In 1913, the Dalai Lama, who had fled to India when the Qing sent a military expedition to establish direct Chinese rule over Tibet in 1910, returned to Lhasa and issued a proclamation that stated that the relationship between the Chinese emperor and Tibet "had been that of patron and priest and had not been based on the subordination of one to the other."
I 1913 vendte Dalai Lama, der var flygtet til Indien, da Qing havde sendt en militærkspedition for at etablere direkte kinesisk styre over Tibet i 1910, tilbage til Lhasa og udstedte en proklamation, der fastslog, at forholdet mellem den kinesiske kejser og tibet "havde været protektor og præst og ikke var baseret på underordnelse af den ene til den anden."