Himalayan Times (1962)

January 14, 1962

Himalayan Times

Nin

great help rendered by
the* Nepalese representa-
tive during the China-
Tibet eonfliot in Lhasa,
the Government of Nepal
ourtly put an end tn the
old ouitom of sending the
quinquennial mission.

The Bhutanese expe
rienoe assures them that
the Chinese desire to open
direot talks especially over
Bhutanese enolaves in
Western Tibet, their off. r
of large economic aid to
Bhutan as well as the
Chinese military build-up
on the Bhutan borders
are all in conformity with
the Chinese- method* of
duplicity, gesture of good-
will on the one hand and
posture of bellicosity on
the other.

Demand Ignored
Before the treaty of
Jan. 8, 1910, provided for
the handling of Bhutan's
foreign relations by the
Government of India, the
Chinese always olaimed
to control Bhutan through
their Amban in Lhasa.
And during the brief pe-
riod of China's ascendeicy
in libet in 1905-10. the
Chinese tried hard to ex-
tend their intrigues into
Bhutan. But the Bhu
tanese boldly resisted all
Chinese interference in
■ their internal affairs. In
1910, when the Amban
asked the Bhutanese au-
thorities to explain why
they had allowed the ser-
vants ef the Dalai Lama

to pass through their
country on the occasion
of his flight to India,
the Bhutanese ignored the
Amban's demand. Earlier
the Bhutanese had also
declined to comply with
tne Amban's demand for
assistance during the Bri-
tish expedition against
Tibet in 1888. In 1885.
when leading Bhutanese
ohinfs turned Alo Dorji
( the Chief of Thimbu
Dzong) out of Bhutan,
for withholding theTong-
•a Ponlop Ugyen Wang-
ohuk'a share of the Bri-
tish subsidy, the Chinese
Raked them to take him
back. The Bbutsnese re-
fused to yield to pressure
from the Amban.

After 1912, there have
been several instances of
Chinese intrigue in Nepal
and Bhutan. Chinese
agents of the Commission
for Mongolian and Tibetan
Affairs tried to revive the
historical connection bet-
ween China and Nepal in
the wake of the establish-
ment of the National
Government of China in
1926 In 1930 China
sought to take advantage
of the differences between
Nepal and Tibet over the
question of jurisdiction
over persons of dual na-
tionality, especially the
wealthy trader.

Gyalpo Sherpa who
was born in Nepal but
brcught up in Tibet, to
renew her interest in Ne-

pal. The Commission sent,
special envoys to Kath-
mandu where they offered
the help of their Govern*
ment to bring about a
settlement. Chinese agents
of the Commission tried
in the early 1940's to
encourage the Bhutanese
to study the Chinese lan-
guage in China. In 1946,
China overtly invited Bhu-
tan to participate in the
UNKSCO oonferenoe on
fundamental education in
I eking; but in 1947 the
Chinese were reluctant to
participate' in the Asian
Relations Conference , in
Delhi on the basis of
equality with the Bhu-
tanese, the Nepalese and
the Tibetans:

This knowledge of
China's border politios
impels the peoples and
Governments of Nepal,
Sikkim and Bhutan to
interpret all Chinese ges-
tures and overtures (such
as the Chinese aoeord with
Nepal on the China-Nepal
boundary and the denial
of the status of Sikkim
and Bhutan) as bland
propaganda meant only to
■often them up in the
oontext of China-India
differences.

The main ooncern of
Nepal, Sikkim and Bhu-
tan thus is China's ulti-
mate objeotive—"libera-
tion" of India—and their
own position in it. The
eontrol of approaches, tbey
( Continued on page S )