Background

When the Communist Chinese government ordered its so-called People's Liberation Army (PLA) to march into Tibet in 1949, the people of Tibet's eastern region were the first to experience the threat of Chinese invasion. The people of Kham and Amdo rose up and confronted the Chinese army at the onset of the invasion of our motherland. Pitched battles were fought under the command and banner of local chieftains. However, there was no proper organization and strategy, no unity, and only uncoordinated efforts to combat the common enemy were made.

In 1956 the Chinese introduced the so-called “Democratic Reforms” in Kham starting with the eastern region of Tibet. They began to impose communist ideology and destroyed Tibetan religion and culture. They conducted mass arrests and executions of Tibetan religious leaders and other prominent leaders. People of these areas could not tolerate the brutal Chinese atrocities and rose up in arms against them. Disorganized and ill-equipped volunteer fighters could not withstand the mighty Chinese army that overwhelmed them, grasped their territory and spread like oil drops on paper. Volunteer defenders gradually retreated toward Central and Western Tibet.

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