In 1906 and 1907, Britain recognized China's suzerainty over Tibet. However, the Tibetans were able, with the overthrow of the Ch'ing dynasty in China, to expel (1912) the Chinese in Tibet and reassert their independence. At a conference (1913–14) of British, Tibetans, and Chinese at Shimla, India, Tibet was tentatively confirmed under Chinese suzerainty and divided into an inner Tibet, to be incorporated into China, and an outer autonomous Tibet. The Shimla agreement was, however, never ratified by the Chinese, who continued to claim all of Tibet as a “special territory.” After the death (1933) of the 13th Dalai Lama, Tibet gradually drifted back into the Chinese orbit. The 14th Dalai Lama, who was born in China, was installed in 1939–40 and assumed full powers (1950) after a ten-year regency.
The succession of the 10th Panchen Lama, with rival candidates supported by Tibet and China, was one of the excuses for the Chinese invasion (Oct., 1950) of Tibet. By a Tibetan-Chinese agreement (May, 1951), Tibet became a “national autonomous region” of China under the traditional rule of the Dalai Lama, but under the actual control of a Chinese Communist Commission. The Communist government introduced far-reaching land reforms and sharply curtailed the power of the monastic orders. After 1956 scattered uprisings occurred throughout the country, but a full-scale revolt broke out in Mar., 1959, prompted in part by fears for the personal safety of the Dalai Lama. The Chinese suppressed the rebellion, but the Dalai Lama was able to escape to India, where he eventually established headquarters in exile.
The Panchen Lama, who had accepted Chinese sponsorship, acceded to the spiritual leadership of Tibet. The Chinese adopted brutal repressive measures, provoking charges from the Dalai Lama of genocide. Landholdings were seized, the lamaseries were virtually emptied, and thousands of monks were forced to find other work. The Panchen Lama was deposed in 1964 after making statements supporting the Dalai Lama; he was replaced by a secular Tibetan leader. In 1962, China launched attacks along the Indian-Tibetan border to consolidate territories it claimed had been wrongly given to India by the British McMahon Commission in 1914. Following a cease-fire, Chinese troops withdrew behind the disputed line in the east but continued to occupy part of Ladakh in Kashmir. Some border areas are still in dispute.
In 1965 the Tibetan Autonomous Region was formally established. The Cultural Revolution, with its antireligious orientation, was disastrous for highly religious Tibet. Religious practices were banned and over 4,000 monasteries were destroyed. Though the ban was lifted in 1976 and some Buddhist temples have again been in operation since the early 1980s, Tibetans continue to complain of widespread discrimination by the Chinese. Several protests in Tibet in the late 1980s and early 1990s were violently suppressed by the Communist government and martial law was imposed in 1989. Demonstrations against Chinese rule have nevertheless continued. Moreover, in recent years other countries have increasingly raised the issue of human-rights violations in Tibet, and have pressured the Chinese government to moderate their stance in that region. Religious tensions were again underscored in Jan., 2000, when the 14-year-old Karmapa lama fled Tibet for India.
Having met with Hu on many occasions, I invariably found him thoughtful, extremely well prepared and very courteous. His mastery of the subject matter seems to make small talk unnecessary to him.
In foreign policy, Hu undoubtedly believes that China is entitled to a role appropriate to its growing potential. He is not a crusader, however, and will try to accommodate the imperatives of both sides. There is much public discussion of an evolving adversarial U.S.-China relationship. This poses a challenge to statesmanship on both sides of the Pacific. Any American President is obliged to articulate the deepest values of our people, including human rights. Any Chinese President needs to reflect the necessities of his society, including the territorial integrity of a united China. The challenge for the future is whether they can find a way to work together, recognizing that an adversarial relationship will drain both sides, that many current problems can only be solved on a global basis and that a peaceful and prosperous world requires Sino-American cooperation.
Many more have been killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT).
At least 50 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a school where an estimated 900 students were buried.
President Hu Jintao has urged "all-out" efforts to rescue victims.
Search teams were sent to the area but struggled to get through because routes were blocked.
The BBC's Michael Bristow, in nearby Chongqing, said torrential rains had also prevented helicopters gaining access.
With communication links down, he says there is still no real indication of the death toll at the epicentre, in Wenchuan county, about 92km (57 miles) from Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital.
'Major disaster'
One of the worst-hit areas appears to be Beichuan county, part of the Mianyang city municipal area, about 50km from the epicentre.
Some 80% of buildings there were reported to have been destroyed, leaving between 3,000 and 5,000 people dead and up to 10,000 injured.
Meanwhile hundreds of people were reported to have been buried in two collapsed chemical plants in Shifang in Sichuan, and at least five other schools were reported to be in ruins.
More than 150 people were killed in the other provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi, and in Chongqing municipality, Xinhua said.
The death toll could turn out to be much higher once the damage in Wenchuan county - the epicentre - is assessed, says BBC China analyst Shirong Chen.
The area is very rugged, full of mountains and valleys and a number of roads are connected with bridges from one mountain top to the next, he says.
