After the Chinese invasion of Tibet the Tibetan government signs the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People’s Republic of China on March 23, 1951. Chinese sources regard the document as a legal contract that was mutually welcomed by both governments and by the Tibetan people. Tibetan exile sources consider it invalid and as having been signed under duress. It is estimated that one million Tibetans have died as a result of the Chinese occupation, through imprisonment, torture and executions and over 6,000 monasteries and shrines have been destroyed. But the people of Tibet have not given up hope of somehow driving out their oppressors even after 63 years of occupation and re-establishing their proud nation.
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