Dalai Lama is a title given by Altan Khan,the first Shunyi King of Ming China,in A.D. 1578 at Yanghua Monastery to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism,the newest and most dominant of its four major schools. The 14th and incumbent Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso,who lives in exile as a refugee in India. Dalai Lamas are tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara,the bodhisattva of compassion.
The Central Tibetan Administration is the Tibetan government in exile,based in Dharamshala,India. It is composed of a judiciary branch,a legislative branch,and an executive branch,and offers support and services to the Tibetan exile community.
The Tibetan independence movement is the political movement advocating for the reversal of the 1950 annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China,and the separation and independence of Greater Tibet from China.
The Seventeen-Point Agreement,officially the Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet,was an agreement between Tibet and the People's Republic of China. It was signed by plenipotentiaries of the Central People's Government and the Tibetan Government on 23 May 1951,in Zhongnanhai,Beijing. The 14th Dalai Lama ratified the agreement in the form of a telegraph on 24 October 1951. The Agreement was legally repudiated by Tibet less than eight years later on 11 March 1959.
The history of Tibet from 1950 to the present includes the Chinese annexation of Tibet,during which Tibetan representatives signed the controversial Seventeen Point Agreement following the Battle of Chamdo and establishing an autonomous administration led by the 14th Dalai Lama under Chinese sovereignty. Subsequent socialist reforms and other unpopular policies of the Chinese Communist Party led to armed uprisings,eventually assisted by the CIA,and their violent suppression. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising,the 14th Dalai Lama escaped to northern India for fear of being captured by Chinese forces. He formed the Central Tibetan Administration and rescinded the Seventeen Point Agreement. In 1965,the majority of Tibet's land mass,including all of U-Tsang and parts of Kham and Amdo,was established as the Tibet Autonomous Region. Tibetans suffered along with the rest of China during the Great Chinese Famine and the Cultural Revolution under episodes of starvation,religious repression,destruction of cultural sites,forced labour,and political persecution. US-China rapprochement in the 1970s saw an end to Washington's support for Tibetan guerillas. Amid broader reforms across the country,China adopted policies to improve conditions in Tibet. Since the 2000s,it has invested heavily in the region but generated controversies due to the sinicization of Tibet. Human rights abuses remain a concern especially where it comes to freedom of religion and political prisoners.
Chhime Rigzing,also Chhime Rigzin Chhoekyapa,is a Tibetan government official and senior spokesman for Tenzin Gyatso,the 14th Dalai Lama. He functions as a private secretary and is part of the Central Tibetan Administration in exile in Dharamsala in India.
The 1959 Tibetan uprising began on 10 March 1959,when a revolt erupted in Lhasa,the capital of Tibet,which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since the Seventeen Point Agreement was reached in 1951. The initial uprising occurred amid general Chinese-Tibetan tensions and a context of confusion,because Tibetan protesters feared that the Chinese government might arrest the 14th Dalai Lama. The protests were also fueled by anti-Chinese sentiment and separatism. At first,the uprising mostly consisted of peaceful protests,but clashes quickly erupted and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) eventually used force to quell the protests. Some of the protesters had captured arms. The last stages of the uprising included heavy fighting,with high civilian and military losses. The 14th Dalai Lama escaped from Lhasa,while the city was fully retaken by Chinese security forces on 23 March 1959. Thousands of Tibetans were killed during the 1959 uprising,but the exact number of deaths is disputed.
Tempa Tsering.
The Tibetan Parliament in Exile (TPiE),officially the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration,is the unicameral and highest legislative organ of the Central Tibetan Administration,the government-in-exile of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It was established and is based in Dharamshala,India. The creation of this democratically elected body has been one of the major changes that the 14th Dalai Lama brought about in his efforts to introduce a democratic system of administration.
The 14th Dalai Lama,Tenzin Gyatso,full spiritual name:Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso,also known as Tenzin Gyatso;né Lhamo Thondup;was born on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Wood-Pig Year of the Tibetan lunar calendar,July 6,1935 in the Gregorian calendar. The incumbent Dalai Lama is the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. Before 1959,he served as both the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet,and subsequently established and led the Tibetan government in exile represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala,India. The adherents of Tibetan Buddhism consider the Dalai Lama a living Bodhisattva,specifically an emanation of Avalokiteśvara or Chenrezig,the Bodhisattva of Compassion,a belief central to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the institution of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama,whose name means Ocean of Wisdom,is known to Tibetans as Gyalwa Rinpoche,The Precious Jewel-like Buddha-Master,Kundun,The Presence,and Yizhin Norbu,The Wish-Fulfilling Gem. His devotees,as well as much of the Western world,often call him His Holiness the Dalai Lama,the style employed on his website. He is also the leader and a monk of the Gelug school,the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism,formally headed by the Ganden Tripa.
The Tibet Institute Rikon is a Tibetan monastery located in Zell-Rikon im Tösstal in the Töss Valley in Switzerland. It was established as a non-profit foundation in 1968,because Swiss laws resulting from the 19th century secularization movement did not allow for the establishment of new monasteries until 1973.
The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside Tibet.
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.
Tethong Tenzin Namgyal is a Tibetan politician and a former Prime Minister of Central Tibetan Administration.
The Tibet Bureau in Geneva is the official representation of the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile for Central and Eastern Europe. It was established with approval of the Swiss Federal Government in 1964.
The Tibet Bureau in Paris,one of the offices of the official representation of the 14th Dalai Lama and of the Tibetan government in exile,is in charge of France,the Iberian Peninsula,the Maghreb and the Benelux countries. Founded in September 1992 it acts as an Embassy.
Lobsang Nyandak,sometimes written Lobsang Nyendak also called Lobsang Nyandak Zayul is a Tibetan diplomat and politician. born in 1965 in Kalimpong,India where he performed his studies in Herbertpur and at Panjab University in Chandigarh. There,he held functions at Tibetan Youth Congress before becoming the founding Executive Director of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. Member of the National Democratic Party of Tibet,he was elected deputy and was selected as a minister by Samdhong Rinpoche,the first elected Kalon Tripa of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA). He then was the Representative of the 14th Dalai Lama to the Americas and became president of The Tibet Fund.
Tibet–India relations are said to have begun during the spread of Buddhism to Tibet from India during the 6th century AD. In 1959,the Dalai Lama fled to India after the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising. Since then,Tibetans-in-exile have been given asylum in India,with the Indian government accommodating them into 45 residential settlements across 10 states in the country,creating the Tibetan diaspora. From around 150,000 Tibetan refugees in 2011,the number fell to 85,000 in 2018,according to government data. Many Tibetans are now leaving India to go back to Tibet and other countries such as United States or Germany. The Government of India,soon after India's independence in 1947,treated Tibet as a de facto independent country. However,more recently India's policy on Tibet has been mindful of Chinese sensibilities,and has recognized Tibet as a part of China.
The Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People provides a framework for the governance of Tibet within the People's Republic of China (PRC). In 2008 a group led by the Dalai Lama presented the memorandum to China. Beijing invited Dalai Lama's delegation to talk about his middle path,which promoted autonomy rather than full independence. Beijing rejected the proposal vehemently,claiming that it was as good as giving independence to Tibet. Following the presentation of the Memorandum,talks between China and Dalai Lama's envoys that had started in 2002 broke down. The last communication was in January 2010.
