Seventeen-Point Agreement

On October 7,1950, Chinese troops crossed the Yangstze River frontier and attacked Tibetan border troops. China began its military annexation of Tibet in 1951. The Tibetan government quickly conceded defeat. On May 23,1951, Tibet signed the "Seventeen-Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet." For the first time in more than 1,300 years of recorded history, Tibet formally acknowledged Chinese sovereignty. Rioting then erupted

1996  (Apr. 9) Tibet and Xinjiang officials agree on new border, inaugurating new campaign to define China's internal borders.

1997  (Aug.) Dalai Lama acknowledges willingness to accept self-rule for Tibet, not independence.

1998  (Mar. 10) Tibetans in New Delhi, India, launch hunger strike, hoping to persuade U. N. General Assembly to address question of Chinese rule over Tibet.

1998  (Oct. 1) Tibetan government in exile admits having accepted financial aid from

U. S. Central Intelligence Agency during 1960's.

1998  (Nov. 10) Dalai Lama meets with U. S. president Bill Clinton and other top U. S. government leaders, seeking U. S. support in coming Tibetan negotiations with Chinese government.

1999  (Mar. 10) Dalai Lama leads mass demonstration of Tibetan exiles living in northern India to mark fortieth anniversary of Tibet's revolt against Chinese rule on date commemorated as Tibetan National Day.

1999  (June 22) World Bank votes to lend China US$160 million to resettle sixty thousand poor Chinese in sparsely populated parts of Tibet.

2000  (Jan.) Fourteen-year-old Karmapa Lama flees Tibet and joins the Dalai Lama in India.

2002  (Apr. 4) Chinese government frees Tanak Jigme Sangpo, a Tibetan activist who

Had been in prison since 1983.

2002  (Sept. 11) Representatives of the Dalai Lama visit Beijing in the first official

Contact between the Chinese government and the Tibetan leader in ten years.

2002  (Sept. 16) Envoys of the Dalai Lama visit Tibet.

2002  (Oct. 1) Dalai Lama urges his supporters not to demonstrate against Chinese

President Jiang Zemin during the latter's visit to the United States and Mexico.