On the Relationship between the Central Government and the Local Government of Tibet in the Late Qing Dynasty

After the Opium War in 184o, China was more and more semi-colonized. Around the turn of the 20th century, the national strength of the Qing Empire was quickly weakening. As a result, the Qing Court exercised a weaker rule over Tibet, and its political relationship with Tibet was consequently affected. On the problems of how to resist foreign invasions and how to handle Tibet＇s internal affairs, the Qing Court and the local government of Tibet disagreed so much that Tibet, instigated by Russia and Britain, even tried to gain its independence and seek political support from foreign countries. Tibet held this intention till the early period of the Republic of China. Nevertheless, Tibet continued its traditional sovereign-subject relationship with the Central Government, established in the Yuan Dynasty This paper intends to shed some light on the relationship between the Central Government and the local government of Tibet from two aspects： the Qing Dynasty＇s decline and the imperialist invasions.