Foreign Relations of Tibet - Period of De Facto Independence, 1912 To 1950

Period of De Facto Independence, 1912 To 1950

In 1912, Chinese troops having withdrawn from Tibet, the Republic of China proclaimed Tibet a part of China but did not attempt to re-occupy it. In 1913, Tibet and Mongolia signed a treaty proclaiming their independence from China, and their mutual recognition. In 1914 a treaty was negotiated in India, the Simla Convention, representatives of China, Tibet and Britain participated. Again, Chinese suzerainty over Tibet was recognized and a boundary negotiated between British India and Tibet which was very generous to Britain. The treaty was never signed by the Chinese and thus never came into force. The Chinese raised a number of objections, especially their refusal to recognize any treaty between Tibet and Britain. The subsequent outbreak of the world wars and civil war in China caused distractions for the major powers and China, and the Tibetan government continued to exercise effective control over much of the historic lands of Tibet until 1950 despite endemic war with China on its eastern frontier during much of that period.