Serfdom in Tibet Controversy - Tibet: Region or Regions?

Tibet: Region or Regions?

The term "Serfdom in Tibet" can be misleading since Tibet cannot simply be defined as one political entity or social system; its political and socio-economic structures having varied greatly over time and between sub-districts. Although the central leadership in Lhasa had authority for various periods this did not imply the kind of political control of modern Western states. According to Luciano Petech, in the 18th Century CE "K'ams was practically independent of Lhasa under its great lamas". In the 1940s the Kuomintang Muslim warlord Ma Bufang ruled Qinghai province. Even the Definitions of Tibet has been contested with a map of competing claims identifying six distinct types of Tibetan region claimed by various entities. Generally, the government of the PRC limits Tibet to the area it has designated the Tibet Autonomous Region, consisting of the provinces of U and Tsang; whereas the Tibetan government in exile claims that other ethnically Tibetan areas to the east also belong to Tibet. Scholarship frequently represents a limited survey, restricted to the central region of Tibet and may not accurately represent the whole of cultural Tibet or all Tibetan speaking peoples.

Discussing the social structure of Tibet inevitably leads to difficulties with defining terms. Not only may serf and feudalism be Western terms inappropriate for Asian use but the geography and peoples of Tibet vary according to interpreter. The lack of agreement of the various sides as to terminology highlights that the 'Serfdom in Tibet' controversy is a politicised debate, with the term 'feudal serfdom' largely being used by the People's Republic of China as a justification for their taking control in Tibet. According to the PRC:

...there was a historically imperative need for the progress of Tibetan society and the welfare of the Tibetan people to expel the imperialists and shake off the yoke of feudal serfdom. The founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 brought hope for the deeply distressed Tibetan people. In conforming to the law of historical development and the interests of the Tibetan people, the Central People's Government worked actively to bring about Tibet's peaceful liberation. After that, important policies and measures were adopted for Tibet's Democratic Reform, regional autonomy, large-scale modernization and reform and opening-up.

However, the Tibetan government in exile responds:

...the Chinese justifications make no sense. First of all, international law does not accept justifications of this type. No country is allowed to invade, occupy, annex and colonize another country just because its social structure does not please it. Secondly, the PRC is responsible for bringing more suffering in the name of liberation. Thirdly, necessary reforms were initiated and Tibetans are quite capable of doing so.