ENTERING THE COLD WAR AND OTHER “WARS”: THE TIBETAN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

The Tibetan question of the Twentieth Century can be examined in more than one frame of time. As of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Tibet had assumed significance in three temporalities. First, it was one of the major territorial issues China encountered in the process of territoriality transformation since the mid-Nineteenth Century. Then, after 1911, it posed a serious interethnic and intercultural challenge to the Chinese Revolution. Lastly, in the wake of World War II, it became a locale of international intrigues of the Cold War. In focusing on the evolvement of the Chinese Communist Party’s policy toward Tibet around 1949, the article problematizes previous interpretations of the Chinese Communist advance into Tibet in 1950 that remain under spells cast by the opposing political forces of the time.

Keywords:

• Tibet
• transformation of territoriality
• Chinese Revolution
• Cold War

Notes

1 Odd Arne Westad, The Global Cold War: Third World Intervention and the Making of Our Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 3-4.

2 The summer of 2006 issue of Journal of Cold War Studies (vol. 8, no. 3) is devoted to considering the positions of Tibet and South Asia in the Cold War. The articles by Chen Jian, Michael Sheng, and Zhai Qiang are especially useful in illustrating the Tibetan policy of the Chinese Communist Party. This paper uses information missed by or unavailable to these articles and problematizes the relationship between Tibet and the Cold War.

3 American embassy in New Delhi to the Secretary of State, December 3, 1946, 711.93Tibet/12-346, Central Files of the State Department, The National Archives II of the United States, College Park, Maryland (hereafter CFSD); American embassy in Nanjing to the Secretary of State, January 1, 1947, 711.93Tibet/1-147, 1, 46-49, CFSD; CIA report SR-8, Appendix J, “Tibet,” December 12, 1948, Harry S. Truman Papers: Secretary Files, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, Independence, Missouri; American embassy in Moscow to the Secretary of State, June 4, 1949, 893.00Tibet/6-449, CFSD; American embassy in Nanjing to the Secretary of State, July 8, 1949, 711.93Tibet/7-849, CFSD; State Department to the American embassy in New Delhi, December 9, 1949, 893.00Tibet/12-949, CFSD.

4 Acheson to the American embassy in New Delhi, January 12, 1950, 793B.02/1-1250, CFSD; conversation between Clubb and Graves, July 24, 1950, Record of Office of Chinese Affairs (hereafter ROCA); Acheson to the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, January 18, 1951, ROCA; Acheson to American embassy in New Delhi, June 2, 1951, 793B.00/5-2951, CFSD; memo by Strong, “Documents on Policies toward Tibet,” January 31, 1951, ROCA.

5 Note by Jawaharlal Nehru, “Stand on China,” June 15, 1949, Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 11: 389.

6 “Record of Talk with President Truman,” October 13, 1949, Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, 13: 299.

7 Henderson to Secretary of State, November 3, 1950, 793B.00/11-350; memo on the conversation between McGhee and Nehru, March 8, 1951, McGhee Papers.

8 Nehru’s cable to Harishwar Dayal, Political Officer in Sikkim, July 26, 1949, Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, 12: 411.

9 E.E. Beatty, “Tibet: A Notable Observation,” China’s Millions, December 1950, 125-6.

10 Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Administration, “Summary of the Process of the Communist Bandits’ Invasion of Tibet,” September 20, 1951, Files of the Asian-Pacific Department, Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taipei.

11 Wang Shijie to Chiang Kai-shek, November 18, 1950, volume 15 of Specially Submitted Files: Diplomacy: Diplomacy at the United Nations, Archives of President Jiang Zhongzheng (Chiang Kai-shek) (hereafter APJZ).

12 Wu Zhongxin to the Executive Yuan, August 4, 1939, Shisan Shi Dalai Lama Yuanji Zhiji he Shisi Shi Dalai Lama Zuochuang Dang’an (Selected archives on the condolence mission about the death of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and the reincarnation and enthronement of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama), the Chinese Center of Tibetan Studies and the Second Historical Archives of China, comp. (Beijing: Zhongguo zangxue chubanshe, 1990), 233-8; Wu Zhongxin to Chiang Kai-shek, August 1939, volume 63 of Specially Submitted Files: Political: General Frontier Administration, APJZ.

13 Shi Qingyang to Chiang Kai-shek, “Plan for settling the unsettled Tibetan case,” 1933, volume 58 of Specially Submitted Files: Political: Tibetan Question, APJZ; Huang Musong to the Executive Yuan, October 8, 1934, Shisan Shi Dalai Lama Yuanji Zhiji he Shisi Shi Dalai Lama Zuochuang Dang’an, 81.

14 “Chairman of the Committee’s [Chiang Kai-shek] four-point directive on the questions of nation and frontier,” August 27, 1943, Executive Yuan Archives.

