Government of Tibet's Attempts To Remain Independent
In July 1949, in order to prevent Chinese agitation in political Tibet, the Tibetan government expelled the (Nationalist) Chinese delegation. In November 1949, it sent a letter to the US State Department and a copy to Mao Zedong, and a separate letter to Great Britain, declaring its intent to defend itself “by all possible means” against PRC troop incursions into Tibet.
In the preceding three decades, the conservative Tibetan government had consciously deemphasized its military and refrained from modernizing. Hasty attempts at modernizing and enlarging the military began in 1949, but proved mostly unsuccessful on both counts, It was too late to raise and train an effective army. India did provide some small arms aid and military training, however the PLA remained much larger, better trained, better led, better equipped, and more experienced than the Tibetan army.
In 1950, the 14th Dalai Lama was 15 years old and had not attained his majority, so Regent Taktra was the acting head of the Tibetan Government. The period of the Dalai Lama’s minority is traditionally one of instability and division, and the division and instability were made more intense by the recent Reting conspiracy and a 1947 regency dispute.
Read more about this topic: Incorporation Of Tibet Into The People's Republic Of China
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