'The Local Government of Tibet should carry out reforms of its own accord', said one article.

The promises would never be kept.

On September 9, 1951, several thousand Communist troops entered Lhasa under the command of General Wang Qimei. Soon, 20,000 troops began occupying the most strategic points on the Tibetan Plateau (including some parts of the Indian territory).

During the first years following the 'liberation', the Dalai Lama tried his best to 'cohabit' with the Chinese, but the situation rapidly worsened.

During this period, for the first time in Tibet's 2000-year-old history, the local population experienced famine. Tibet was not able to feed its own people and the Communist troops in addition. The people were not allowed to practice their religion anymore. Mao had told the young Dalai Lama that 'religion is poison'.