Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2009
In the months prior to the recent fighting with India, China initiated a new policy in Tibet and towards the Himalayan border countries in order to recover the ground lost—in the case of Tibet—by its previous policies, and—in the case of the neighbouring Himalayan territories—by its suppression of the Tibetan revolt. China's recent successful attacks in the border areas will probably lend added strength to her diplomacy in the border states whatever the immediate reactions of some local statesmen.
1 This is testified to by broadcasts and speeches made by the Chinese in Tibet and by Indian Communist support for these measures, statements by Sikkimese and Bhutanese leaders and reports in the Indian press.
2 Italics mine, to indicate that this is the dominant emphasis in the new policy vis-à-vis Tibet and the Himalayan countries.
3 See my “The Situation in Tibet,” The China Quarterly, No. 6, 1961.Google Scholar
4 “The hilly tract inhabited by the various tribes known to us collectively as Nagas had never been subjugated by the Ahorns, and it was no part of the British policy to absorb it.… At last, in 1866, it was resolved to take possession of the Angami country.… The object in view was to protect the low land from the incursion of the Nagas. It was not desired to extend British rule into the interior, but when a footing in the hills had once been obtained further territorial expansion became almost inevitable.” Italics mine. The History of Assam, by Sir Edward Gait, K.C.S.I., C.I.E.