No. 35
Editorial Note
Telegram 1 from Calcutta, July 1, transmitted an oral message to the United States Government from the Dalai Lama, which the Consulate General had received through an intermediary, replying to messages sent to the Dalai Lama in July and August 1951; for information concerning the latter, see despatch 21 and telegram 121 from Calcutta, July 16 and August 16, 1951, in Foreign Relations, 1951, volume VII, Part 2, pages 1753 and 1791. The Dalai Lama’s message stated that he appreciated the United States attitude toward him and his subjects, that when the time was propitious for Tibet’s liberation he hoped the United States would find it possible to give the Tibetan Government material aid and moral support, that the Tibetan people were not pro-Chinese but were Tibetans first and last, and that he hoped to send a written message soon.
The telegram also reported the intermediary’s report that dissatisfaction and opposition to the Chinese were widespread, that the Tibetans were optimistic that they could eventually ejebt the Chinese, that the food situation in Lhasa was very bad, and that 90 percent of the 10 thousand Chinese troops in Lhasa were poorly fed, badly-clothed conscripts. (793B.00/7–152)