Battle of Chamdo
Battle of Chamdo | |||||||||
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Part of the Mekong River prior to the battle. | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Tibet | China | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme (POW)[1] Lhalu Tsewang Dorje[2] |
Liu Bocheng Deng Xiaoping Zhang Guohua Fan Ming | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
Tibetan Army: 8,500[3] | People's Liberation Army: 40,000[4][5] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
180 killed or wounded[6][7][8] 3,341 killed, wounded, surrendered, captured, or defected (Chinese estimate)[2] | 114 killed or wounded[6] |
The Battle of Chamdo (or Qamdo;
Background
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2017) |
Kham was a border region of Tibet. The eastern part of Kham had been under the direct control of China during the Qing dynasty. Its western half is known as Chamdo.
The Khampa Tibetans and Lhasa Tibetans held each other in mutual contempt and dislike, with the Khampas in some cases hating Lhasa rule even more than Chinese rule, which was why the Khampas did little to resist Chinese forces as they entered eastern Kham and subsequently took over the whole of Tibet.[15] Likewise, the Qinghai (Amdo) Tibetans view the Tibetans of Central Tibet (Tibet proper, ruled by the Dalai Lamas from Lhasa) as different from themselves and even take pride in the fact that they were not ruled by Lhasa ever since the collapse of the Tibetan Empire.[16]
Khampas like the
Negotiations with Lhasa
On 7 March 1950, a Tibetan government delegation arrived in
The Tibetan delegation eventually met with the PRC's ambassador General Yuan Zhongxian in Delhi on 16 September 1950. Yuan communicated a three-point claimed proposal that Tibet be regarded as part of China, that China be responsible for Tibet's defense, and that China was responsible for Tibet's trade and foreign relations. Refusal would result in conquest by China. The Tibetans undertook to maintain the relationship between China and Tibet as one of preceptor and patron, and their head delegate, Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, on 19 September, recommended cooperation (but with some stipulations about implementation). Chinese troops need not be stationed in Tibet, it was argued, since it was under no threat, and if attacked by India or Nepal could appeal to China for military assistance.
Invasion of Eastern Kham
After the defeat of major Kuomintang forces in the Chinese Civil War, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) turned its attention to the Republic of China territories in the hinterland. Eastern Kham was the Chinese-held part of Sikang and the gateway to Tibetan areas. The 18th Army of the PLA formed the leading detachment advancing toward Tibet with the 52nd Division as its main force, and arrived at Ya'an on 12 February 1950. In March, the People's Liberation Army arrived in Kangding (Tachienlu). By mid-April, the 18th Army had at least 30,000 passing through Kangding, and 10,000 Tibetans helped to build the road from Kangding to Garzê (Kandze), which was completed in August. The 18th Army of the PLA assembled at Garzê on 30 July, headquartered at Xinlong, and entered Litang from the east. The Qinghai Cavalry Detachment entered Gyêgu on 22 July, forming a north–south pincer on Chamdo.[18]
In June 1950, the PLA and the Tibetan army fought for the first time in Dengke (also known as Dengo[14]). Dengke is located beside the main road from Garzê to Yushu, about 100 miles northeast of Chamdo. Former Chamdo governor Lhalu Tsewang Dorje had set up a radio station there. 50 PLA soldiers captured Dengke and destroyed the radio station.[14] Two weeks later (July), 800 Khampa militia (including 300 monks) raided Dengke, claiming to have killed 600 PLA soldiers.[19] In the end, the PLA succeeded in occupying eastern Kham.[20]
Battle of Chamdo
After months of failed negotiations,[14] attempts by Lhasa to secure foreign support and assistance,[21] and the troop buildups by the PRC[22] and Tibet,[23] the PLA crossed the Jinsha River on 6 or 7 October 1950 into Lhasa-controlled Chamdo, crossing the de facto border[24] at five places.[25]
Two PLA units quickly captured the border
After confiscating their weapons, the PLA soldiers gave the prisoners lectures on
With the capture of Chamdo, the PLA believed the objective to have been reached, unilaterally ceased hostilities,[7][30] and sent Ngabo to Lhasa to reiterate terms of negotiation, and waited for Tibetan representatives to respond through delegates to Beijing.[31]
On 21 October, Lhasa instructed its delegation to leave immediately for Beijing for consultations with the PRC government, and to accept the first provision if the status of the Dalai Lama could be guaranteed, while rejecting the other two conditions. It later rescinded even acceptance of the first demand, after a divination before the
On 24 October, all military operations ended.
Aftermath
After news of the defeat at the Battle of Chamdo reached Lhasa, Regent
After releasing the captured, Chinese broadcasts promised that if Tibet was "peacefully liberated", the Tibetan elites would not be denied their positions and power.[35]
Some Khampa fighters continued their opposition. Local warlords later became united under a common objective and hence resulted in the formation of Chushi Gangdruk with assistance from the CIA.[36]
According to contemporary author Melvyn Goldstein, the campaign aimed to capture the Lhasa army occupying Chamdo, demoralize the Lhasa government, and to exert pressure to get Tibetan representatives to agree to negotiations in Beijing and sign terms recognizing China's sovereignty over Tibet.[37]
See also
- Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China
- British expedition to Tibet (1903–1904)
- Chinese expedition to Tibet (1910)
- Tibet (1912–1951)
- Sino-Tibetan War(1930–1932)
- Qinghai–Tibet War (1932)
- History of Tibet (1950–present)
- Seventeen Point Agreement (1951)
- List of wars involving the People's Republic of China (1949–)
References
Citations
- ISBN 0-521-38755-8. p.100.
