Cold War Documentaries “How China Annex Tibet” YouTube, (June 18, 2022), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enQuH7 TVw7Q.

Although the PLA was a superior force, they still used specific tactics to ensure the swift defeat of their adversary. First of these tactics was surprise, even though there was a buildup of Chinese forces on the border, the actual start of the invasion was still a surprise and forced the Tibetan Military to react. Second being that the Chinese strategy was to encircle and cut off Chamdo so they had no other choice but to surrender. The PLA was able to surround Chamdo since they had the numerical advantage as well. All of this in mind there was another factor that played into the swift defeat of the Tibetan Military, which was a lack of communications capability. By the time Lhasa knew of the invasion it was too late to send reinforcements or to attempt to fend off the Chinese invasion.

As the Chinese forces were encircling Lhasa, the Tibetan government was beginning to consider surrender and acceptance of the three-point agreement with some stipulations. But instead, there was one last effort to bring support for Tibet, which was a call on the United Nations (UN). Since Tibet was not already a member of the UN, a member had to bring the issue of the Chinese invasion into Tibet to the General Assembly (GA). El Salvador supported the issues and brought it to the GA, and at first India supported Tibet, as did the U.S. and Great Britain, following the path of India. That was until China agreed to build a trade relationship with India if China had control of Tibet.[v] This swayed India’s stance and instead China had the support of the GA. Since the UN and the Security Council did not react and permitted this invasion into Tibet there were no more options left but to accept the Chinese agreement.

In 1951 the Tibetan representatives re-entered negotiations with China and instead of the original three-point agreement, they were forced to accept the 17-Point Agreement also known as “The Agreement of the Central People’s Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet.” To summarize the 17-Point Agreement, the agreement solidified China’s control over Tibet, the Tibetan military was to be absorbed by the PLA and the Chinese government would control all external affairs for Tibet.[vi] Additionally, the power and position of the Dalai Lama would remain as is in 1951, and the religious freedom of the people in Tibet would be protected. Finally, the PLA forces in Tibet would set up a military headquarters and to the greatest extent not disturb the living situation of the people. Of course, this then led to a decade later in 1959 the Tibetan resistance against the Chinese government.

Overall, there are multiple similarities that can be drawn from the invasion of Tibet in 1950 and what can be assessed for the invasion of Taiwan in the 21^st Century. This comes with the understanding and assumption that China will invade Taiwan in the near future based on reporting from President Xi Jinping’s plan for reunification of China.[vii]

Connections to Taiwan Today

Aside from Tibet being an invasion, and Taiwan being an invasion plan, there are multiple similarities between the two situations. During the annexation of Tibet, China used propaganda claiming that the reunification was actually a “liberation”, asserting that China was setting the people of Tibet free from some unidentified oppression. Another similarity is that China has the element of surprise once again. Although during the invasion of Tibet the build-up of forces on the border was known, the Tibetan Military still did not know the exact day or time that the PLA would cross the border and invade. It is the same situation in the East China Sea: even though the United States and its allies can identify when there is a build of logistics, naval vessels and troops on the east coast of China, the exact timing is still unknown. Therefore, the coalition to support Taiwan has to react whenever the time comes.

Regarding tactics, the Tibet experience suggests that China will attempt during the first phase of the invasion of Taiwan to surround the island. Like the PLA did when invading Tibet, surrounding Taiwan will force the Taiwanese military to engage on all sides of the island and pressure the government immediately. Not only will the military be pressured but the Taiwanese economy will be stressed as well.[viii] With a blockade around the island, U.S. and coalition aid will be blocked, exports and imports will cease and an aerial blockade will completely stop any resources from making it into Taiwan. Not only can China place a blockade around Taiwan but the Chinese military at large is the largest military in the world. China currently has a force of 2.8 million members to include active military and reserve.[ix] The PLA is broken out into ground forces, air forces, rocket forces, naval and special forces, and the sheer number of troops under the military is staggering in comparison to the coalition partners individually. Thus, in order to match the might of the Chinese military by numbers, Taiwan must have the entire coalition on their side to include but not limited to the United States, Japan, Australia, Great Britain, South Korea, and India.