关于中央人民政府和西藏地方政府进行和平谈判并签订《十七条协议》，需要强调以下几点基本历史事实：

　　第一，和平谈判是在西藏地方政府承认西藏是中国不可分割的一部分的前提下进行的。十四世达赖喇嘛和西藏地方政府派出谈判代表团时，给每位代表颁发了一份盖有印章的全权证书，证书外面注明了西藏全权代表五人的姓名和身份，里面写有承认西藏为中国领土等内容。谈判要解决的根本问题，是增强民族团结和维护祖国统一问题。正如阿沛回忆指出的，在这个问题上，“双方代表的基本立场是一致的。”

Regarding the peace talks and the signing of the 17-Article Agreement, we need to stress some basic historical facts as fol-lows:

First, the peace talks were held on the premise that the local government of Tibet admitted that Tibet is an inseparable part of China. When the 14th Dalai Lama and the local government of Tibet dispatched the delegation, every representative got a sealed plenipotentiary certificate, which stated the name and identity of the holder on the envelope, and inside the statement that Tibet is a part of China and some other sentences. The essential problem to be solved during the talks was to enhance ethnic solidarity and safeguard national unity. As Ngapoi recalled, on this problem, “the basic standpoints of the representatives of the two sides were the same.”

　　第二，中央人民政府关于和平解放西藏问题的“十大政策”是谈判的基础。“十大政策”主要内容是：驱逐英美帝国主义侵略势力出西藏，西藏实行民族区域自治，西藏现行各种政治制度维持原状概不变更，保障宗教信仰自由，发展西藏经济和文化教育，西藏各项改革事宜由西藏人民及西藏领导人采取协商方式解决，人民解放军进入西藏等。在谈判之初，西藏地方政府代表强调不能接受“十大政策”中的“人民解放军进入西藏”。当时，中央人民政府代表并没有勉强西藏地方政府代表，而是建议休会两天，安排他们参观，同时耐心劝说，提出既然承认西藏是中国不可分割一部分就没有理由阻止人民解放军进入西藏。同时，充分考虑到西藏代表提出的西藏经济落后、资源贫瘠，供给人民解放军有很大困难的问题，中央政府作出“进军西藏，不吃地方，一切开支由中央负责”的保证。双方最终协商确定西藏地方政府积极协助人民解放军进入西藏，巩固国防。

第三，达赖喇嘛和班禅额尔德尼之间的团结问题，是谈判必须解决的一个重要问题。由于帝国主义侵略势力的挑唆，九世班禅喇嘛在20世纪20年代初与十三世达赖喇嘛发生不和，被迫从西藏出走内地，1937年12月在返回西藏途中圆寂于青海玉树。1949年8月10日，经国民政府批准，十世班禅在青海塔尔寺坐床继位。西藏地方政府代表团在谈判之初，并不承认十世班禅的合法地位。中央人民政府谈判代表团向西藏地方政府谈判代表团展示了原国民党政府批准认定十世班禅为九世班禅转世灵童的全部公文，以及由达赖喇嘛方面代表参加的十世班禅在塔尔寺坐床继位时的照片。在确凿的证据面前，西藏地方政府谈判代表团最终承认了十世班禅的合法地位。谈判期间正值“五一”劳动节，中央人民政府邀请西藏地方政府谈判代表团和十世班禅在天安门城楼上共同观礼，阿沛·阿旺晋美与十世班禅进行了友好会面，并受到毛泽东的接见。

Second, the Central People’s Government’s “ten policies” for the peaceful liberation of Tibet were the basis for the talks. The main contents were: British and US imperialist aggressive forces shall be driven out of Tibet; regional ethnic autonomy shall be exercised in Tibet; the present political system in Tibet shall remain unchanged; freedom of religious belief shall be guaranteed; economy, culture and education in Tibet shall be developed; matters of reform in Tibet shall be settled by the Tibetan people and Tibetan leaders through consultation; and the PLA troops shall enter Tibet. At first, the Tibetan representatives stressed that they could not accept the PLA’s entry into Tibet. At that time, the Central People’s Government representatives did not force them to accept this term; instead, they suggested a two-day adjournment, during which they arranged Tibetan rep-resentatives to visit some places, while patiently persuaded them, saying that now that the local government of Tibet admitted Tibet as an inseparable part of China, it had no reason to obstruct the PLA from entering Tibet. In the meantime, the central gov-ernment took into full consideration the problem raised by the Tibetan representatives that it would be difficult for economi-cally backward and resource-poor Tibet to supply the PLA, and promised that the PLA troops would “be supplied by the central government after entering Tibet, all their expenses will be borne by the central government.” After negotiations, the two sides finally agreed that the local government of Tibet would make positive efforts to assist the PLA’s entry into Tibet for national defence.

Third, the conflict between the Dalai Lama and Panchen Erdeni was an important problem that had to be resolved in the talks. Due to instigation by imperialist aggressors, the 9th Panchen Lama did not get along with the 13th Dalai Lama in the early 1920s, and thus was forced to leave Tibet for inland China. He died in Yushu, Qinghai Province, in December 1937 on his way back to Tibet. On August 10, 1949, the 10th Panchen Lama was enthroned at the Kumbum Monastery in Qinghai, with the approval of the national government. At first, the Tibetan dele-gation did not acknowledge the legal status of the 10th Panchen Lama. The central government delegation showed to the Tibetan delegation all the official documents by which the Kuomintang’s national government had approved and confirmed the 10th Panchen Lama as the reincarnated soul boy of the 9th Panchen Lama, and the photos of the enthronement ceremony at the Kumbum Monastery, which representatives of the Dalai Lama attended. Faced with this irrefutable evidence, the Tibetan dele-gation finally acknowledged the legal status of the 10th Panchen Lama. The May Day holiday arrived during the peace talks, and the Central People’s Government invited all the representatives of the local government of Tibet and the 10th Panchen Lama to attend the celebration on the Tian’anmen Rostrum, during which Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme and the 10th Panchen Lama had a friendly meeting and were received by Mao Zedong.