Muslim, Trader, Nomad, Spy: China's Cold War and the People of the Tibetan Borderlands

Muslim, Trader, Nomad, Spy

The New Cold War History

Odd Arne Westad, editor

This series focuses on new interpretations of the Cold War era made possible by the opening of Soviet, East European, Chinese, and other archives. Books in the series based on multilingual and multiarchival research incorporate interdisciplinary insights and new conceptual frameworks that place historical scholarship in a broad, international context.

Muslim, Trader, Nomad, Spy

China’s Cold War and the People of the Tibetan Borderlands

Sulmaan Wasif Khan

The University of North Carolina Press

Chapel Hill

© 2015 The University of North Carolina Press

All rights reserved

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Manufactured in the United States of America

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.

Jacket illustration: © Depositphotos.com/bhairav

Complete cataloging information can be obtained online at the Library of Congress catalog website.

ISBN 978-1-4696-2110-4 (pbk.: alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-4696-2111-1 (ebook)

19 18 17 16 15 5 4 3 2 1

For ABK,

fellow wanderer.

And for my parents,

Zeba and Wasif,

who gave me the gift

of books.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Note on Sources

Cast of Characters

Chronology of Main Events

Prologue

1 The Road to Lhasa

2 Imperial Crises, Imperial Diplomacy

3 Border Crossers

The Sino-Nepali Frontier

4 Muslim, Trader, Nomad, Spy

The Sino-Indian Frontier

EPILOGUE Worlds Shattered, Worlds Reforged

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Maps

1 Ethnolinguistic groups in China, 18

2 The Tibetan plateau and Chinese cartography, 32

3 Regional divisions of the Tibetan plateau, 63

4 The Sino-Nepali border, 78

5 The Sino-Indian boundary dispute, 91

6 The western sector of the disputed Sino-Indian boundary and the Sino-Pakistani border, 131

Acknowledgments

Every now and then, I find myself grinning at the memory of a chuckle. The chuckle mixes amusement and pride—generally provoked by an irreverent question, or a sharp, uncompromising turn of phrase—and it belongs to John Gaddis. I hope John chuckles when he reads this book, for his fingerprints are all over it. It was John who first inspired me to enter academe, with his integrity as a historian and his compassion as a teacher. Integrity and compassion alike made this a much better dissertation and book. It was, as always, an adventure working with him, and it is John’s favorite approbation—That’s quite remarkable—that I aim for, whether writing or teaching.

Paul Kennedy brought his immense knowledge of international history to this project. I will forever treasure our rambles across the salt marshes, looking for eagles and discussing empire. Peter Perdue insisted that the study of modern China’s foreign relations could and should begin with at least the Qing; the length and breadth of perspective he brought to my graduate education proved invaluable. Peter also reminded me of the need to convey a sense of Tibet’s vastness as I wrote. Odd Arne Westad, that marvelous scholar of China’s Cold War, gave generously of his time: first as an external reader for my dissertation, and then as the editor of the New Cold War History series. Arne showed me how much anthropology had to offer; for that and for lunch at the Granta I will always be grateful.

Several other people in New Haven provided advice and support. Charlie Hill first taught me to write and self-edit. It was Charlie who explained the importance of the United Nations to me, and it was Charlie who knew what Chiang truly wanted in Tibet, even without seeing the Generalissimo’s diaries. Daniel Headrick braved the entire manuscript in draft and offered excellent suggestions. So too did Jonathan Spence, whose question, What was it like to be there?, became a clarion call. Anne Fadiman reminded me that academic writing did not have to be different from writing writing—an insight that made the work on this book much more fun. Tim Snyder’s incandescent series of lectures on Eastern Europe taught me how to think about ideology. Adam Tooze intervened at a crucial moment with crucial advice: Work on it every day. (I settled, I confess, for five days a week.)

