With the invasion of Tibet in 1950 and the subsequent Seventeen Point Agreement, China asserted control over Tibet. A rebellion against the Chinese occupation was led by noblemen and monasteries and broke out in Amdo and eastern Kham in June 1956. The insurrection, supported by the CIA, eventually spread to Lhasa. It was crushed by 1959. During this campaign, tens of thousands of Tibetans were killed and the 14th Dalai Lama and other government principals fled to exile in India.
The Conservative Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee discussed the situation on 29th April, 1959, when the diplomat and Tibetologist Hugh Richardson, addressed the Committee about his experiences as representative of Britain in Tibet from 1936-1940 and 1946-1947, and 1947-1950, on behalf of newly-independent India. |
