TNAG-1624-FCO40-2238-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1987 — Page 233

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006760 MDHIAN 0402

YESTERDAY. THE US EMBASSY IS ADVISING

ITS CITIZENS NOT TO TRAVEL TO TIBET. WE ARE ASKING THE MFA TO LET US KNOW WHAT REGULATIONS ARE

NOW IN FORCE OVER TRAVEL TO TIBET BY FOREIGNERS AND WILL REPORT AS

SOON AS WE HERE THEIR ANSWER.

5.

·

ACCORDING TO REUTERS, THERE IS A VERY VOLATILE ATMOSHPERE IN LHASA WHERE RUMOURS OF SUPERNATURAL PORTENTS SUCH AS EARTHQUAKES

HAVE FURTHER FIRED THE IMAGINATION OF MANY MONKS. TIBETAN MONKS

HAVE ISSUED APPEALS TO THE UNITED NATIONS TO SUPPORT THEIR CAUSE.

THE TIBET DAILY HAS CALLED ON 'SEPARATIST ELEMENTS' TO SURRENDER

BY 15 OCTOBER OR FACE SEVERE PUNISHMENT: THIS COULD PROVIDE A FUTHER SPARK. FOR THE MOMENT, HOWEVER THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES APPEAR ΤΟ HAVE CONTAINED THE SITUATION, THROUGH A SHOW OF STRENGTH AND BY THE

SWIFT APLICATION OF FORCE WHENEVER TROUBLE THREATENED.

DALAI LAMA

/

6. ACCORDING TO REUTERS, THE DALAI LAMA GAVE A PRESS CONFERENCE IN INDIA YESTERDAY IN WHICH HE EXPRESSED HIS SUPPORT FOR MORE

DEMONSTRATIONS AND ACTS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE SO LONG AS THEY WERE

CONDUCTED PEACEFULLY. HE DESCRIBED THE DISTURBANCES IN LHASA AS

GOOD AND NECESSARY AND AN EXPRESSION OF DEEP SORROW OF THE TIBETAN PEOPLE. HE DID NOT ENTIRELY RULE OUT FURTHER CONTACT WITH THE

CHINESE, THOUGH THIS HAD BROUGH INSUFFICIENT CONCRETE RESULTS IN THE PAST. MEANWHILE A CHINESE OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN, WHEN ASKED WHETHER THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES WOULD STILL ALLOW THE DALAI LAMA BACK, SAID THERE HAD BEEN NO CHANGE IN THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARDS HIM. BUT CHINESE

OFFICIAL STATEMENTS AND REPORTS ARE STILL CONTINUING TO DRAW A

DIRECT LINK BETWEEN HIS ACTIVITES IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE

DISTURBANCES IN TIBET AS WELL AS REPEATING SUCH PREDICTABLE THEMES AS THE HISTORICAL BAS FOR CHINAS PRESENCE IN TIBET, THE EVILS OF THE

OLD TIBETAN REGIME AND THE DISTESS OF ALL RIGHT-MINDED TIBETANS AT

WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW.

}

THE DALAI LAMA'S LATEST REMARKS APPEAR MUCH MORE OVERTLY

POLITICAL THAN HIS USUAL STATEMENTS. ACCORDING TO A THAI GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL, QUOTED IN THE CHINESE PRESS, THE DALAI LAMA WILL NOT BE

GRANTED A VISA TO VISIT THAILAND IN MID-NOVEMBER AS HE HAD PLANNED.

BRITISH CITIZENS

8. NO BRITISH CITIZEN IS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE DISTURBANCES TO DATE. THERE ARE A FEW LONGER-TERM BRITISH RESIDENTS IN LHASA, INCLUDING TWO VSOS IN TIBET UNIVERSITY, AND AT LEAST THREE PERSONS WORKING IN THE LHASA HOTEL. TWO MOUNTAINEERING EXPEDITIONS WITH BRITISH MEMBERS ARE PRESENT IN TIBET AS ARE AN UNKNOWN NUMBER

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