The British Expedition to Tibet.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7815, 18 April 1904, Page 3

The British Expedition to Tibet.

Tbe pTogress of the British expedition to Tibet is' being watched with keen interest. The ill-advised natives received a 'severe lesson at Guru' last w«ek, and now it is reported that th<y are massing for.. further obstruction.. Thefacttbat after the Guru fight it wasfound that Russian arms and ammunition' had been used by theTibetans';was. not a mattei for surprise to those who had followed the gradual development of the present position. A few weeks ago a bulky Blue-book was published which dealt very fully with the origin of the dispute and the' reason for the despatch of the expedition. But probably the most important portion of the Blue-book is that which deals with. the part that Russia has play3d in.this Tibetan business, and this is very clearly shown by the able summary published in The Times; The writer remarks :— '■ " That the attitude of Rußsia has at almost every . stage played a very mportant part in the Tibetan question; ample evidence is. produced in the Blue-book. The Tibetan missions, to Russia in 1900 and 1901 synchronised, to say the least, with aggravated symptoms of- Tibetan hostility towards the Indian Government. "Whilst Tibetan envoys were received in solemn audience by the Tsar and delivered autograph; letters from the Dalai Lama, this potentate returned xihopened the communications addressed to him by the Vicrroy of India. The Russian Government, according to its wont,, sought at first to minimise the significance of those missions, but t>arly' in 1902 it went out of-its way to disclose officially the measure of its insatiable ambitions in connection with Tibetan affairs. In a communication from the Russian Embassy to the British1 Foreign Oflicei the Russian Government intimated, in a tone which LordLansdowne subsequently "described as unusual and almost minatory,that it would consider a British expedition into Tibet 'as calculated to produce a situation of considerable gravity which • might eventually force the Russian Government to take measures for the protection of its interests in those rsgions.' Lord Lansdowue replied, with admirable firmness, to Russia's • gratuitous' complaints with regard to actiou which was within our undoubted rights that he could. cot conceive why it was' necessary for Russia to. evince her interest in this manner in remote regions which were considerably over 1,000 miles distant, from her Asiatic possessions, whilst they were in close vicinity to our own ludian frontier. The foreign secretary's '"remonstrances ■ at least induced Russia to alter her tone. Explicit assurances were given by Russia that there was no truth whatever in the reports of. secret agreements concluded by her with or in regard to Tibet, and that whatever measures she might be induced to take in, the event of '. a disturbance of the status ■ quo in Tibet which affected the integrity of the Chinese Empire, she regarded Tibet itself as in any contingency outside the scope of her policy. The Russian Ambassador was even good enough to assent to our right to insist upon the fulfilment of Tibet's treaty obligations towards us. Never-, theless, when we proceeded last autumn to take the necessary steps to secure them, the Russian Ambassador returned to the charge, and Lord Lunsdowne was once more constrained to tell him plainly that ' it seemed to me beyond measure strange that these protests' should be made by tbe Government of a' tower which had all over the world never hesitated to encroach upon its neighbours when the circumstances' seemed to require it. If th<j Russian Government had a right to .complain, of up for taking 6teps in order to obtain reparation from the Tibetans, what kind of language should.we not be entitled to use in regard to Russian encroachments in Manchuria.Turkestan, and Persia.' The reports whjch have recently reached Colonel Younghusband to the . effect that Dobjieff (a Russian envoy), is now at Lhassa, and has promised the Tibetans the support of Russia, may or may not be true, though they are corroborated by the testimony of one. of ■ the Tibetan military officials, who himself told the British Commissioner that the arrogance of the Tibetan authorities is due to their reliance on Russia, and that tbeyhave lately been taunting the" Chinese and asserting openly that they have now a stronger and greater Power than China at their back. In view of the pretentions officially put forward by Russia, not the least satisfactory feature in the Tibetan Blue-book is the vigour with which the British Government have signified-. to her. that, however tolerant we have been of her enroachments in other parts of Asia, we can-, not tolerate them in a region so closely associated with the interests of our great Indian dependancy." The whole Bluebook testifies,to the patience and modetation which tbe British Government have displayed in their dealings with I Tibet, but it: also testifies to their determination t.o deal .with it effectually on the lines of a sound and definite policy. : '■ ' ' • ■ " • ; ' "' '