Tibet, the remote and mainly-buddhist territory known as the 'roof of the world', is governed as an autonomous region of china. Beijing claims a centuries-old sovereignty over the himalayan region.

Tibet came under the control of the qing dynasty of china in 1720 after the qing expelled the forces of the dzungar khanate from tibet. It remained under qing suzerainty (or protectorate) until 1912. The succeeding claimed inheritance of all territories held by the qing dynasty, including tibet.

The initial uprising occurred amid general chinese-tibetan tensions and a context of confusion, because tibetan protesters feared that the chinese government might arrest the . The protests were also fueled by anti-chinese sentiment and separatism.

The government of tibet and the tibetan social structure remained in place in the tibetan polity under the authority of china until the 1959 tibetan uprising, when the dalai lama fled into exile and after which the government of tibet and tibetan social structures were dissolved.

Today, many tibetans feel that their culture and national identity are being obliterated by the chinese communist party. The dalai lama, who was traditionally both the spiritual and political leader of tibet, has been in exile for decades.

The people's republic of china (prc) claims that tibet is an integral part of china. The maintains that tibet is an independent state under unlawful occupation.

It is generally believed that china and tibet were independent prior to the yuan dynasty (1271–1368), and tibet has been ruled by the people's republic of china (prc) since 1959.

China absolutely cannot cause mongolia and tibet to break away from china's territory, and mongolia and tibet cannot reject china to become independent. At this time, there is not a single nation on earth except china that will sincerely develop mongolia and tibet.

Tibetans are often punished by chinese authorities for activities that would not be considered crimes under international law, such as exercising their freedom of speech.