This work was funded by the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Council on East Asian Studies, and International Security Studies (ISS) at Yale. ISS, in addition to pouring enormous amounts of money into this project, offered a colloquium where I could be confronted with challenging questions, more free coffee than even I could drink, and, above all, wonderful company. Fortunate is the person who can count Igor Biryukov, Ann Carter-Drier, and Kathleen Galo Murphy as friends; Kathleen ran a few dozen printouts of this manuscript, and, by cat-sitting, made sure I could head off to Taiwan. Some of my happiest afternoons (and the second chapter of this book) came from arguing with Ryan Irwin about the UN. Tracy Jackson’s friendship has been a boon since I first went to work for her at Koffee Too? (the best café that ever existed; now, alas, no more); it ensured that I could travel without worrying about practicalities back home. I am indebted to her, Lee, Chloe, and Alyssa. I could never tire of sharing café space with John Merriman and Jim Silk. Jim’s leads in Nepal were useful and his company was invariably stimulating. Toni Dorfman has been a second mother to me; her gift of unabashed laughter is contagious, and I learned much from her discussions of theater. Cynthia Farrar did me a favor when she talked me out of law school and another when she dined with me the night after the great snowstorm in Boston. I could not have continued to write without a weekly excursion around East Rock in the company of Ranger Dan Barvir. Bill Lyle made sure that his book was on schedule, halting his poodles every time we ran into one another and fixing me with a gimlet eye to ask just where it was. He was the best one could hope for in a neighbor. Susie Jakes, Zhang Taisu, Kate Epstein, Michael Morgan, Carolyne Davidson, Aaron O’Connell, Schuyler Schouten, Chris Miller, Charlie Laderman, and Victor McFarland made Yale fun. Lien-Hang Nguyen, who first taught me Southeast Asian history, took it upon herself to give me a tutorial in publishing; she remains a superb teacher and friend. Sara Shneiderman and Rana Mitter provided valuable feedback.

I could not have started this book without the financial and logistical help of Christian Ostermann and his team at the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP). I owe Christian for many things, but above all, for his friendship—for the discussions on Markus Wolf and bamboo groves in Istanbul and Shanghai. CWIHP hosted a memorable discussion on Tibet and the Cold War; my thanks for that to Kristina Terzieva and Allison Lyalikov. Shortly after that workshop, John Kenneth Knaus spent a memorable few hours with me, recalling his work with Tibetans.

Xu Laoshi’s excellent lessons took me to the point where I could read freely in Chinese archives. Xiao Gan and Li Dongyan made sure I ate well and in good company whenever I returned to Beijing. I would never have gotten anywhere in China without the help of two true scholars: Li Danhui and Shen Zhihua. They were patient with my bumbling; they gave freely of their own immense store of information. Li Danhui, in particular, held my research to a high standard; I will never forget the day she came up to me and said, What you found was interesting. The Foreign Ministry Archives in Beijing are the only archives I know of where a visiting researcher could be scolded for not wearing an overcoat on a cold day (Young people these days! was how I was eventually dismissed, with a PLA overcoat thrust upon my shoulders) or be given watermelon in the summer. My thanks to Zhang Sulin, Xiao Ying, and above all, the effervescent and charming Hao Weihua. Archivists in Chongqing, Xining, Taiwan, Britain, and California all did much to help.

One does not often get to thank anonymous readers in person—but mine revealed themselves. It was appropriate that one of them would be Liu Xiaoyuan, who, since our first encounter in Beijing, has been a teacher and guide. His knowledge of China’s frontiers and ethnopolitics enriched this book immensely. Chen Jian told me of his role in reading the manuscript with a booming laugh. When I was first presenting a part of what became chapter 3, it was Chen Jian who told me that there was much more to the story than I thought, thereby causing me to widen the scope of this book dramatically. The revisions both these scholars demanded improved my work immensely. My thanks to them and to the team at the University of North Carolina Press, especially Chuck Grench, Paul Betz, Katherine Fisher, Lucas Church, Alison Shay, and Sara Jo Cohen. Kelly Sandefer of Beehive Mapping was a wonder in bringing the maps in this book to life; it was a pleasure working with her.

Lin Hsiao-ting charted my course for Taiwan and for Hoover (where his guidance on sources was indispensable). In Taiwan, Wenlung Wang made archival navigation easy. CJ Huang’s company there was as welcome and as eye-opening as it had been in New Haven. Staying with Abraham and Miriam Bar was one of the best parts of being in California; I am grateful to their daughter Noa and to my sister Maryam for putting me in touch with them, and to Maryam for much else, especially the bursts of generosity and the entertainment. For help in Nepal, my thanks to Nina Smith, John Ackerly, Lobsang, Maya and Rinku Gurung, and especially Shyam Chokani; Shyam’s hospitality alone provides a compelling reason to return. For a couch to crash on in D.C., thanks to Justine Isola and Christopher Oropeza. Zaka Shafiq, who introduced me to Sultan Khan, took me on an unforgettable trip along the Karachi coast. For several stimulating exchanges on Tibet and China, my thanks to Simon Long. There are other people whom I wish to thank, but who preferred to remain anonymous.