A top official from the region, Wang Bin, appealed for outside help quickly.
"We are in urgent need of tents, food, medicine and satellite communications equipment through air drop," he said.
"We also need medical workers to save the injured people here."
There were fears that China's programme to save the endangered giant panda may have been affected.
Wenchuan county is home to the Wolong Nature Reserve, the country's leading research and breeding base for pandas - but the centre could not be reached by phone.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who flew to Chengdu immediately, said China needed "calm, confidence, courage and strong leadership".
"We will definitely overcome this major disaster," he promised.
US President George W Bush expressed condolences to victims' families, while Japan offered to send aid.
The Chinese Red Cross has sent hundreds of tents and thousands of blankets to the afflicted area.
Cries for help
There were harrowing reports from the scene of a school collapse in Dujiangyan city - just south-east of the epicentre - where 900 students were buried and 50 dead.
Teenagers buried beneath the rubble of the three-storey Juyuan Middle School building were struggling to break free, while others were crying out for help, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Parents were watching as cranes excavated the site. Villagers rushed to help with the rescue.
Two girls said they escaped because they had "run faster than others".
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported since the quake, which was felt in Beijing, 1,545km (960 miles) away, and the Thai capital Bangkok, 1,800km (1,200 miles) away.
The earthquake was China's worst since 242,000 people were killed in 1976 by the Tangshan quake.
Sichuan province is the most populated part of China - home to 87 million people.
The provincial capital Chengdu, which has a population of more than 10 million people, was comparatively lightly damaged - though Xinhua cited an official with the local seismological bureau saying 45 people were killed there.
Some 5,000 troops have been sent to help with relief work.
The BBC's Quentin Somerville says this is probably the most significant natural disaster to hit China in recent memory, but that the Chinese army has a good record of mobilising and getting people to safety.
He also says it is one of the most open and speedy responses to an emergency he has ever seen from Chinese state media.
The quake was felt as far away as Beijing, he says, meaning millions of people will feel connected to the disaster and will be watching TV screens closely to see how the government responds.
Nearly 15,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency has reported.
More than 25,000 are still trapped in the rubble two days after the 7.9 quake struck, causing landslides and razing homes, schools and whole villages.
China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has flown to the epicentre to see relief work, having met survivors elsewhere.
Soldiers have rushed to a dam above one city over fears for its stability.
Some 2,000 troops have been sent to plug cracks in the dam - near the hard-hit city of Dujiangyan - says the Associated Press news agency, citing official Chinese media.
The 2,000-year-old dam feeds the fertile agricultural plain of Sichuan province. The irrigation system it feeds and Dujiangyan would be swamped if it were to fail, authorities have said.
No damage has been reported to the massive Three Gorges Dam, also in Sichuan province.
Sichuan's Vice-Governor Li Chengyun said incomplete figures suggested 14,463 people were dead, another 14,051 were missing, 25,788 were buried in the debris and 64,746 had been injured, Xinhua reports.
Officials reached the town of Yingxiu, in Wenchuan County, to find the devastation was worse than expected - out of the town's population of 10,000, only 2,300 have been found alive.
The head of a police unit sent into the disaster zone said the losses had been severe.
"Some towns basically have no houses left," Wang Yi, told Sichuan Online news site. "They have all been razed to the ground."
Meteorologists are forecasting a small break in the poor weather that has hampered aid efforts.
Helicopters have now been able to fly into the quake zone to take food, drinking water and medicine to Yingxiu.
But the weather remains cloudy and more rain is expected at the end of the week, said the National Meteorological Centre.
Slow progress
Roads in the mountainous area have been badly damaged by the earthquake or have been covered by landslides.
Many soldiers and rescue workers have been making their way to cut off areas by foot.
Workers are digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings with their bare hands.
Officials for the ministry of transport and ministry of railways told reporters that road conditions were impeding relief work across the province.
"We may have 10 machines but, given the road condition, only one excavator can used at one time, and we can only push forward one metre by one metre," one said.
Lost generation
In Juyuan township, near Dujiangyan, more than 1,000 people are thought to be trapped in a collapsed school building. More than 50 bodies have been pulled out - but only one girl is reported to have been rescued alive so far.
Rescue workers now say hope is running out for the students underneath the rubble, says the BBC's Dan Griffiths in Juyuan.
Weeping parents wait for news as the victims are laid out in the playground.
Due to China's one-child policy, a whole generation of the town's children may be lost, says our correspondent.
At another school, in Qingchuan County, at least 178 children were confirmed dead, killed as they were having a midday sleep.
Among the rescue successes was 34-year-old Zhang Xiaoyan, who is eight months pregnant. She was pulled alive from an apartment that partially collapsed in Dujiangyan.
"It's a miracle brought about by us all working together," Sun Guoli, Chengdu's fire chief told the Associated Press. "It's a miracle of life, using one's life to save a life."
The earthquake on Monday was the worst to strike China since more than 240,000 people were killed in Tangshan in 1976.
