A: No. Early in the 7th century, Songtsan Gambo used force to annex the other tribes living on the Tibet Plateau, and set up the Tubo Kingdom, which included the larger part of today's Tibet autonomous Region.

 

In 1247 the religious leader of Tibet and China's Mongol regime laid down the terms for Tibetan submission to the Mongols, which included presentation of maps and census records, payment of tributes, and the acceptance of rule by appointed officials. The regime of the Mongol Khanate changed its title to Yuan in 1271 and unified the whole of China in 1279. Tibet thus became an administrative region directly under the administration of the central government of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). This occurred 500 years prior to the independence of the United States. 

 

In the centuries following, the Chinese central government maintained the right to determine Tibet's local administrative bodies, to appoint and remove local officials, and to conduct regular censuses. The central government of the Qing Dynasty also dispatched commissioners to be stationed in Tibet, to supervise Tibet's local administrative affairs on behalf of the central authorities. In 1653 and 1713, the Qing emperors granted honorific titles to the 5th Dalai Lama and the 5th Panchen Lama, thereby officially establishing the titles of Dalai Lama and panchen Erdini and their political and religious status in Tibet. This also instituted the process whereby reincarnation and enthronement of various generations of Dalai and Panchen could take place only after first obtaining central government approval. The reincarnation of the 14th Dalai Lama, who is currently in exile abroad, was approved in 1940 by the then president of the National Government.

 

No country in the world regards Tibet as an independent country. The assertion that "historically Tibet has been an independent country" is one that has been fabricated by a handful of people with ulterior motives, and it does not conform to historical facts.