The Battle For Lhasa
March 28, 2010About two days after the Dalai Lama fled Lhasa on the night of March 17, 1959, war began raging between Tibetan rebels and the Chinese PLA in Tibet's capital. The uprising was crushed by China by March 24th. Here's an account of those dark days from five Tibetans who were there, four of whom began working on the CIA operation after surviving the devastation.
According to Mikel Dunham's book "Buddha's Warrior's", it's estimated that over 15,000 Tibetans were killed in this battle, and tens of thousands imprisoned. I haven't found an estimated number of Chinese deaths, perhaps because the Chinese government has maintained that their takeover of Lhasa was welcomed by the Tibetans as a liberation from an oppressive Feudalist system, and was little more than a riot caused by a few troublemaking serf-owners.
On March 28, 1959, China announced the dissolution of the Tibetan government, and denounced the Dalai Lama as a fugitive--considering him an "evil separatist" to this day. In 2009, China appointed March 28th "Serf's Emancipation Day", something none of the Tibetans I've met would celebrate.
Thanks to Tenzin Norkyi and Doma Norbu for their help with translation.
Music by Green Goose Music.
3/31/10 ADDENDUM: I just heard that Bhusang, one of the men in this video, passed away March 25. Recruited into the CIA's Tibetan Task Force, he was captured at the battle of Markham, and imprisoned by the Chinese from 1961 to 1978. As with all the former fighters I've talked to, he was a hero of his country and its cause. Bhusangla will not be forgotten. --Lisa Cathey
[...] In wake of the recent release of several Chinese dissidents from prison – artist Ai Weiwei, three of his associates, journalist Wen Tao, and activist Hu Jia – I thought I’d share a related story from one of the Tibetan veterans I interviewed, Bhusang. Imprisoned in Tibet from April 1961 to October 1978, Bhusang was a resistance fighter trained by the CIA at Camp Hale, Colorado and the only survivor of his team soon after they were dropped back into Tibet. For more background on him, see “Democracy for Breakfast: Ode to Bhusang” and "Battle for Lhasa". [...]