The sinicization of Tibet includes the programs and laws of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to force cultural assimilation in Tibetan areas of China, including the Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding Tibetan-designated autonomous areas. The efforts are undertaken by China in order to remake Tibetan culture into mainstream Chinese culture.
The changes, which have been evident since the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1950–51, have been facilitated by a range of economic, social, cultural, religious and political reforms which have been introduced to Tibet by the Chinese government. Critics cite the government-sponsored migration of large numbers of Han Chinese into the Tibet Autonomous Region, deemed Chinese settlements, as a major component of sinicization. Some academics have described it as a form of Han settler colonialism.
According to the Central Tibetan Administration, the government of Tibet in exile, Chinese policy has allegedly resulted in the disappearance of elements of Tibetan culture; this has been called "cultural genocide". The government in exile says that the policies intend to make Tibet an integral part of China and control desire for Tibetan self-determination. The 14th Dalai Lama and the Central Tibet Administration have characterized sinicization programs as genocide or cultural cleansing.
The Chinese government maintains that its policies have benefited Tibet, and cultural and social changes are consequences of modernization. According to the government, Tibet's economy has expanded; improved services and infrastructure have improved the quality of life of Tibetans, and the Tibetan language and culture have been protected.
History
Early developments
After the fall of the Qing dynasty and before 1950, the region which roughly corresponds to the modern-day Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) was a de facto independent state although unrecognized by other states. It printed its own currency and postage, and maintained international relations although it did not exchange ambassadors with other nations. Tibet claimed three provinces (Amdo, Kham and Ü-Tsang), but only controlled western Kham and Ü-Tsang. Since 1950, China made eastern Kham part of Sichuan and western Kham part of the new Tibet Autonomous Region.
During the early-20th-century Republic of China era which followed the Qing dynasty, Chinese Muslim general and Qinghai governor Ma Bufang is accused by Tibetans of implementing sinicization and Islamification policies in Tibetan areas. Forced conversion and heavy taxes were reported under his rule. After Mao Zedong won the Chinese Civil War in 1949, his goal was the unification of the "five nationalities" as the People's Republic of China under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. The Tibetan government in Lhasa sent Ngabo (known as Ngabo in English sources) to Chamdo in Kham, a strategic town near the border, with orders to hold his position while reinforcements came from Lhasa to fight against the Chinese. On 16 October 1950, news that the People's Liberation Army was advancing towards Chamdo and had taken the town of Riwoche (which could block the route to Lhasa) arrived. Ngabo and his men retreated to a monastery, where the People's Liberation Army surrounded and captured them. Ngabo wrote to Lhasa suggesting a peaceful surrender instead of war. According to the Chinese negotiator, "It is up to you to choose whether Tibet would be liberated peacefully or by force. It is only a matter of sending a telegram to the PLA group to recommence their march to Lhasa." Ngabo accepted Mao's Seventeen-Point Agreement, which stipulated that in return for Tibet becoming part of the People's Republic of China, it would be granted autonomy. Lacking support from the rest of the world, in August 1951 the Dalai Lama sent a telegram to Mao accepting the agreement. The delegates signed the agreement under duress, and the Tibetan's government's future was sealed.
Although the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China is referred to as the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet in Chinese Communist Party historiography, the 14th Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration consider it a colonization and the Tibetan Youth Congress believes that it was an invasion. The Chinese government points to improvements in health and the economy as justifications for their assertion of power in what it calls a historically-Chinese region. According to the Dalai Lama, China has encouraged Han Chinese immigration into the region.