It was a rewriting of an academic monograph entitled Comments on the Historical Status of Tibet that was co-authored by Wang Gui, Xirab Nyima and Tang Jiawei and published in 1995 by the Nationalities Press[5][6] The 1995 monograph itself was derived from an earlier Chinese response to Shakabpa's Tibet: A Political History authored by a team of Tibet-based writers and published by the Nationalities Publishing House in Beijing under a title that translates into English as Shakabpa's "Tibet: A Political History" and the True Face of Tibetan History.
[4] The listed co-authors "Wang Jiawei" (王家伟) and "Nyima Gyaincain" (尼玛 坚赞, pinyin: Nímǎ jiānzàn), are pseudonyms, derived from the combination of the names of the five contributors to the text (Wang Gui, Tang Jiawei, Wu Wei, Xirab Nyima, Yang Gyaincain) as indicated by a postscript to the book.
[10] It also questions the analysis of some important historical events made by Tibetan politician and historian Tsepon W. D.
[18] The Washington Institute of China Studies published the introduction and 8 chapters of the book (with abstracts) in its Vol.
[19] According to Tibetologist John Powers, the book by Chinese authors was written to persuade Western readers that Tibetan claims of independence are unfounded and that historical facts show that Tibet has been part of China since time immemorial.