The Sino-British Negotiations on Tibet and the Political Situation in Tibet in Modern China — From the Gurkha War to the Washington Conference

Fung Ming-chu
National Palace Museum

35^th Meeting of the PIAC, Taipei 1992

The Tibetan Problem has been one of the most thorny and brain-wracking for China in modern times. The difficulty lies in the fact that it is both a problem of domestic politics, and international politics. In the eyes of the Chinese government, if it were merely a question of the Tibetan people demanding autonomy of their own accord, the situation could be easily handled. However, with the presence of England and India complicating the situation, it would be unwise for China to let down its guard. This is the reason that the Tibetan Problem has not been completely solved, from the worsening of the situation at the end of the Ch’ing dynasty until today. This article is the preface of a book awaiting publication, concerning the one hunderd and thirty-odd years from the Gurkha War (1788) to the conclusion of the Washington Conference (1924), and the myriad problems that arose along the Sino-Indian border, as well as in Tibet itself, during that time period. The book also treats the many negotiations held between England and China concerning the Tibe tan problem. My motive in choosing the Gurkha War and Washing ton Conference as focal points for this survey is that the archives concerning the administration of problems in Tibet during the intervening period are mainly stoped in Taiwan, either in the Ch’ing imperial archives at the National Palace Museum, or the Tibetan files at Academia Sinica. I hope to rely on this first-hand evidence to elucidate the sources of present-day problem in Tibet, as well as the unfolding events and developments.