Tao was speaking simultaneously with his interpreter who was so efficient in the translation that she must have been working from a prepared text. On a signal from Purie, Dixit let the Chinese President continue.
‘The facts of the Tibetan issue are as follows. Tibet under the rule of the Dalai Lama was still in the feudal age with its aristocracy holding absolute power. The democratic reforms in Tibet in 1959 put an end once and for all to the barbarous and backward serfdom. Life expectancy for Tibetans has increased substantially from thirty-six, before 1959, to sixty-eight today. In India, your official statistics show that life expectancy is only sixty-three years. Ninety per cent of the population was illiterate or semi-literate. Now 73.5 per cent of Tibetan children of school age have access to an education. In your country only 52 per cent of the young people can read and write. In old Tibet, there were only two small government-run clinics in Lhasa. The region now has more than a thousand medical institutions, with 2.3 hospital beds and 2.1 doctors for every thousand people.’
‘I think I get your point, President Tao.’
‘The Dalai Lama did not construct one single road. We have built a road network of more than twenty thousand kilometres.’
‘I accept many of those things.’
‘It would be better if you waited for the President to finish,’ said Jamie Song, intervening in English.
‘In the past there were nearly a thousand families of beggars and poor people in areas around Lhasa,’ Tao was saying, ‘and it was also common to see prisoners in handcuffs, shackles and on wooden trolleys begging along the streets. These scenes have been eradicated by the democratic reforms. The overwhelming majority of farmers and herders now have enough food and clothing. Why, then, is India championing the cause of the splittist Tibetan aristocracy by providing them with men and weapons? What has India’s hero the Dalai Lama done for Tibet in all these years? How has he improved the people’s living standard? India should know that Tibet is an integral part of China and the splittist Dalai Lama has given no thought to the fundamental interests of the country. He has only tried to spread lies and stir up riots.’
After the interpreter finished the last sentence, no one spoke for a few seconds, until Dixit said: ‘We very much appreciate your view of the situation.’
It was Jamie Song who replied, in Chinese, with a different interpreter coming in: ‘President Tao has unfortunately had to go to an urgent meeting. He asked me to convey his deep regret that you had to inexplicably cancel your visit to Beijing and would be very happy to receive you in the near future should you be able to find time to come.’
‘Thank you, Foreign Minister,’ said Dixit. ‘I will ask Mr Purie to be in touch with you about that. Meanwhile, as you know our bilateral dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir has escalated this week. We would like your assurances that China will not side with Pakistan to escalate the crisis even more.’
‘Human rights are a global issue, Prime Minister. Some of the reports of civilian massacres are difficult to ignore.’
‘As are the pictures of your troops opening fire in Tibet, Jamie,’ added Purie.
‘For China, the Kashmir issue is a dispute between India and Pakistan,’ responded Song, ‘You must remember though that Pakistan is a very old friend of China. My government is more concerned about the Tibetan issue. I am sure—’
‘Excuse me, Foreign Minister,’ said Dixit, impatiently, as Chandra Reddy burst into the room, slipping an urgent note onto his desk. Dixit quickly read it: ‘I’m sorry, Foreign Minister, I have been told that Chinese aircraft and ground troops have invaded the Kingdom of Bhutan. The King of Bhutan has called on India for help.’
Briefing
The tiny Buddhist Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan has deliberately made itself one of the world’s most isolated countries. A hereditary monarchy was established in 1907 and, with a population of only six hundred thousand, the first king signed a treaty with Britain to safeguard the kingdom against attacks from China. In 1949, after its independence, India drew up a similar replacement treaty. But it was not until 1963, in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian war, that the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) was established in Bhutan, with India supplying military hardware, advisers and trainers for the Royal Bhutan Army. India regards Bhutan as a strategic buffer state. Any attack on it would have to be repelled to preserve the delicate balance of power in South Asia.
China — Bhutan border
Choedrak and his fighters sat against the mud-brick wall, silently savouring the moment of success. This was one of the greatest moments of the Tibetan struggle. This was why so many of his men from the SFF had died. Togden was recovering with a mug of yak tea and the guards were cranking up the radio to try to get a helicopter in from the capital, Thimpu. Around the hut there was the hum of conversation and the smell of a wood fire. For the final few kilometres, there had been firing behind them, single shots as the Chinese tried to start an avalanche in the Monla Karchung pass. Two SFF men, rotting with frostbite, had volunteered to stay behind to stop them.
Choedrak only had five men left. It took four to carry Togden’s stretcher, and they stumbled along the valley of the Bumtang River until they spotted a spiral of smoke. When he explained who they were and who they had with them, the Bhutanese guards embraced them with admiration and brought them into their hut. Word spread around the communities and villagers crammed in to look at the man who was being hailed as one of the great Buddhist leaders of Tibet.
Choedrak dozed and lost track of time and when he heard the steady thud of rotor blades he thought it was the Bhutanese helicopter come to pick them up. He pushed himself up, getting his balance against the wall, and gave an order to prepare the stretcher. Then a machine gun opened up. The bullets ripped through the hut as if it were paper.
Camp David, Maryland, USA
‘You’ve got to pick up the phone and talk to the Prime Minister, John,’ said Joan Holden, the Secretary of State. ‘Conflict between India and China is a whole different ball game than between India and Pakistan.’
‘If I talk to Dixit, I have to talk to Tao.’
‘Then talk to them both. China has violated the sovereignty of Bhutan just in order to capture a Buddhist monk. It’s a ludicrous way of conducting foreign policy. Indian and Chinese warplanes are having dogfights over Bhutan this morning. Nepal has already asked for international intervention. A Chinese squadron has crossed the border into Arunachal Pradesh and they’ve buzzed the border guards in Sikkim. One Indian pilot chased a Chinese plane almost to Lhasa. The only government with any authority to intervene is the United States of America.’