Huh. Well, he certainly had extraterritorial ambitions for China. He wanted to subjugate and colonize "lesser" people's (Tibet, East Turkestan, Mongolia, etc.) So saying he was an imperialist wouldn't be too far from the mark.
The same cannot be said for most countries colonized by western powers because they did not overthrow the oppressive classes, instead they empowered them and made them into subordinate comprador classes, the British innovations to the Indian caste system being a famous example and the Belgian cannibal overseers of the Congo being a lesser known one
Like this is basic history of imperialism 101 stuff
Here are Tibetan serfs burning the leases that legally bound them to their lords' estates
Here is the PLA training a women's militia, so they can go shoot to death the landlords and theocrats who have enslaved them for a thousand years (look at that smile!)
Here is the CIA's opinion on the matter (note, China was still controlled by the nationalists so that's what 'pro-China' means, the Mongolian People's Republic were the closest communists)
Here is the PLA training a women's militia, so they can go shoot to death the landlords and theocrats who have enslaved them for a thousand years (look at that smile!)
You do realize it was the Tibetan peasant majority who raised up against the theocracy alongside the Chinese Red Army, an army that had tens of thousands of Tibetan volunteers
Like you do know that basic historical fact right? And aren't just going off some late-night CNN documentary ass conception of history?
Actually all of my knowledge of Tibet comes from the excellent heartwarming documentary Seven Years In Tibet starring Brad Pitt as good-guy Nazi SS Officer Heinrich Harrer, who was a true friend to all the oppressed peoples of the world!