[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.j
AFFAIRS OF CHINA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[21667]
C.O.
20
[June 10.]
23208
SECTION 1
No. 1.
1 P12 JUL OC
0
India Office to Foreign Office.-(Received June 10.)
THE Under-Secretary of State for India presents his compliments to the Under- Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and, by direction of Viscount Morley, forwards herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State, copy of enclosure in a letter from the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, dated the 29th April, relative to the relations of the Dalai Lama with the Mongolian chiefs.
India Office, June 9, 1909.
Inclosure in No. 1.
(Confidential.) Sir,
Mr. Bell to Government of India.
Gangtok, April 1, 1909. I HAVE the honour to report that the Dalai Lama informed his Highness the Maharaj-Kumar of Sikkim, at their interview in Peking last November, that during his protracted sojourn in Mongolia ho had made a point of seeing and gaining the confidence of as many of the Mongolian chiefs as possible, and that he was confident of temporal as well as spiritual support from Mongolia, if he ever had to appeal for such support against the Chinese. I am reporting this, as I am not sure whether this point has been brought clearly to the notice of the Government of India.
2. The Dalai Lama, being the spiritual head of Mongolia as well as of Thibet, and having spent a long time in the former country, has very great influence in it. And to utilise this influence as a check against foreign influence in Mongolia is no doubt one of the reasons why the Chinese Government seeks power at Lhassa. It seems clear, however, that the Dalai Lama contemplates the possibility of turning both Thibet and Mongolia against China herself at some future date, if the Chinese should press him too hard. It is probable also that on his return to Lhassa some sort of diplomatic contest will commence between the Chinese authorities and himself. In this he will receive encouragement from most, if not all, of the Thibetan officials, lamas, and nobles, who are alarmed at the rapid increase of China's power in Thibet and angry at the destruction of monasteries and monks in the country round Ba-tung.
3. It is of course too early as yet to say how far the contest is likely to proceed. It is probable that the Dalai Lama is now fairly well acquainted with the power of China, and that the Chinese will push as many Chinese troops as possible into Lhassa before his arrival there. We know from His Britannic Majesty's Minister at l'eking that the Chinese Government has already instructed the Dalai Lama to wait at Kunbum, in Mongolia, until he receives an Imperial letter from the Chinese Government.
I have, &c,
C. A. BELL, Political Officer in Sikkim.
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