Retro Raunch Revisit

This month marks the 75th anniversary of the publication debut of FROLIC magazine (1951). The last print issue appears to be a Winter 1974 Annual.


MAY 1951 ON THE WORLD STAGE The Chinese Communists have won all they can wish for in Tibet, and this must please them after their losses in Korea. The recent Seventeen Point Agreement announced on Peking radio and followed by an address from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung gives them sovereign control of Tibetan defence and foreign relations. Though a "Political and Military Council" (comprised of a joint commission and armed headquarters) at the capital in Lhasa will be staffed chiefly by Tibetans, it looks as if Chinese forces will be stationed in the country. As a regional government will be carrying out reforms, Tibet may thus revert to its position before the fall of the Manchus in 1911 when Chinese armies intervened with a heavy hand. For internal matters the existing political structure is to remain intact, and officials with a "pro-imperialist" past may continue to serves. But doubtless, its believed a Tibetan People's party will before long be in power. Outer Mongolia and the ousting of its living Buddha and the Old Guard will supply the Tibetan community with ideas about how to proceed. Some of the provisions of the new agreement deserve special notice such as the position & authority of the pro-communist Panchen Lama to be maintained. Theoretically, the Panchen Lama is even holier than the Dalai Lama and as Tibet is too small for both Panchen and Dalai, if the Panchen returns with Chinese backing then the Dalai must consider himself on the way out. The present Panchen is a boy whose selection was engineered by the Chinese and who has therefore been repudiated by many Tibetans. Another stipulation is that the Tibetan language shall be developed "in accordance with local needs." What does this mean? It may be an attempt to create a new Tibetan vernacular as a means of weakening the authority of the lamas who speak a sacerdotal dialect. Opinions differ about Tibet's strategic importance and as well, nobody really knows what its natural resources are. Those of most value are probably in the northwest. The Indian press is busy reconsidering the defence position, and events in neighboring Nepal will become more interesting. China's proclaimed "peaceful liberation" of Tibet occured in Nov 1950 and what they described as a friendly merger of reunification between the 2 countries, many opponents across the world have condemned the incorporation as a hostile annexation, and even more so as an outright invasion that forced the Tibetans to sign the controversial agreement under duress.