Protests and uprisings in Tibet since 1950

Protests and uprisings in Tibet against the government of the People's Republic of China have occurred since 1950, and include the 1959 uprising, the 2008 uprising, and the subsequent self-immolation protests.

Over the years the Tibetan government in exile, the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (CTA), has shifted the goal of its resistance stance from attempting measured cooperation with autonomy, to demanding full independence, to seeking "genuine autonomy for all Tibetans living in the three traditional provinces of Tibet within the framework of the People's Republic of China". However, not all exiled Tibetans are content with pursuing a moderate path and many expressed their frustration in 2008, against the Dalai Lama's wishes, by agitating for independence.

With the 14th Dalai Lama announcing his retirement from political life just before the April 2011 elections for Prime Minister, who will henceforth be Tibet's political leader, the nature of resistance may be moving into yet another phase, although the three leading candidates currently favor the Middle Way Approach.

Isolated geography has naturally defined Tibet as a unique entity, however, its governance and political status have been in flux for centuries. The minor kingdoms and tribal states of the region were first united under Songtsän Gampo to form the Tibetan Empire in the seventh century C.E. Under the influence of his Chinese bride and first Nepali wife Bhrikuti, the Emperor converted to Buddhism and established it as the religion of Tibet. An influx of Chinese culture, the Indian alphabet, and Buddhist monks followed, combining with the native customs and animistic religion Bön to give birth to what has become today's ethnic Tibetan people and Tibetan Buddhism, also known as Lamaism,

After the break-up of the Tibetan Empire in the mid-9th century, central rule was largely nonexistent over the region for 400 years. But Buddhism survived and when the Mongols conquered the region, Buddhism was adopted as the official religion of their empire. In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty and Tibet remained a semi-autonomous entity within it. From the second half of the 14th century until the early 17th, Tibet was ruled by competing Buddhist schools. However, it was during this period that the Gelug order was founded in 1409 and the institution of the Dalai Lama was established in 1569 with the priest-patron relationship between the Altan Khan and the 3rd Dalai Lama (the first two were bestowed the title retroactively). The Dalai Lamas are said to be the reincarnates of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteśvara.

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