TIBET.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9991, 11 March 1910, Page 4

TIBET.

The flight of the Dalai Lama of Tibet into British India in ordar to place himself under the protection of the Government of India, sgainst which his troops were recently ehgaged in hostilities, is a gratifying but at the same time somewhat disconcerting proof of the world-wide trust in British territory as a refuge for political fugitives. According to a naive explanation of Chinese policy one uf the objects of Chinese reformers is "the conversion of Tibet into a Chinese province." Hitherto China has been represented in Tibet by the Amban, an official akin to a Political Resident, but the independence of the country has been formally recognised. However, the irruption of Chinese troops into Lhassa and the desecration of the great Buddhist temple there is an indication that the awakening of China is not a myth but an unpleasant reality for the Tibetans. As to the Chinese policy, which is said to aim at making Tibet a province of China, other Powers will demand to be consulted before it can be carried into effect. Colonel Younghusband's expedition to Lhassa was organised by Lord Curzon mainly tor the purpose of safeguarding Great Britain's interests in chat part of the world, and in order to prevent Russia from using Tibet as a jumping off place for an attack upon India. The relations of England and Russia have undergone a great change since' then, and the two recently, concluded an agreement with regard to their respective positions in Asia. But if Great Britain foun 1 it necessary to take steps against the establishment of undue Russian influence in Tibet, she can hardly tolerate the conversion of Tibet into a Chinese province. The interests of Great Britain and Russia in maintaining the independence of Tibet are solid and identical. To •■'■ profess neutrality at the.present stage is obviously the correct procedure. But if the flight of the Dalai Lama is to be followed by Chinese "expansion"* in Tibet, trouble—of the diplomatic kind, at any rate—is bound to follow. Tibet lies close to the angle in which three Empires meet. Its independence is a safeguard for all oi them, and its occupation by one of them would be a menace to the other two.