Dragon Fire

Prime Minister’s Office, South Block, New Delhi

‘Thank you for making the time, President Tao,’ said Dixit. ‘I am sure you agree that if we talk personally we might be able to see a way through the fog.’ Interpreters were on the line. Tao insisted that his Foreign Minister, Jamie Song, join in the conversation, so Prabhu Purie was called in as well.

‘I don’t see any fog,’ said Tao abruptly. ‘Your government has maintained a force of anti-Chinese Tibetan guerrillas who have now invaded Chinese territory. You give sanctuary to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, which is fomenting disturbances leading to deaths and injuries among Chinese citizens. The Dalai Lama has stayed outside China since the failed rebellion of March 1959 by a small number of splittists of the Tibetan upper class. Since then he has gone further and further down the road of dividing the Motherland. He preaches about his aim of turning the Tibetan Plateau into a holy land filled with peace and non-violence, where people can live in harmony and nature — yet he sends terrorists to Tibet to blow up buildings and kill innocent people.’

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.’