Tiny Tibet feels squeeze from giant neighbors

Re: Well...

Boobies said:
Confederate States and California felt the same as well. If we need to discuss this issue (sovereignties), we may need to look into all countries' pasts and replace all the wrongs with the rights.
In truth, the comparison isn't anything close to equal. In the Americas, the native population was mostly killed off by diseases brought here by Europeans, and prior to that they really didn't have a concept of borders. In a couple hundred years of colonization, you see a virtually unpopulated land with no borders to speak of, ultimately thrown together into the nations there today. Mexico officially controlled a giant chunk of what is now the western United States, but was doing almost nothing with it (other than Texas and California.) But where did their right to control it come from to begin with? Lines on a map and politics. The Southern States most definitely were a part of the United States, but they elected to break away but lost the war and failed.

Tibet, on the other hand, has thousands of years of history as a kingdom, nation or entity outside of China. Chinese Empires fought wars against Tibet on numerous occasions and in some instances, parts of Tibet were conquered and held. Yet none of those ancient Dynasties really considered Tibet to be a true part of China proper. There were other cases where Tibet conqured parts of China and held onto it for awhile. Not until the Manchus did China control virtually all of Tibet, but the Manchus hardly bothered with it. But by and large, Tibet controlled Tibet and China controlled China ... each for thousands of years. Their cultures and histories are very different from one another. Prior to the invasion, Tibet was functioning as an independent nation and China hadn't bothered to treat Tibet is anything else. We see a several decade gap between Manchu dominion and the PRC invading Tibet. Not sure what took so long if Tibet is so definitely a part of China.

If the Manchu/Qing dominion of Tibet was so poorly administrated and Tibet became its own nation for several decades, why not leave it be? The Manchu conqest of many different lands had absolutely nothing to do with any sort of valid claim upon the lands. They, like the Mongols before them, were just stronger than all other neighboring nations and took over whatever they wanted. Alternately, Tibet ruled itself for thousands of years. Which claim is more valid?

But truthfully, none of that matters. China is far too powerful militarily for anyone to ever dream of liberating Tibet by force. We live in a world where Right and Wrong are still ultimately defined in terms of Military Might. Might = Right. Weak = Wrong. China = Might = Right. Tibet = Weak = Wrong. This is the way the world opperates, but I don't have to like it. [/list]
 
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