TNAG-1624-FCO40-2238-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-China-1987 — Page 235

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FM NEW DELHI

TO DESKBY 08170OZ FCO AMENDED DISTRIBUTION 9 OCT 87

TELNO 1313

OF 081155Z OCTOBER 87

INFO PRIORITY PEKING, HONG KONG, WASHINGTON

INFO SAVING UKMIS NEW YORK, SHANGHAI

182

007026

MDHIAN 0406

FOR FED

YOUR TELNO 887 : RIOTS IN TIBET

SUMMARY

1. WE SEE NO DIFFICULTY IN THE PROPOSED CHANGE IN OUR FORMULA ON THE STATUS OF TIBET WHICH WILL BRING US. INTO LINE WITH THE INDIANS, WHO ACKNOWLEDGE CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY. RECENT EVENTS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE PRESS HERE WITH CONSIDERABLE SYMPATHY

BUT THERE HAS BEEN NO/NO MEA STATEMENT.

DETAIL

2. INDIA HAS ACKNOWLEDGED CHINESE SOVEREIGNTY OVER TIBET BY:

A. CONVERTING HER EMBASSY IN LHASA INTO A CONSULATE- GENERAL DEPENDENT ON THE INDIAN EMBASSY IN PEKING ON 15 SEPTEMBER 1952. (IT HAS NOT BEEN REOPENED SINCE 1962).

B. SIGNING AN AGREEMENT ON 'TRADE AND INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE TIBET REGION OF CHINA AND INDIA'' IN PEKING ON 29 APRIL 1954. (THE AGREEMENT LAPSED IN 1962). IN A PARALLEL EXCHANGE OF NOTES, INDIA AGREED TO WITHDRAW MILITARY ESCORTS STATIONED IN TIBET SINCE 1904 TO PROTECT THE TRADE ROUTE, AND TO HAND OVER VARIOUS PROPERTIES TO CHINA.

C. NEGOTIATING WITH CHINA ABOUT THE BORDER (WHICH OVER MUCH OF

ITS LENGTH IS THE BORDER WITH TIBET).

3. THE INDIAN MEA HAS MADE NO STATEMENT ABOUT RECENT EVENTS IN TIBET, WHICH HAVE BEEN REPORTED ON THE FRONT PAGES FOR MANY DAYS AND COMMENTED WITH CONSIDERABLE SYMPATHY. BUT THERE ARE SIGNS OF MEA BACKGROUND BRIEFING IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF DATES FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF BORDER TALKS (MY TELNO 1285), WITH THE GLOSS THAT INDIA WOULD BE TAKING ''A POSITIVE VIEW'' TOWARDS RESOLVING THE DISPUTE.

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