Kowtow to Peking

Peking broadcast news of a great victory: less than a year after Red Chinese troops first marched into the outlying reaches of Tibet, the theocratic government of Lhasa had surrendered. In a treaty negotiated at Peking, the Tibetans accepted 1) status as an "autonomous" province under the sovereignty of Red China; 2) occupation by a Red Chinese garrison; 3) merger of all Tibetan forces into Red China's army; 4) direction of Tibetan foreign affairs by Red China.

The 16-year-old Dalai Lama, who is supposed to exercise temporal power (TIME, May 14), will stay on in Lhasa as his people's nominal ruler. But his rival, the Communist-backed, 13-year-old Panchen Lama, will be allowed to return from exile as spiritual ruler.

Thus, Communist China extended its power over 3,500,000 people in a region twice as large as France, got a foothold for military bases--such as they may be--within reach of India's northern frontier.

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