The "Tibet Question" which was formerly an exclusively Sino-Tibetan issue, has become a hot international political topic since the early 20th century because of the position Tibet holds in Sino-Western relations.

Today, the "Tibet Question" is present in all negotiations conducted by Beijing. It has also become a relevant issue on the domestic political scene of many Western countries, dividing politicians into two separate camps - one calling for the isolation of China to push Beijing into negotiations with the Dalai Lama, and the other which says economic cooperation can lead to political rapprochement and a possible resolution of the Tibetan issue.

The power centers are now in Beijing and Washington, and to a lesser degree the European Union. Mongolia and Russia play a distant role that must be remembered because they could intervene in Sino-Tibetan negotiations.

Until the early 20th century, Beijing had a limited interest in assuming control over Tibet and considered alliance the safest way to secure its Western borders. But the British military action of 1903-04 against Tibet attracted Beijing's attention to the strategic importance of the Himalayan region.

The Qing dynasty was too weak to impose its rule and Tibet was not one of Beijing's priorities after the proclamation of the first Republic of China in 1912. For 40 years Tibet conducted its own affairs independently.

As Mao Zedong seized power in 1949 and rapidly took control of all China, Tibet once again became the focus of Chinese policy, as the fledgling Communist state was eager to secure its new borders.

In 1951 a Tibetan delegation was invited to Beijing to discuss the status of Tibet, and under pressure was forced to accept the terms of the 17 Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. This document, later signed by the current 14th Dalai Lama, recognized for the first time Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.

For eight years, Tibetans and Chinese lived in tense coexistence as Tibet was achieving its socialist transformation from a traditionally feudal society. This period ended in March 1959 after a riot in Lhasa was crushed by the Chinese army. The Dalai Lama and 80,000 followers went into exile in India and settled in Dharamsala, the current site of the Tibetan exiled government.

In response, Beijing imposed strict regulations on Tibet, seeing Tibetan traditional culture as an obstacle to the modernization of the country and the power of the Communist Party. This policy intensified during the 1966-1976 Cultural revolution that destroyed most of the Tibetan monasteries and the cultural heritage.

The announcement made by Deng Xiaoping that China would open to the outside world through economic reform lightened hardships for all Chinese citizens, including Tibetans. Beijing changed its policy of assimilation and replaced it by a policy more respectful of ethnic sensibility.

In 1980, Party secretary Hu Yaobang visited Tibet and while back in Beijing he made a severe criticism of the Party's policy in Tibet. He set up a Tibet Working Conference to immediately improve living conditions of Tibetans and resolve the Tibetan issue.

This climate of tolerance brought both sides back in contact again. The Dalai Lama sent two secret missions to Beijing in 1982 and 1984. China was optimistic the exiles would acknowledge its tolerant policy towards Tibet, but the envoys came with a message demanding political autonomy, and the inclusion of Greater Tibet - ethnic Tibet covering not only the current Tibet Autonomous region, but also parts of neighboring Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The missions failed due to this deadlock, with the participants unable to reach a compromise.

Beginning in 1986, the Dalai Lama opted for a new strategy: lobbying powerful nations in the West to put pressure on China. China responded angrily by increasing repression in Tibet.

Tighter political control came into effect in 1989 after a riot erupted in March in Lhasa, and martial law was subsequently imposed on Tibet. In June, that same year, the student movement in Tiananmen Square was crushed by the People's Liberation Army.

From then on, Beijing -- embarrassed by the popularity of the Dalai Lama in the West and the criticism made by foreign governments -- has opted for the option of "modernizing Tibet", meaning educating a new generation of Tibetans not influenced by religion, and bringing in more Han-Chinese cadres and their families.

In 1993, two Tibetan representatives traveled to Beijing to discuss possible negotiations but did not get any results.

The death of Deng Xiaoping had no effect on Tibet as Beijing was concentrating on the handover of Hong Kong.

The "One Country - Two Systems" policy, designed for Hong Kong and Taiwan, does not apply to Tibet. The 15th party Congress could bring changes in leadership, and therefore a reevaluation of the Tibetan issue in Beijing.

