TIMELINE: Key dates in modern China and Tibet relations

(Reuters) - Chinese troops moved to tackle unrest in ethnic Tibetan enclaves in its western provinces on Monday, a week after protests flared against Chinese rule in the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

Following is a chronology of some of the main events in modern China-Tibet relations.

Oct 1950: Chinese People's Liberation Army troops march into Tibet, one year after Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong wins civil war and establishes People's Republic of China.

Sept 1954: Chairman Mao meets Dalai Lama.

March 1959: Tibetans stage abortive uprising in which thousands are killed after reforms are introduced to end centuries of feudalism. Tibet's god-king, the Dalai Lama, flees to India with an estimated 80,000 followers. He establishes a "government-in-exile" in Dharamsala but no country recognizes it.

1965: Tibet Autonomous Region formally established.

1966: China's Cultural Revolution begins. Tibetan Red Guards close monasteries in Tibet, smash Buddhist statues and force monks and nuns to return to secular life.

1972: U.S. President Richard Nixon's China visit ends program in which Central Intelligence Agency trained Tibetans who fought guerrilla war against People's Liberation Army in Tibet.

1979: Rapprochement begins with Dalai Lama's brother, Gyalo Thondup, visiting China at invitation of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Trips not publicized in media.

March 1989: Martial law imposed in Lhasa after days of rioting sparked by January death of the 10th Panchen Lama, most senior figure in Tibetan Buddhism after Dalai Lama.

October 1989: Dalai Lama is awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

May 1990: Lhasa lifts martial law. Government-in-exile headed by Dalai Lama disbands to pave way for democracy, announcing elections for 1991.

August 1993: Dalai Lama says at rare news conference he is fighting for Tibet's political autonomy, not independence.

1994: Dalai Lama suspends dialogue with China due to lack of progress.

May 1995: Dalai Lama declares 6-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as reincarnation of late 10th Panchen Lama.

December 1995: India-based Tibetans protest Beijing's choice of a 6-year-old boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as the 11th Panchen Lama, considering him a "fake".

June 1996: Dalai Lama swears in new Tibetan government-in-exile following elections.

Dec 1998: Dalai Lama says in the Indian city of Patna that he is open for talks with China for mutual agreement "without any precondition, anytime, anywhere".

March 1999: China says its doors are open to the Dalai Lama, provided he abandons his calls for Tibetan independence and makes a statement recognizing Tibet as an inseparable part of China.

Dec 1999: Dalai Lama says Tibetans would be satisfied with self-rule but accuses the Chinese of cultural genocide.

Jan 1999: Tibet's third ranked monk, the 14-year-old Karmapa Lama, flees China in a week-long trek across the Himalayas to India and meets the Dalai Lama.

July 2006: China opens Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest railroad, saying it will help modernize and develop Tibet. Tibet advocacy groups say it is accelerating an influx of Han Chinese and threatens its fragile high-altitude environment.

March 2008: Up to 80 people are killed in anti-China riots in Lhasa, the government-in-exiled says. But Tibet's top government official put the death toll at 13 and says they were Han Chinese civilians brutally killed by Tibetan mobs. Unrest spreads to ethnic Tibetan communities in nearby Chinese provinces. International protests condemn the violence, which come five months before Beijing hosts the Olympic Games.

(Editing by Gillian Murdoch, Singapore Editorial Reference Unit)