...............Back to Controversial Issue

Since late Qing Dynasty, relations between China and Xizang (Tibet) were estranged as common interest undermined. On one hand, China was becoming a modern society where the influence of religion was declining. Religion was no longer as important as it was during the Yuan, Ming and early Qing Dynasties. On the other hand, China had become so weak that it could hardly afford to take care of its west neighbor and meanwhile Xizang (Tibet) had already learned to defend itself. The military assistance from China was no longer a necessity and could no longer be relied upon. Worst still, the Han culture had lost its appeal to the cultures of the neighboring countries and regions. In the process of this estrangement, the extent of estrangement between peoples was larger than that between the governments and estrangement of mind was more than that in other respects. In the mind of the Tibetans, deceitfulness had replaced the image of alliance and defenders. In the mind of Chinese who considered themselves as being enlightened, backwardness and ignorance of the "half human - half beast" had replaced the image of subjects of the living Buddha. Although this mutual discrimination and despise did not cause immediate split, it laid the foundation for the retaliatory killings by both sides in the later days and made the issue more complicated.