Yeah I know it's orange for China, I thought yellow for contested because I thought it was, well, contested. Is yellow essentially green, except that it's in anothers core?
but I just thought that the situation is possibly analogous with the situation of Wales/UK, wherein Wales was conquered by England hundreds of years ago but maintains a separate (or at least some of them do) Welsh identity. Except a bit more colonial and oppressive for Tibet o.O
I'll grudgingly say it might be accurate for Tibet to be light green. hmm.
I'll give you as balanced of a lowdown as I can give:
Well, Tibet has always been semi-autonomous but considered part of China since the Qing Dynasty, through the RoC, then to the PRC.
Even early in Mao Zedong's regime, he helped subsidize the Dalai Lama's monasteries.
But the CIA instigated a rebellion in the 1950's (to undermine communist China) and an army was marched in to prevent an American client state from being set up in the flank of China, which led to the Dalai Lama's exile. The CCP abolished all the old customs the theocratic elite imposed on the common Tibetans, like generational debt slavery and serfdom.
Ever since then, the traditional semi-autonomy has been revoked and direct control has been more or less assumed.
With it, standard of living has raised in general in Tibet as China invests in the region and builds infrastructure like schools & hospitals & etc., but people want the return of the Dalai Lama as a
spiritual leader while depending on the Chinese economy, and they generally want a better piece of the pie (economic concerns) and more autonomy like they used to have. Also, more civil rights of course, although they get special treatment in some areas, like being exempt from the One Child Policy. Tibetan land is generally not arable, and with a growing population, they depend on their link with the rest of China to help sustain growth.
Most people in the West erroneously believe that Tibet was independent forever and look to the Tibetan Empire, even though the time period is way off (Referring to the Tibetan Empire that competed with the Tang Dynasty). And stereotypes and perception about the Tibetans being super-spiritual special people by many Westerners only serves to dehumanize them, which is bad any way you look at it.
Tibet also maintains a separate cultural identity, (despite what people say, Tibetan is still taught in schools in Tibet as a mandatory language)
but there are some aspects that are being eroded by the modern lifestyle China brings to the region, to answer your question.
China isn't right in the Tibetans not tasting enough of the nation's overall economic success and that the Dalai Lama should probably be allowed to return,
granted he guarantees he won't start things again, and the West needs to open their eyes to not buying into an agenda that is meant to destabilize other countries.
So the situation is a lot more grey and complex than what a lot of people are led to believe. I hope that helps.
