Tibet

=== Post-Qing period ===
{{Main|Tibet (1912–1951)}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-KB-17-040, Tibetexpedition, Geer mit Argali.jpg|thumb|Edmund Geer during the [[1938–1939 German expedition to Tibet]]]]
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-S-12-50-09, Tibetexpedition, Ragyapas, Geier.jpg|thumb|[[Rogyapas]], an [[Social classes of Tibet|outcast group]], early 20th century. Their hereditary occupation included disposal of corpses and leather work.]]
After the [[Xinhai Revolution]] (1911–1912) toppled the Qing dynasty and the last Qing troops were escorted out of Tibet, the new [[Republic of China (1912–49)|Republic of China]] apologized for the actions of the Qing and offered to restore the Dalai Lama's title.<ref>Mayhew, Bradley and Michael Kohn. (2005). ''Tibet'', p. 32. Lonely Planet Publications. {{ISBN|1-74059-523-8}}.</ref> The Dalai Lama refused any Chinese title and declared himself ruler of an [[Tibet (1912–51)|independent Tibet]].<ref name="shakya5">Shakya 1999, pg. 5</ref> In 1913, Tibet and [[Mongolia (1911–24)|Mongolia]] concluded [[Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government of Mongolia and Tibet|a treaty of mutual recognition]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ww38.ltwa.net/library/index.php?option=com_multicategories&view=article&id=170&catid=30:news&Itemid=12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030061528/http://www.ltwa.net/library/index.php?option=com_multicategories&view=article&id=170&catid=30%3Anews&Itemid=12 |url-status=dead |title=ltwa.net|archive-date=October 30, 2012|website=ww38.ltwa.net}}</ref> For the next 36 years, the 13th Dalai Lama and the [[politics in Tibet|regents who succeeded him]] governed Tibet. During this time, Tibet fought Chinese warlords for control of the ethnically Tibetan areas in [[Xikang]] and [[Qinghai]] (parts of Kham and Amdo) along the upper reaches of the [[Yangtze River]].<ref name="Wang 150">Wang Jiawei, "The Historical Status of China's Tibet", 2000, p. 150.</ref> In 1914, the Tibetan government signed the [[Simla Convention]] with Britain, which recognized Chinese suzerainty over Tibet in return for a border settlement. China refused to sign the convention and lost its suzerain rights.<ref>{{citation |last1=Fisher |first1=Margaret W. |last2=Rose |first2=Leo E. |last3=Huttenback |first3=Robert A. |title=Himalayan Battleground: Sino-Indian Rivalry in Ladakh |date=1963 |publisher=Praeger |url=https://archive.org/details/himalayanbattleg0000unse/mode/2up |via=archive.org |pages=77–78 |quote=By refusing to sign it, however, the Chinese lost an opportunity to become the acknowledged suzerain of Tibet. The Tibetans were therefore free to make their own agreement with the British.}}</ref>

When in the 1930s and 1940s the regents displayed negligence in affairs, the Kuomintang Government of the Republic of China took advantage of this to expand its reach into the territory.<ref>{{cite book
  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WIJFuD-cH_IC&q=dalai+lama+kuomintang+brief+civil+war
  |title=The Search for the Panchen Lama
  |author=Isabel Hilton
  |year=2001
  |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company
  |page=112
  |isbn=978-0-393-32167-8
  |access-date=2010-06-28
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610000748/https://books.google.com/books?id=WIJFuD-cH_IC&dq=ma+bufang+taiwan&q=dalai+lama+kuomintang+brief+civil+war#v=snippet&q=dalai%20lama%20kuomintang%20brief%20civil%20war&f=false
  |archive-date=June 10, 2016
  |url-status=live
  }}</ref> On December 20, 1941, Kuomintang leader [[Chiang Kai-shek|Chiang Kai-Shek]] noted in his diary that Tibet would be among the territories which he would demand as restitution for China following the conclusion of World War II.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mitter |first=Rana |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1141442704 |title=China's good war : how World War II is shaping a new nationalism |date=2020 |publisher=The Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-98426-4 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=45 |oclc=1141442704 |access-date=October 15, 2022 |archive-date=April 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402121743/https://www.worldcat.org/title/1141442704 |url-status=live }}</ref>