To General Chang Kuo-hua, the Red Chinese commander in Tibet, the coming of spring promised revenge for the indignities of winter. He was no longer tied down by the bitter weather and snow-clogged roads, forced to submit to the fierce hit-and-run raids of the rebellious Khamba tribesmen (TIME, March 16). Now he got word that 25,000 Khambas were concentrated only 40 miles north of the capital city of Lhasa. The tribesmen were supported by 8,000 Buddhist monks who, after the Reds looted their monasteries, traded prayer wheels for guns.
General Chang planned to score a political as well as military...