According to historian Ge Jianxiong, Tan's former student, Tan was under strong political pressure to make the historical Tibet appear smaller, but he insisted on being faithful to history, and his version was eventually approved by China's then reformist leader Hu Yaobang.
On November 4, 1956, Burhan and Hu Yaobang, Guo Moruo helped lead a massive public rally and parade in Beijing with over 400,000 people in Tiananmen Square to support Egypt and denounce Anglo-French imperialism in the Suez Crisis.