Abstract

Tibet lies in the borderland of southwest China. All the past dynastic central governments have attached great importance to the administration and governance of Tibet since it formally became a part of China during the Yuan Dynasty. The Qing government in particular, formed a complete governing system for Tibet. However, during the declining late Qing period, the British invaded Tibet, and brought Tibet into the western-dominated modern colonial system. The Qing government tried to strengthen the governance of Tibet and other borderlands and to realize integration of borderlands and inlands through reform, but resulted in the further alienation of Tibet from the central government. After the Revolution of 1911, the High Commissioner, Qing government's army and the Han people were all expelled from Tibet. This led to the serious separation between Tibet and the central government, thus an abnormal political relationship appeared for the first time. The Nanking Nationalist Government's establishment in 1927 brought no change. The Nanking government constituted a series of political, economic, cultural and religious policies to eliminate this separation and resume Tibet's subordination to the central government. However, after more than 20 years' efforts, while sovereignty over Tibet was maintained, the Nanking government's administrative power over the region was much weaker than during the Qing period.

This book contains the following parts：

Introduction contains research purpose, literature review, research methods and the outline of the whole book.

Chapter 1 illustrates the newly founded Nationalist Government's governing of Tibet after the 1911 Revolution. This part includes the Nationalist government's dealings with the Tibet Rebellion and its efforts to“resume the old rule”. The Nationalist Government defined Tibet's legal status as a part of China, and established two special agencies in charge of Mongolian and Tibetan affairs-the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Bureau and the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Department.

Chapter 2 introduces the Nationalist Government's basic borderland policies and its policies toward Tibet. They defined Tibet's legal status through the basic law, revised Qing's borderland laws, implemented self-governance, trained Tibetans for political tutelage, and pursued ethnic equality.

Chapters 3 to 6 illustrate the Nationalist Government's Tibet policies over four periods.

Chapter 3 is about the establishment of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, a central government agency in charge of Tibetan and other borderlands affairs. This agency drew up policy guidelines for the political tutelage and actively arranged Tibetan Conference. The Nationalist Government eliminated the official positions set up by previous administrations, and sent commissioners to Tibet to foster friendship. Tibetan offices were set up inland. The relationship between Tibet and the central government improved to some extent.

Chapter 4 discusses the difficult implementation of the Nationalist Government's Tibetan policies on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War. The Xikang-Tibet dispute was peacefully settled. At the time of the death of 13th Dalai Lama, Huang Musong was sent to Tibet to confer upon him an honorary title and to attend funerary ceremonies, which resulted in the improvement of bilateral relations. The Nationalist government decided to escort 9thBanchan Lama back to Tibet with a small military contingent to resume effective control and governance of Tibet. However, supported by the British government，The Local Tibetan government refused to let the honor guards enter Tibet. Banchan Lama's return turned out to be a failure.

Chapter 5 discusses the partial resumption of and adjustment to the Nationalist Government's administrative power over Tibet during the Sino-Japanese War. Wu Zhongxin was sent to Tibet to preside over the affirmation and inauguration of the 14thDalai Lama, and the Tibet office of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission was set up in Tibet. Good time did'nt last long, however After Taktra Rimpoche came into power, the pro-central government policies was abandoned. Tibet government obstructed the construction of the Sino-Indian Road and set up the so-called“Foreign Affairs Bureau”, which resulted in the confrontation and stalemate in Tibet's relations with the central government. To ease the situation, Chiang Kai-shek published China's Destiny, and put forward new thinking on solving ethnic problems—“Theory of Common Ancestry”theory.

Chapter 6 is about the implementation of the Nationalist Government's Tibetan policies after the Sino-Japanese War. After the war, the Nationalist Government planned to offer Tibet“High Degree Autonomy”, and bring Tibet to constitutionalism, but this ended with no result. The improper dealing of the Radreng Incident had far-reaching effects on the overall Tibetan policy, and partly led to the“Expelling Han People Incident”, which marked the end of the Nationalist Government's execution of its Tibet policies.

Chapters 7 to 9 cover special topics, including the Nationalist Government's religious, economic and educational policies toward Tibet.

Chapter 7 discusses the religious policy. The Nationalist Government attached much importance to whether adopt the unification or the separation of monastery and state in Tibet. The implementation of the Tea Brewing and Donation Policy, the management of Tibetan Buddhism and the policy of encouraging Han-Tibetan religious exchanges to promote mutual understanding and to eliminate estrangement are discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 8 is about the Nationalist Government's economic and trade policies toward Tibet. This chapter introduces the background of the economic and trade policies, illustrates the Nationalist Government's efforts to improve bilateral economic and trade relations, and discusses the implementation of the policy using“selling Xikang Tea to Tibet”as a case study.

Chapter 9 discusses the Nationalist Government's educational policies toward Tibet. This chapter investigates the implementation of the Nationalist Government's borderland educational policies in Tibet. The establishment and development of National Lhasa Primary School is also an important topic.

Chapter 10 is the concluding chapter. This chapter summarizes and examines the Nationalist's Tibet policies and their implementation. While generally speaking, the policies are positive and constructive, there do exist remarkable traces of traditional borderland policies. The Nationalist government had no governing Tibet policy of its own. This Chapter analyzes the main factors hindering the implementation of the Nationalist Government's Tibet policy, including the limitations to implementation mechanism and personnel recruitment.