.
Protests and uprisings in Tibet against the government of the People's Republic of China have occurred since 1950,and include the 1959 uprising,the 2008 uprising,and the subsequent self-immolation protests.
The Tibet Area is a province-level administrative division of China since 1950. It was created after the invasion of Tibet by the Republic of China (1912–1949),and nominally includes the Ü-Tsang and Ngari areas,but not the Amdo and Kham areas. 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. The ROC was defeated during the Chinese Civil War;it 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.
Tibet Justice Center,is an American legal association founded in 1989 that advocates human rights and self-determination for the Tibetan people.
Wu Yingjie is a Chinese politician based in Tibet who formerly served as Communist Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region,the top official in Tibet. Originally from Shandong province,Wu grew up in Tibet and worked for his entire career in the region. He became Deputy Party Secretary of Tibet in 2011 and served in the post for nearly five years before being elevated to party chief.
Secession in China refers to several secessionist movements in the People's Republic of China. Many current separatist movements in China arise from the country's ethnic issues. Some of the factors that have created these ethnic issues include history,nationalism,economic and political disparity,religion,and other factors. China has historically had tensions between the majority Han and other minority ethnic groups,particularly in rural and border regions. Historically,other ruling ethnicities,such as the Manchu of the early-Qing dynasty,experienced ethnic issues as well.
The Tibetan Policy and Support Act is a federal law that outlines United States policy on Tibet.
Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Government is the provincial administrative agency of Tibet,People 's Republic of China. The provincial government consists of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Congress,the TAR People's Congress Standing Committee,and has a mandate to frame local laws and regulations,such as the use of the Tibetan language in the region. Additionally,rules for adapting national laws to the province are also the responsibility of the People's Government.
Yangling Dorje is a Chinese politician of Tibetan ethnicity who served as chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1983 to 1986 and vice chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1986 to 1998.