The Dalai Lama is caught in a dilemma: Tibet is being irremediably changed as its ethnic composition is altered. But he has no space for maneuvering, as a substantial part of the exiled community and government originates from Greater Tibet (the Amdo and Kham regions) and claims to include those regions in a sovereign Tibet can not be negotiated.

Tibetans may hope for a disintegration of China, like at the end of the Qing Empire in 1911, or one along the Soviet model in 1991, would give them back control over their affairs. But time is China's best ally. Ironically, Dharamsala and the West precipitated the hard-line policy of Beijing, pushing Beijing to take a stand.

Today, the influx of Chinese settlers is the core issue creating the current crisis.

As for Taiwan, the position of the ruling Kuomintang party is carefully moving from a conservative view declaring Tibet an "inalienable part of China" to considering Tibet as an autonomous region.

In 1930, the Tibetan government opened an Embassy in Nanjing, the then capital of Kuomintang-controlled China. The Kuomintang sent a mission to Lhasa in 1933 after the 13th Dalai Lama died to discuss borders and to open an office in Lhasa. Eventually the civil war made Tibet a forgotten issue.

After the Kuomintang established its government on the island of Taiwan it declared Tibet, as well as Mongolia -- including the former Outer Mongolia that became the Republic of Mongolia -- Chinese territory. Textbooks printed in Taiwan include all of those territories.

But Taiwanese have become more pragmatic and a majority of them have renounced such territorial claims. More recently, the Dalai Lama has visited Taiwan and opened a representative office in Taipei.

With a political rapprochement emerging between Beijing and Taipei, relations with the Dalai Lama may become embarrassing to Taiwanese authorities.

The overseas community of Chinese, however, regardless of their opposition to the Beijing regime, holds the same position as Beijing when it comes to the status of Tibet. The Dalai Lama is considered as harmful to Chinese interests. A very small minority of Chinese scholars and democratic activists are in favor of an open dialogue with Tibetan exiles.

Torture In Tibet
According to testimonies from refugees and information from within Tibet, the most common forms of torture in Tibet still appear to be beating and the use of electric batons. There are also frequent cases in which torture methods that do not leave physical marks are used, including forced standing, threats of death, exposure to extreme temperatures and the deprivation of food and sleep, particularly during interrogation. Placing prisoners in solitary confinement for extensive periods of time is a very common practice and there are reports of cases where this has resulted in a deterioration of mental health and damage to eyesight.

Political prisoners in Tibet appear to face particularly harsh treatment because they pose the greatest threat to the authorities in their refusal to comply and reform. Individuals who are regarded as political activists continue to be detained and arrested for activities ranging from the organisation of and participation in protests to a refusal to criticise the Dalai Lama or the chanting of pro-independence songs. Tibetans who attempt to send information out of Tibet and those seeking to escape into exile are also amongst those detained and imprisoned. It is from amongst this group of detainees that cases of torture and abuse within detention centres and prisons are most often reported.

Before they are formally "arrested", prisoners generally undergo intense interrogation to secure confessions to be used during their trial and also to gain information about other dissidents. The Chinese saying that "if you confess it will mean leniency; if not then punishment will be severe", which was used during the Cultural Revolution and is still used now, expresses the pressure brought to bear on prisoners to make confessions and the repercussions of a refusal to comply. Despite the removal from law of the practice of shelter and investigation, it is still legal to detain suspects for 44 days before formal arrest under the new criminal laws. This means that prisoners who undergo interrogation in detention centres such as Gutsa, just outside Lhasa, frequently endure more severe torture than those who have already been sentenced. In October 1996, for instance, a 25-year old artist called Yungdrug was found in a public toilet in Lhasa in a severe state of shock after being released from detention. He had allegedly spent 58 days at Gutsa and was apparently unable to recognise his friends and did not know where he lived. Yungdrug had been arrested because he specialised in painting portraits of the Dalai Lama.