A Tibetan scholar has refuted the allegation of the popular book "Tibet: A Political History" on the "independent status" of the autonomous region since ancient times, the flagship People's Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Basang Wangdu, International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) council member, said China's central government had exercised effective jurisdiction over Tibet since the 13th century, discrediting the de facto "Tibet independence" argument written by Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, a visiting Yale University scholar and former Tibetan regional government official.
Basang Wangdu, who also heads the ethnic studies institute of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Academy of Social Sciences, said the "Tibet independence" advocacy of the Dalai clique was largely based on the book that twisted and fabricated history, the newspaper said.
In the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), Basang Wangdu said the central government mandated three regional leaders who administered Tibetan-populated areas in West China. In 1288, the Yuan regime formalized a ministry-level organ to administer the whole Tibetan region.
Meanwhile, the Yuan central government registered Tibetan households, set up 27 post houses, and took the responsibility of nominating regional officials, Basang Wangdu said in the newspaper.
The following Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) continued the jurisdiction over Tibet, featuring the acknowledged submission of the Tibetan regional regime to the central government, the central government's deployment of regional administrative and military organs, and the imperial conferring of the highest religious titles to monk leaders.
After the Qing Imperial Court took control over China, an outstanding religious leader of the Gelug Sect (the Yellow Sect), Ngawang Lozang Gyatso, paid an official visit to the Qing capital, Beijing, and was conferred the Dalai Lama by the Qing emperor, the newspaper said.
Since then, it has been ritualized that the Dalai Lama should be conferred by the central government.
In addition, the Qing Imperial Court restructured the administrative arrangement of the Tibetan regional government and regulated the procedure to decide the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama reincarnate, the newspaper said.
After it was founded in 1911, the Republic of China government reaffirmed the central government's authority over Tibet. Tibet elected 20 delegates to the national congress in 1913.
In 1927, the central government set up a special commission to oversee Tibetan affairs, which was followed by the Dalai Lama initiative to kick off his representative office in 1931 in Nanjing, then capital of the republic. The central government, as in the tradition, rectified the reincarnation of both the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, sent representatives to preside over the most sacred installation ceremonies of the new Dalai and Panchen.
Basang Wangdu said the establishment of the People's Republic of China was welcomed by both religious and secular people in Tibet. On October 29, 1951, the People's Liberation Army arrived in Lhasa. The central government announced the organization of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Government in 1965.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2008)