Conflict And The Cultural Revolution: The Nyemo Ani Incident Of 1969

Abstract

This chapter has been written about the violence that engulfed Tibet during the Cultural Revolution. The most powerful figure in Tibet at the start of the Cultural Revolution was Zhang Guohua, the military commander who had come to Tibet in October 1951 as the head of the main PLA military force, the 18 th Army Corps. Throughout October, Zhang Guohua tried to maintain stability by preventing more Red Guards, particularly Han Red Guards from Beijing, from coming to Tibet and further radicalizing the Cultural Revolution there. From the start, Zhang Guohua and the Regional Party Committee sought to manipulate the Cultural Revolution so that they, rather than local Red Guards or other revolutionary workers and cadres, would be in control of mass demonstrations and struggle sessions against the 'holders of power' in the party. Keywords: Cultural Revolution; PLA military force; Zhang Guohua revolutionary