- ^ a b Goldstein, Melvyn C. (1991). A history of modern Tibet, 1913-1951, the demise of the lamaist state. University of California Press. p. 639.
- ISBN 0-349-10462-X
- ^ Laird 2006 p.301.
- ^ Shakya 1999, p.43
- ^ a b c d Jiawei Wang et Nima Gyaincain, The historical Status of China's Tibet, China Intercontinental Press, 1997, p.209 (see also The Local Government of Tibet Refused Peace Talks and the PLA Was Forced to Fight the Qamdo Battle, china.com.cn): "The Qamdo battle thus came to a victorious end on 24 October, with 114 PLA soldiers and 180 Tibetan troops killed or wounded."
- ^ a b c Shakya 1999, p.45. Shakya also quotes PRC sources reporting 5738 enemy troops "liquidated" and over 5700 "destroyed". Shakya does not provide an estimate of PRC casualties.
- ^ a b Feigon 1996, p.144.
- ^ "Chinese Reds Promise the 'Liberation' of Tibet". The New York Times. 3 September 1949.
- ^ NOTE: The exiled Tibetan government in India calls The battle the "...invasion of Tibet by the People's Liberation Army of China," see Tibet: Proving Truth From Facts. The Status of Tibet: "At the time of its invasion by troops of the People's Liberation Army of China in 1949, Tibet was an independent state in fact and by law."
- ^ Tsering Shakya, Dragon in The Land of Snows: The History of Modern Tibet since 1947, Random House, 2012, Google e-book: "Tibet had never received de jure recognition from any state; in any case such recognition would be disputed not only by Beijing but also by the nationalist regime in Taiwan.
- ^ Stephanie Roemer, The Tibetan government-in-exile: politics at large, p. 32: "the Tibetans signed the so-called 'Seventeen Point Agreement', where they officially acknowledged the Chinese intentions to liberate Tibet, which meant the end of Tibet's de-facto independence."
- ^ John Kenneth Knaus, Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan struggle for survival[permanent dead link], p. 84 : The seventeen points of the agreement ended the de facto independence of Tibet.
- ^ a b c d Shakya 1999 pp.28–32.
- ^ Arpi, Claude. "The Karma of Tibet" (PDF). pp. 97–98. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ISSN 0305-7410. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-19-936836-5.
- OCLC 224529359.
- OCLC 224529359.
- OCLC 40714203.
- ^ Shakya 1999 p.12,20,21
- ^ Feigon 1996 p.142. Shakya 1999 p.37.
- ^ Sam van Schaik, Tibet. A History, Yale University Press, 2013, p. 2009: "So when Ngapo arrived in Chamdo in 1950, he was in a pessimistic mood. Still, he had his orders and reinforcements were arriving from Lhasa. Tibet would fight."
- ^ Melvin C. Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet: The Calm Before the Storm: 1951–1955, University of California Press, 2009, Vol.2,p.48.
- ^ Shakya 1999 p.32 (6 Oct). Goldstein 1997 p.45 (7 Oct).
- ^ Survey of China Mainland Press, no. 2854 p.5,6
- ^ Shakya 1999 map p.xiv
- ^ Laird 2006 p.305.
- ^ Laird 2006 p.305.
- ^ Goldstein 1997 p.45
- ^ Shakya 1999 p.49
- ^ Shakya 1999 pp.27–32 (entire paragraph).
- ^ W. D. Shakabpa,One hundred thousand moons, BRILL, 2010 trans. Derek F. Maher, Vol.1, pp.916–917, and ch.20 pp.928–942, esp.pp.928–33.
- ^ Melvin C. Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet: The Calm Before the Storm: 1951–1955, Vol.2, ibid.pp.41–57.
- ^ Laird, 2006 p.306.
- ]
- ^ Melvin C. Goldstein, A History of Modern Tibet, vol.2, pp.48–9.
Sources
- Feigon, Lee. Demystifying Tibet: Unlocking the Secrets of the Land of Snows (1996) Ivan R. Dee Inc. ISBN 1-56663-089-4.
- Ford, Robert. Wind Between The Worlds The extraordinary first-person account of a Westerner's life in Tibet as an official of the Dalai Lama (1957) David Mckay Co., Inc.
- Goldstein, Melvyn C. A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 1: 1913–1951: The Demise of the Lamaist State (1989) University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-06140-8.
- Goldstein, Melvyn C. A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 2: The Calm Before the Storm 1951–1955 (2007) University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24941-7.
- Goldstein, Melvyn C. The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama (1997) University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21254-1.
- ISBN 978-1-56324-713-2.
- Knaus, Robert Kenneth. Orphans of the Cold War: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival (1999) PublicAffairs . ISBN 978-1-891620-18-8.
- ISBN 0-8021-1827-5.
- Shakya, Tsering. The Dragon In The Land Of Snows (1999) Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11814-7.
- ISBN 978-0-19-581570-2.