FOREIGN POLICY OF YUAN SHIH-K'AI WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON TIBET, 1912-191

China subjugated Tibet and coverted it into a Chinese protectorate between 1905 and 1911. Although the Chinese victory was not achieved against a major power, it was hailed by Chinese nationalists a triumph of Chinese nationalism. The Tibetian conquest was the first major military victory achieved by China outside its borders for a long time. It is not surprising that in a world where might determined one's place (as demonstrated by imperialist conquests), China also trod the path of imperialism in an effort to refurbish its image in the eyes of the foreign powers in China at that time.;But China's success was short lived, for with the 1911 Revolution it lost the predominance it had gained in Tibet. To revive the national spirit, it became necessary for the Republic to reassert itself in Tibet as the successors to the Manchu Empire. However, that task was made virtually impossible by Britain's direct support of Tibet. Consequently, the Chinese Republic under the presidency of Yuan Shih-k'ai faced the task of retrieving lost prestige on the one hand, and avoiding a frontal confrontation with Britain on the Tibetan issue on the other. In other words, Tibet became a bone of contention between British imperialism and Chinese nationalism. The Tibetan question thus posed one of the major foreign policy problems of the presidency of Yuan Shih-k'ai.;Yuan Shih-k'ai's government attempted to stem the advance of British imperialism into Tibet in three ways. First, by using the 'carrot and stick' method it hoped to regain China's lost authority there. Second, with Britain, Yuan strove to reach a diplomatic agreement which would have reestablished some form of Chinese authority in Western Tibet while recognizing the special interest of Britain in the area. Third, Yuan's government devised varied measures and steps aimed at reestablishing China's control over Eastern Tibet. While Yuan achieved relative success in the latter, his hopes for an accommodation with the Tibetans and a diplomatic solution to the Tibetan problem were never realized.;However, the study of Yuan Shih-k'ai's Tibetan policy is important in proving that contrary to the charges of the Chinese historians that Yuan compromised China's national interests for his own sake, he tried, through astute diplomacy, to safeguard China's national interests in the wake of the increasing pressures and demands of imperialism. Yuan's foreign policy can be viewed as a part of the response of Chinese nationalism to the threat of imperialism which engulfed China at that time. Further, it appears that there was little difference between Yuan Shih-k'ai and Sun Yat-sen in their approaches to foreign policy between 1912 and 1916.