15 Information about the Tibetan-British collusion submitted by the Department of Europe to the Tibetan affairs conference, November, 1944, Waijiaobu Dang’an Congshu: Jiewu Lei; Di Wu Ce: Xizang Juan1 (Archival series of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: border administrations; book five: Tibet, volume 1), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comp. (Taipei: Waijiaobu, 2005), 320-22.

16 Information about the Tibetan-British collusion submitted by the Department of Europe to the Tibetan affairs conference, November, 1944, Waijiaobu Dang’an Congshu: Jiewu Lei; Di Wu Ce: Xizang Juan 1, 320-22; Shen Zonglian to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, October 24, 1946, ibid., 79-81.

17 Chiang Kai-shek to Xu Yongchang, October 19, 1942, Hand-Written Files 15353, APJZ.

18 Chiang Kai-shek to Li Zongren, July 30 1949, volume 39 of “Revolutionary Documents”: Political: Frontier Administration, APJZ.

19 I have discussed the trajectory of the CCP’s ethnopolitical stance from 1921 to 1945 in Frontier Passages: Ethnopolitics and the Rise of Chinese Communism, 1921-1945 (Washington, D.C. and Stanford: Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Stanford University Press, 2004).

20 “The CCP Central Committee’s letter to comrades for the implementation of the northward orientation,” September 10, 1935, Zhongguo Gongnong Hongjun Di Si Fangfianjun Zhanshi Ziliao Xuanbian: Changzheng Shiqi (Selected materials on the combat history of the fourth front army of the Chinese workers’ and peasants’ red army: the long march period), Compiling Committee on the Combat History of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, comp. (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 1992), 146.

21 “Mao Zedong’s statement to the troops in the fronts and the compatriots of the entire country, December 31, 1949,” Zhongguo Renmin Jiefangjun Di Er Yezhanjun Zhanshi; Di Er Juan: Jiefang Zhanzheng Shiqi (Combat history of the second field army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army; volume 2: the period of the war of liberation), Compiling Committee on the Combat History of the Second Field Army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, comp. (Beijing: Jiefangjun chubanshe, 1990) 321.

22 Mikoyan’s memo on his conversation with Mao Zedong about urgent policy issues, February 6, 1949, SD16476, Soviet Archives, Center of Modern Chinese Historical Research, Beijing.

23 Mao Zedong’s message to Stalin, June 14, 1949, SD16525; Liu Shaoqi, “Report to the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party and Stalin on behalf of the CCP Central Committee, July 4, 1949,” Liu Shaoqi, Jianguo Yilai Liu Shaoqi Wengao (Liu Shaoqi’s manuscripts since the foundation of the state) (Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 1998), 1: 1-2; Mao Zedong’s cable to Stalin, July 25, 1949, SD00601; Zhou Enlai, “Outline for the speech at the national working conference of the trade unions, July 1949,” Jianguo Yilai Zhou Enlai Wengao (Zhou Enlai’s manuscripts since the foundation of the state) (Beijing: Zhongyang Wenxian Chubanshe, 2008) 1:155. An often cited source on Mao Zedong’s talks with Mikoyan, Shi Zhe’s Zai Lishi Juren Shenbian: Shi Zhe Huiyilu (At the side of historical giants: Shi Zhe’s memoires) (Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 1991), 374-385, has been used by some studies to show that Mao saw Tibet as part of the “war of liberation.” Now that the Soviet records of these conversations are available, the accuracy of Shi Zhe’s recollections can be checked. The impression that in February 1949 Mao treated Tibet as part of the “war of liberation” is proved misleading.

24 Mao Zedong’s cable to Stalin, July 25, 1949, SD00601.

25 “Foreign aggressors must not be allowed to annex the Chinese territory—Tibet, September 2, 1949,” Mizu Wenti Wenxian Huibian, 1927-1949 (Documents on the nationality question, 1927-1949), United Front Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, comp. (Beijing: Zhonggong zhongyang dangxiao chubanshe, 1991), 1262-4.

26 Hu Qiaomu, Hu Qiaomu Huiyi Mao Zedong (Mao Zedong as remembered by Hu Qiaomu) (Beijing: Renmin Chubanshe, 1994) 464, 471-3.

27 “Division of labor in the secretariat of the CCP Central Committee, 1949,” in Jianguo Yilai Zhou Enlai Wengao, 1: 740-1, indicates that among other things, Liu Shaoqi was assigned the responsibility for the party’s propaganda department and the editorial office of the Xinhua agency. Zhou Enlai was then in charge of foreign affairs and the party’s work of united front, and, therefore, it is likely that he may also have reviewed the editorial before its publication.

