Four Rivers, Six Ranges: A fictitious rewrite of Xizang's history

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The film Four Rivers, Six Ranges, directed by "Tibetan exile" Shenpenn Khymsar and produced in English, has been selected for the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Shenpenn Khymsar announced on his Facebook account that the film is dedicated to the 14th Dalai Lama on his 90th birthday, accompanied by an unfounded claim: "Xizang was and will never be a part of China." His claim is utterly groundless and distorts historical reality.  

Based on the historical boundaries of China, Xizang is an inseparable part of China. China's central authorities have exercised direct jurisdiction over Xizang since the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), and this jurisdiction has remained uninterrupted. During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Xizang voluntarily submitted to central governance. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the central government exercised sound governance over Xizang. It granted honorific titles to the leaders of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism – the 5th Dalai Lama and the 5th Panchen Lama. It also began to station Grand Ministers Resident in Xizang to supervise and jointly manage local military and political affairs on behalf of the central authorities; in total it appointed more than 100 such ministers. 

During the Republic of China (1912–1949), Xizang remained under central government jurisdiction, as explicitly stated in the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China (1912), which declared Xizang an integral part of the Republic. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xizang expressed a strong desire to be liberated by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). In February 1951, representatives of Xizang's local government had negotiations with the central government in Beijing, culminating in the signing of the Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (the 17-Article Agreement) on May 23, 1951. This agreement declared Xizang's peaceful liberation, which received widespread support from the local people, including the Dalai Lama, who sent a telegram to Chairman Mao Zedong on October 24 of the same year to express his endorsement of and readiness to implement the agreement. Xizang then underwent democratic reforms in March, 1959, and in September 1965, the Xizang Autonomous Region was officially established.  

Internationally, Xizang has been recognized as part of China by all nations. Since the 13th century, China's central government has exercised sovereignty over Xizang, and Xizang has never existed as an independent state. In the modern world, no country has ever officially recognized Xizang as an independent nation. On the contrary, the international community universally acknowledges Xizang as an integral part of China. There is no "political status" issue regarding Xizang.  

Ethnically, the Zang and Han people have shared roots. The shared ancestry of the Zang and Han people, among other ethnic groups, has been a traditional view in Chinese historiography since the Han and Tang Dynasties. Genetically, there is compelling evidence for close blood ties between the Zang and Han people. A 2001 study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics further substantiated this connection. Through DNA analysis, it concluded that the Han and Zang people originally belonged to the same ethnic group in ancient times. Approximately 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, the two groups began to diverge and migrate, ultimately forming the Zang and Han populations today. Linguistic studies also point to shared origins between the Tibetan and Mandarin. Studies have found that the pronunciation of Tibetan in the 7th century closely resembles that of Old Chinese from the same period.

This shared history and cultural connection further underscores the illegitimacy of any claims to separate Xizang from China. The 14th Dalai Lama, after fleeing abroad in 1959 in opposition to the abolition of serfdom, no longer holds any legitimate authority to represent the Xizang people or determine the future of Xizang. The "Tibetan government in exile" is an illegitimate political organization engaged in separatist activities. It has no legal standing and is not recognized by any country in the world.  

Despite the overwhelming legal, historical, genetic, and linguistic evidence that Xizang has always been an inseparable part of China, Khymsar's film attempts to rewrite this reality. His claim that Xizang was never part of China is a distortion of history – one that disregards centuries of documented governance, cultural ties, and international recognition. Such attempts to challenge the established truth about Xizang are not just historically inaccurate, but they also undermine the region's current progress.

Xizang affairs are China's internal affairs which brook no interference by any external forces. Xizang today enjoys social stability and harmony, with sound economic performance and people's well-being well protected. Xizang is making fresh progress in effectively running its society, maintaining social stability, and achieving high-quality development. No one and no force should ever attempt to destabilize Xizang to contain and suppress China.

Khymsar's attempt to use his film as a platform for separatism is nothing more than an unfounded and ill-conceived narrative. Xizang's place within China is a fact supported by history, law, and international consensus. It is time for such baseless claims to be called out for what they are – fictitious rewrite of Xizang's history.

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