A Troubled Alliance: Sino-British Conflicts over Tibet 1941–1945. Issue 1 (11th March 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Zhaodong
• Is Part Of: International history review. Volume 44:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 182
• Page End: 205
• Publication Date: 2022-03-11
• Subjects: Sino-British relations -- Tibet -- British India -- McMahon line -- WWII; History -- Periodicals; Histoire; History; Internationale politiek; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 905
• DOI: 10.1080/07075332.2021.1921828
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0707-5332

Abstract

Abstract: The Pacific War was an important phase in the Sino-Tibet-Britain relationship but has not been fully analysed from a Chinese-British archival perspective. Through an analysis of some of the key events of the period, such as the negotiations over the vital Tibetan supply line, the nature of the Chinese military threat to Tibet, and the struggle to influence the Tibetan elites, the article illustrates how the war complicated the dispute over Tibet and exacerbated suspicions and tensions in the region. The war also delivered some far-reaching impacts on the future Sino-Tibetan and Sino-Indian relations: Britain's wartime control of the disputed Assam Himalayas, later inherited by India, facilitated independent India's claim to these territories and remains a source of conflict today.