28 Zhou Enlai, “A few issues in respect to the People’s Political Consultative Conference, September 7, 1949,” Zhouguo Gongchandang Xizang Lishi Dashiji, 1949-2004 (Chronicle of important events of the Chinese Communist Party in Tibet, 1949-2009), Office of Party History Research of the Chinese Communist Party Committee of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, comp. (Beijing: Zhonggong dangshi chubanshe, 2005), 1: 3.

29 Mao Zedong, “The Chinese people stood up! September 21, 1949,” Jianguo Yilai Mao Zedong Wengao (Mao Zedong’s manuscripts since the foundation of the state) (Beijing: Zhongyang wenxian chubanshe, 1987), 1:4.

30 The CCP could at least learn from a report by the Kuomintang’s Zhongyang Ribao (Central daily news), dated August 14, 1949, that the senior and junior Thomas were about to enter Tibet.

31 Zhang Xianmikng, Zhang Xianming 55 nian Xizang Gongzuo Shilu (Records of Zhang Xiangming’s 55-year work in Tibet) (unpublished internal materials, 2006), 21-22. Chen Xizhang, acting chief of the KMT office in Lhasa when the expulsion took place, reached Beijing in August 1950 via Hong Kong. He of course could be the most authoritative source to brief the CCP leadership about the situation of Tibet in 1949, but he was one year too late.

32 Stalin’s cable to Mao Zedong via Kovalev, June 18, 1949, SD16527; summary of Stalin’s conversation with the CCP delegation, June 27, 1949, SD00598.

33 Studies that have access to the Tibetan sources disagree about who was the originator of the expulsion idea. Tsering Shakya’s The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet since 1947 (London: Pimlico, 1999), 9, cites some former Tibetan officials in identifying Hugh Richardson, a British national in charge of Indian mission in Lhasa, as the one who suggested the idea to the Tibetan authorities. Melvyn Goldstein’s A History of Modern Tibet, 1913-1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), 613, cites a different Tibetan informant in identifying Ngapo Ngawang Jime, who was then a chief assistant to the top office of the Tibetan government, the Kashag, as the original author of the idea. In the years to come Ngapo would play a key role in the Tibetan-Beijing collaboration. The most recent edition of Zhongguo Gongchandang Xizang Lishi Dashiji, 1949-2004 (2005 edition), 1: 2, is emphatic that the 1949 incident was “planned single-handedly” by a “British national Richardson.”

34 Heping Jiafang Xizang (Peaceful liberation of Tibet), Committees on Collection of Materials on Party History of the Tibetan Autonomous Region and Tibetan Military District, comp. (Lhasa: Xizang remin chubanshe, 1995) 209-212.

35 Tibetan bureau of foreign affairs to Mao Zedong, November 2, 1949, Heping Jiefang Xizang, 241.

36 Kovalev’s report to Stalin on his conversation with Mao Zedong, May 17, 1949, SD16516.

37 Stalin’s cable to Mao Zedong via Kovalev, May 26, 1949, SD16522.

38 Mao Zedong to Wang Zhen, October 10, 1949, Zhongguo Gongchandang Xizang Lishi Dashiji, 1: 4.

39 Roshchin’s memo on his conversation with Zhou Enlai, November 15, 1949, SD09845; Roshchin’s memo on his conversation with Zhou Enlai, December 5, 1949, SD16567.

40 Jianguo Yilai Zhou Enlai Wengao, 1: 506-7, 557.

41 Mao Zedong’s letter to the CCP Central Committee and the Southwestern Bureau, December 9, 1949, Zhongguo Gongchandang Xizang Lishi Dashiji, 1: 5, gives the most authoritative version about the facts around the letter. Jiangbian Jiacuo, Li Jue Zhuan (Biography of Li Jue) (Beijing: Zhongguo zangxue chubanshe, 2005) 49-50, indicates that Li Jue, then head of the operational department of the Second Field Army under Liu Bochen and Deng Xiaoping, personally saw the letter in 1949 and was the key figure to add the episode to the history of PLA’s advance into Tibet more than four decades later.

42 Li Jue Zhuan, 49-50; Zhongguo Gongchandang Xizang Lishi Dashiji, 1: 9.

43 Mao Zedong to Pengdehuai, November 23, 1949, Jianguo Yilai Mao Zedong Wengao, 1:152.

44 Peng Dehuai to the CCP Central Committee and Mao Zedong, December 30, 1949, Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong Xizang Gongzuo Wenxuan (Selected writings of Mao Zedong on the Tibetan work), 7, note 3.

45 Mao Zedong to the CCP Central Committee, Peng Dehuai, Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng, and He Long, January 2, 1950, Jianguo Yilai Mao Zedong Wengao, 1: 208-9.

46 Ibid.

47 Giovanni Arrighi, Takeshi Hamashita, and Mark Selden, eds., The Resurgence of East Asia: 500, 150 and 50 Year Perspectives (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2003), 2-4.

48 John Lewis Gaddis, The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 96.