Early-Republican China Tibet became a protectorate of
Qing China in the 18th century; imperial authority was symbolized by a Qing resident called
amban in
Lhasa. After the Chinese
1911 Revolution and the end of the Qing Empire, Tibet expelled the Chinese delegation and became independent. The ROC claimed Tibet as a province. It considered Tibet be part of the "Five Races under One Union" and held that "Tibet was placed under the sovereignty of China" following the
Sino-Nepalese War (1788–1792). The
Nationalist government's
Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) was established in 1928 to nominally govern those regions. In 1934, diplomatic relations between Tibet and China resumed. ROC proposed that Tibet recognize Chinese sovereignty. Tibet rejected the proposal but agreed to host a Chinese mission in Lhasa; a MTAC mission was established in 1939. It was expelled in July 1949 to make it more difficult for the Chinese Communists to establish an official presence.
Relations with the People's Republic of China The PRC received early insight into the politics of Tibet by recruiting from MTAC members after the
Kuomintang was defeated during the
Chinese Civil War. In 1949, Tibet opened negotiations with the Chinese Communists, who were expected to win the civil war, and through them, with the future PRC. As with the ROC, Tibet refused to accept Communist demands that Tibet recognize Chinese sovereignty. Following some border skirmishes, the PRC invaded Tibet in October 1950; the Chinese defeated the Tibetans at the
Battle of Chamdo, Chamdo being part of
Xikang rather than Tibet Area from the Chinese point of view. They stopped to allow further negotiations. Tibet was unable to secure international support, and military resistance was hopeless. In 1951, the PRC formally annexed Tibet through the
Seventeen Point Agreement. In the first few years, the Chinese focused on creating an administration independent of the Tibetan government; the latter was unable to cope with the work demanded by the Chinese and became increasingly redundant. Social reform was not emphasized due to the difference in culture and the dependence of PRC institutions on local resources. Basic services, trade, and technology were introduced to win over the population and the ruling elite. Tibetan opposition built around the two prime ministers of the Tibetan government, and was strengthened by the Chinese criticism of those officers. The Preparatory Committee for the Autonomous Region of Tibet (PCART) was formed in 1955 as an interim governing body. It replaced the Chinese Tibet Military Commission, which frequently opposed the Tibetan government and was viewed with hostility by the Tibetans. The PRC hoped that Tibetan integration would be easier with the Chinese–Tibetan PCART. The relevance of the native Tibetan government continued to erode; the
Kashag continued to meet but its influence was mainly symbolic. The
Tibet Autonomous Region was created in 1965 after the
1959 Tibetan uprising.
Relations with Taiwan after 1949 After the ROC retreated to
Taiwan, the ROC government continues to claim Tibet as part of its territory per
Article 4 of its 1947 Constitution.
Chiang Kai-shek responded to the 1959 uprising with a Letter to Tibetan Compatriots (), which set the ROC's policy of aiding Tibetan rebels against the PRC. ROC continued to operate MTAC, which undertook propaganda work among the
Tibetan diaspora in
India. In the following years, 400 Tibetans were recruited to work and study in Taiwan. The ROC's attitude on Tibet started to shift after the former's democratization in mid-1990s. In 2007, ROC President
Chen Shui-bian spoke at the International Symposium on Human Rights in Tibet and stated that his offices no longer treated exiled Tibetans as Chinese mainlanders. In 2017, the
Tsai Ing-wen administration announced that MTAC would be dissolved and its remaining functions transferred to the Department of Hong Kong, Macao, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet Affairs of the
Mainland Affairs Council as well as the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, despite the shift in attitude, the current day ROC government continues to regulate its affairs with Tibet as part of
Mainland China under the
Cross-Strait Act, on the basis it is part of "areas under control of the Chinese Communists." ==Administrative divisions==