Upon returning in 1932 from his studies in Britain, he served in the Tibetan army. Ngapoi began his career as a local official in
Chamdo in 1936. As a cabinet member of the former government of Tibet under the
Dalai Lama, he advocated reform. In April 1950 he was appointed governor-general (commissioner) of Chamdo, but took office only in September, after the previous governor, Lhalu, had left for Lhasa.
Commander-in-chief of the Tibetan Army at Chamdo While serving as governor-general of Chamdo, he also became commander-in-chief of the
Tibetan Army. Ngapoi surrendered Chamdo to the Chinese. The PLA surprised him by treating him well and giving him long lectures on the New China's policies toward minor nationalities. Within a year, he was the deputy commander-in-chief for the PLA forces in Tibet. He became a leader not only of Tibet but also the
Chinese Communist Party in Tibet.
Head of the Tibetan Delegation to the Beijing Peace Negotiations to
Mao Zedong (left) as a delegate to the Beijing peace negotiations, 1951 As a delegate of the government of Tibet sent to negotiate with the Chinese Government, he headed the Tibetan delegation to the
Beijing peace negotiations in 1951, where he signed the
Seventeen Point Agreement with the Chinese Communist government in 1951, accepting Chinese sovereignty in exchange for guarantees of autonomy and religious freedom. The validity of his acceptance on behalf of the Tibetan government has been questioned. The Tibetan exiled community claims that his signature of the Agreement was obtained under duress, and that, as only the governor of Chamdo, signature of the agreement exceeded his powers of representation and is therefore invalid. In his biography
My Land and My People, the Dalai Lama claims that in 1952, the acting
Tibetan Prime Minister Lukhangwa told Chinese representative
Zhang Jingwu that the Tibetan "people did not accept the agreement". However, according to Sambo Rimshi, one of the Tibetan negotiators, the Tibetan delegation, including Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, went to Beijing with the Dalai Lama's authorization and instructions. As Sambo Rimchi recalled, Dalai Lama's instruction to the negotiators clearly states: According to Sambo, the young Dalai Lama also told the negotiators to use their best judgment according to the situation and circumstances and report back to the Kashag in Yadong. Sambo recalled that the negotiators brought a secret codebook so that they could establish a wireless link with Yadong and discuss issues as they arose. According to historians Tom A. Grunfeld, Melvyn C. Goldstein and Tsering Shakya, the young Dalai Lama did ratify the Seventeen Point agreement with Tsongdu Assembly's recommendation few months after the signing. In 1959, the Dalai Lama on his arrival in India after he fled Tibet repudiated the "17-point Agreement" as having been "thrust upon Tibetan Government and people by the threat of arms".
An advocate of reform Ngapoi Ngawang Jigmé was one of a small number of progressive elite Tibetans that were eager to modernize Tibet and saw in the return of the Chinese an opportunity to do so. They were in a sense a continuation of the movement for reform that emerged in the 1920s with
Tsarong Dzasa as its main proponent but was stopped short by the 13th Dalai Lama under the pressure of conservative clerics and aristocrats. Ngapoi photographed in his People's Liberation Army uniform in 1955
Implementing the Seventeen Point Agreement (1951–1952) Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme was instrumental in solving the food problems of the People's Liberation Army in 1951–1952 by creating a Kashag subcommittee tasked with inventorying grain stores with a view to selling some to the PLA in accordance with point 16 of the Seventeen Point Agreement ("The local government of Tibet will assist the People's Liberation Army in the purchase of food, fodder, and other daily necessities").
A Kashag minister trusted by both the Chinese and the Dalai Lama (1953–1954) Ngapoi was appointed by the Tibetan government to head the newly formed Reform Assembly. He was the Kashag minister (Kalön) most trusted not only by the Chinese but also by the Dalai Lama. The latter, who was in favour of reforms and modernization, frequently discussed political issues with Ngapoi in private. As a result, in 1953–1954, the Reform Assembly crafted new laws reforming interest rates, old loans, and the administration of counties.
Administrative, military, and legislative responsibilities After 1951, Ngapoi's career continued within the ranks of Chinese Communist administration of Tibet. He served as the leader of the Liberation Committee of Chamdo Prefecture until 1959. He was also a member of the
Central People's Government's
State Ethnic Affairs Commission and the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee between 1951 and 1954.
Secretary General of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibet Autonomous Region When in April 1956 a Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of the Autonomous Region of Tibet was set up in accordance with the central government's decision, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme was appointed its secretary general. He was appointed vice-president of the Committee in 1959, the 10th Panchen Lama being its president.
Chairman of the People's Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region After his appointment as acting chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 1964, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme became the
chairman of the People's Committee of the newly established
Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in 1965.
Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress He represented Tibet in seven
National People's Congresses as a
Vice Chairman of the
Standing Committee from the
1st National People's Congress in 1954 to the
7th in 1988. He was head of the NPC delegations to
Colombia,
Guyana,
West Indies,
Sri Lanka and
Nepal in the early 1980s. From 1979 to 1993, he was Chairman of the
National People's Congress Ethnic Affairs Committee.
Other roles He was an honorary president of the
Buddhist Association of China beginning in 1980. In April 1992, he became chairman of the newly established
Aid Tibet Development Foundation. He was also president of the China Association for the Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture, which was established on June 21, 2004. == Death ==