White House documents on the Tibetan Revolt: March 1959

52 years ago today, after a landmark Tibetan uprising that ended with the final Chinese takeover of Tibet, the Dalai Lama arrived in India after a harrowing 14-day escape from Lhasa. For this anniversary, I've put together a few documents from the Eisenhower Presidential Library, including three memos from the Operations Coordinating Board. (The OCB, exclusive to the Eisenhower administration, was a committee responsible for coordinating national security policies among various government agencies, including the CIA.) Discussed are strategies for how the Tibetan revolt should best be exploited for the Cold War interests of the US at the time. The final memo refers to two State Department press statements which are included at the end. All combined, it's a taste of what was going on behind the scenes and what was being made public during a tragic time that critically changed the course of history for Tibetans.

CLICK HERE to download the PDF.

Keep in mind these were written before the US had knowledge of the Dalai Lama's arrival -- the CIA didn't receive Athar's radio message until April 2nd. Last year's blog post has more on that if you're interested. It's also good to know a couple of abbreviations commonly used by the US government to distinguish the two opposing Chinese governments: "Chicom" = Chinese Communists (PRC), and "Chinat" = Chinese Nationalists (ROC, AKA Taiwan). And of course, "Peking" or "Peiping" is how the Western world referred to Beijing back then.

And a final document HERE. This one, "Peking Publicity for Tibetan Rebellion and Unrest", is from the US National Archives though it's not clear which government department it's from. Not so much related to this post's title as much as I had promised earlier to post it this month, it's nonetheless an insightful US documentation of Chinese reaction to the building Tibetan resistance. From August 7, 1956 to January 1, 1959, it reveals a hard-core China the world didn't become aware of until March 1959.

The Dalai Lama Appeals to the World

A few weeks after the Dalai Lama arrived in India, he began meeting with the press to tell of the atrocities that happened to his people in Tibet. There are many more details during this period than this short video can go into, but this gives a general overview of his actions to reach out to the world and give attention to his country's plight.

Many thanks to Time, Inc, for their permission to show the cover of the April 1959 issue of Time magazine. Click HERE to download the full article. Also many thanks to Bruce Walker, one of the trainers and CIA case officers for the Tibetan Task Force, for lending me this pacific edition copy.

NOTE: The ability to comment is finally up, so please feel free to give any feedback. I'd love to hear any constructive comments for this or any of the posts. We're still working out the kinks, so for this top post, you need to click on the headline to get to the landing page, where you can post a comment.

Music by Joel Langley at Green Goose Music

The Dalai Lama’s Gift

The day before the Dalai Lama reached India's border, he granted an audience with the CIA's two radio operators, Athar and Lhotse. Athar's daughter, Doma Norbu, tells the story of her father receiving a humble gift of thanks from his God-King, something Athar treasured his entire life.

Note: Doma didn't know the exact date of this day, but knew it was very soon before reaching the border. Between this and the information in Kenneth Conboy's book, "The CIA's Secret War in Tibet", March 30, 1959 is probable, but not definite.

Music by Green Goose Music

The Escape of the Dalai Lama, Part 3

It was on this day in 1959 that the Dalai Lama safely arrived at India's border, after a harrowing 14-day flight from Lhasa. His dramatic escape brought international attention to the Chinese capture of Tibet, a situation that Tibetans continue to struggle with to this day.

The news of his arrival was received by the U.S. on April 2nd, sent by CIA-trained radio operators, Athar and Lhotse. CLICK HERE to download that message.

Thanks to Doma Norbu for her help with Athar's translation (her father).

Music by Green Goose Music

Escape of the Dalai Lama, Part 2

When the Dalai Lama first fled Lhasa on March 17, 1959, no one but his entourage knew where he was, until the CIA eventually located him through the two-man radio team they had trained. For the rest of the world, rumors began spreading and the international press had a field day. This video, as in the first post, gives some context of the media frenzy that spread throughout the world about the disappearance of the Dalai Lama.

Music by Joel Langley at GreenGooseMusic.com

Escape of the Dalai Lama, Part 1

It was on this day in 1959, after a week of ongoing protests by tens of thousands of Tibetans, that the Chinese People's Liberation Army retaliated by shelling Norbulingka, the Dalai Lama's summer palace. In secrecy, the Dalai Lama fled that night, arriving in India two weeks later. To this date, he has never returned to his homeland.

There are many stories within this larger drama, so this will be the first in a short series of posts dealing with the Dalai Lama's escape. Some bits are still in rough stages as certain elements won't be in a finished state until the feature is closer to being done. Hopefully that won't deter this and future posts from being worth watching.

Ratu Ngawang: We Must Never Forget March 10

Ratu Ngawang is respected among many Tibetans as a former commander in the Chushi Gangdruk, the Tibetan resistance army that fought the Chinese PLA from the 50s through the early 70s. He was also the head of security in the escape of the Dalai Lama, which began one week after the Tibetan uprising began on March 10, 1959.

Here's a clip from my interview with him in November, 2009.

The 51st March

Early last year, I had hoped to have a short documentary on the Dalai Lama's escape from Tibet finished by March 2009, the event's 50th anniversary. For many reasons it didn't get completed, but I'm happy to give it some kind of life here and will post more finished segments throughout the month, starting tonight. Also in the month's mix will be clips from recent interviews with Tibetan former resistance fighters who share their personal experiences from March 1959. So in one way or another, all March videos will be devoted to this landmark month in Tibetan history.

For now, to officially kick off Kefiblog, as well as March, here's the open sequence to the never-finished and never-seen "Escape into Exile".