1930s to 1949
In 1935, Lhamo Dhondup was born in Amdo in eastern Tibet and recognized by all concerned as the incarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. Similar to his
predecessor Thubten Gyatso who was approved by the Central Government of China in 1877 to be exempted from the lot-drawing process using Golden Urn to become the 13th Dalai Lama On 26 January 1940, the Regent Reting Rinpoche requested the Central Government of China to exempt Lhamo Dhondup from the lot-drawing process using the Golden Urn to become the 14th Dalai Lama, and the Chinese government approved. After a ransom of 400,000 silver dragons had been paid by Lhasa to the Hui Muslim warlord Ma Bufang, who ruled Qinghai (Chinghai) from Xining, Ma Bufang released him to travel to Lhasa in 1939. He was then enthroned by the Ganden Phodrang government at the Potala Palace on the Tibetan New Year.
The Kuomintang Government 'ratified' the current 14th Dalai Lama, and that Kuomintang representative General Wu Zhongxin presided over the ceremony; both the ratification order of February 1940 and the documentary film of the ceremony still exist intact. Wu Zhongxin (along with other foreign representatives) was present at the ceremony. Reports from contemporary newspapers, sourced directly from Lhasa, also give witness to these ceremonies. For example, the Associated Press on Feb 22, 1940 writes:
Lhasa, Tibet (Thursday) - (By Radio to Hong Kong) - [..] The Chinese government had worked for months to put the succession of Ling-ergh La-mu-tan-chu beyond the fortunes of the goldern urn from which the 14th Dalai Lama would normally be picked. Yet today, with true Oriental urbanity, the Regent of Tibet petitioned the Chungking government to authorized the abandonment of the traditional lot-drawing. This given, he wirelessed warm thanks to Chiang Kai-shek and other Chinese governmental leaders.
Regarding the ceremony, according to Associated Press reports dated Feb 23, 1940:
Direct word from Lhasa arrived only today, telling of the lengthy rites in which Chinese officials took part. Chinese learned with satisfaction that Gen. Wu Chung Hsin, chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan affairs commission at Chungking and chief of the Chinese delegation at the enthronement, sat at the Dalai Lama's left -- thus being accorded an equal status with the new ruler. Lhasa enjoyed a complete holiday. The populace was treated to devil dances, horse shows, wrestling contests and a fireworks display.
Likewise, according to United Press reports dated Feb 22, 1940:
Lhasa, Tibet. Feb 22 - The fourteenth Dalai Lama, who will share spiritual and temporal leadership of Tibet, was enthroned in a pompous elaborate ceremony today. The enthronement took place in Lhasa's leading monastery, "Potala". The six-year-old boy chosen after long search for the exalted position, received felicitations from a Chinese delegation numbering 1,000 persons. A departure from ordinary procedure was marked by display of a huge portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and a Kuomintang flag in the golden main hall of the monastery.
Billings Gazette Sun reports dated Feb 18, 1940:
Tibetan circles here revealed that the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, "father of the Chinese republic", will have the place of honor in the main ceremonial hall, surrounded by Buddhist pictures. [..] All these, Tibetan sources pointed out, mark "the cordial friendship and political ties between Tibet and the central government." [..] There are two other children who theoretically have an equal chance of being chosen. [..] However Tibetan and Chinese officials favor the Kokonor boy.
Britain, who had an interest in Tibet at the time and wished to undermine Chinese sovereignty over it, had a representative, Sir Basil Gould, who claims to have been present at the ceremony, and opposes the above diverse international sources that China presided over it. He claims that:
The report was issued in the Chinese Press that Mr Wu had escorted the Dalai Lama to his throne and announced his installation, that the Dalai Lama had returned thanks, and prostrated himself in token of his gratitude. Every one of these Chinese claims was false. Mr Wu was merely a passive spectator. He did no more than present a ceremonial scarf, as was done by the others, including the British Representative. But the Chinese have the ear of the world, and can later refer to their press records and present an account of historical events that is wholly untrue. Tibet has no newspapers, either in English or Tibetan, and has therefore no means of exposing these falsehoods.
Tibetan author Nyima Gyaincain wrote that based on Tibetan tradition, there was no such thing as presiding over an event, and claims that the Han Chinese word "主持" (to preside or organize) was used in many places in communication documents. The meaning of the word was different than what we understand today. He added that Wu Zhongxin spent a lot of time and energy on the event, his effect of presiding over or organizing the event was very obvious.
In 1942, the U.S. government told the government of Chiang Kai-shek that it had never disputed Chinese claims to Tibet. In 1944, the USA War Department produced a series of seven documentary films on Why We Fight; in the sixth series, The Battle of China, Tibet is incorrectly called a province of China (as the Chinese officially referred to the administrative division of Tibet as Tibet Area, which was distinct from a province). In 1944, during World War II, two Austrian mountaineers, Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter, came to Lhasa, where Harrer became a tutor and friend to the young Dalai Lama, giving him sound knowledge of Western culture and modern society, until Harrer chose to leave in 1949.
Tibet established a Foreign Office in 1942, and in 1946 it sent congratulatory missions to China and India (related to the end of World War II). The mission to China was given a letter addressed to Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek which states that, "We shall continue to maintain the independence of Tibet as a nation ruled by the successive Dalai Lamas through an authentic religious-political rule." The mission agreed to attend a Chinese constitutional assembly in Nanjing as observers.
Under orders from the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shek, Ma Bufang repaired the Yushu airport in 1942 to deter Tibetan independence. Chiang also ordered Ma Bufang to put his Muslim soldiers on alert for an invasion of Tibet in 1942. Ma Bufang complied, and moved several thousand troops to the border with Tibet. Chiang also threatened the Tibetans with bombing if they did not comply.
In 1947, Tibet sent a delegation to the Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi, India, where it represented itself as an independent nation. India based its position on recognising it as an independent nation until 1954. This may have been the first appearance of the Tibetan national flag at a public gathering.
André Migot, a French doctor who travelled for many months in Tibet in 1947, described the complex history and border arrangements between Tibet and China. Following the 1906 British expedition to Tibet, the Qing government attempted to reinforce its control over the region but was met with resistance. Chinese bannerman Zhao Erfeng killed many Tibetans in Kham and attempted to create a new province called Xikang. After the 1911 Revolution however, Chinese forces lost ground control beyond the city of Kangding.
In 1947–49, Lhasa sent a trade mission led by Finance Minister Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa to India, China, Hong Kong, the US, and the UK. The visited countries were careful not to express support for the claim that Tibet was independent of China and did not discuss political questions with the mission. These Trade Mission officials entered China via Hong Kong with their newly issued Tibetan passports that they applied at the Chinese Consulate in India and stayed in China for three months. Other countries did, however, allow the mission to travel using passports issued by the Tibetan government. The U.S. unofficially received the Trade Mission. The mission met with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee in London in 1948.
