Invaded by China in 1950, Tibet has suffered the loss of life, freedoms, and human rights under communist Chinese domination. In March 1959, an uprising against China’s occupation in Tibet was crushed and the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader and head of state, was forced to escape into exile in India, followed by 80,000 Tibetans.
In the first twenty-five years of the occupation, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans died in military clashes, in labour camps, and by execution and starvation. Some 6000 religious sites were destroyed, and Tibet’s cultural, political, and social institutions were pulled apart