John Curtis Perry’s invitation to give a talk at the Fletcher School at Tufts led me through a blizzard to a delightful job. Kelly Sims Gallagher, Dan Drezner, Ian Johnstone, Jim Stavridis, Michael Klein, Yoon Lee, Jonathan Brookfield, Toni Chayes, Michael Glennon, Richard Shultz, Jennifer Weingarden Lowrey, Michelle Frankfort, Nora McMillan, and Joel Trachtman have been marvelous colleagues. Lupita Ervin, whose efficiency is formidable, made sure that I got back from China and could focus on my work. Ellen McDonald solved a mystery I thought I would have to give up on by opening the door to Shen Shumei’s non-Chinese name. The sheer breadth of Ellen’s reading amazes me; it is surpassed only by her generosity as a friend. Cyndi Rubino rescued me from a computer meltdown, as did Ian Dinwoodie. Carolyn Talmadge answered my questions about cartography with patience and kindness.

My grandparents made trips to Lahore worth it. My grandfather, M. A. Khan, first explained Nehru to me and told me of the Tibetan traders striding down to Simla; I only wish he had lived to read this. My parents gave me the gift of books—which is why I could contemplate writing one of my own. My mother, Zeba Aziz, forbore to remind me that her work as a cancer specialist was a little harder than mine. My father, Wasif Khan, made sure that I knew that I could finish faster and was only dragging the dissertation out. Koshka the cat kept this book on track, whether by chewing through a computer charger just before a research trip, cutting and pasting in Word, or sprawling full-length on the particular document I happened to need at the time. Any mistakes in this book remain, of course, my own.

The best thing that ever happened to me was meeting Anna Beth Keim in Lhasa. Anna Beth’s own excellence as a translator and writer meant she was my first port of call when I ran into trouble. She has traveled with me from the Barkhor to Cambridge, making each stop along the way a magical one. She is home.

A Note on Sources

This book relies heavily on newly declassified materials from the archives of the Foreign Ministry of the People’s Republic of China (FMPRC) in Beijing. I conducted research in these archives at various points between 2006 and 2012. In the summer of 2013, I returned to Beijing to find that all the documents used here—along with many others—had been reclassified.

Access to provincial, municipal, and local archives in mainland China remains unpredictable. For the communist period in particular, foreign researchers still find it difficult to gain archival access. Nevertheless, I was fortunate enough to obtain some documents in the Chongqing Municipal Archives (CQA). The documents on the boundary commission used in chapter 1 are drawn from a variety of provincial archives (identified in the notes and bibliography); these were given to me by a Chinese scholar who asked to remain anonymous.

Cast of Characters (in Order of Appearance)

Yang Gongsu: Chinese diplomat, dispatched to Tibet in 1951. Found out firsthand just how hard it could be to distinguish between domestic and foreign affairs.

Chiang Kai-shek: Defeated Nationalist leader, ruling over Taiwan. Saw an opportunity to take back the mainland in the Tibetan rebellion.

Mao Zedong: Chairman of the PRC. Moved from promising Tibet self-determination to declaring it was a part of China.

Dalai Lama: The most important figure in the Tibetan religion. Moved from wishing to join the Communist Party to running a government in exile in India.

Panchen Lama: One of the most powerful figures in the Tibetan laity. Became a crucial source of support for Chinese policy in Tibet.

Ngabo Ngawang Jigme: High-ranking Tibetan official who surrendered to the PRC and encouraged the Dalai Lama to negotiate with the Chinese.

Peng Dehuai: One of Mao’s ablest generals; first asked to oversee the PLA’s assault on Tibet.

Deng Xiaoping: Helped negotiate the Seventeen-Point Agreement—an experience he would draw on in his later years.

Zhou Enlai: China’s capable, smooth foreign minister. Could cajole the Dalai Lama, soothe ruffled feathers in Nepal, and defend China’s claims before all and sundry.

Jawaharlal Nehru: Prime minister of India. Prided himself on his understanding of the new, postcolonial world, only to be humbled by the Sino-Indian war.

Gyalo Thondup: Dalai Lama’s brother. Would work furiously for Tibetan independence long before his brother fled to India.

John Kenneth Knaus: CIA agent, who helped Gyalo in his quest.

Jayprakash Narayan: Indian intellectual who sought to get the international community behind Tibet’s quest for independence.

Chang Kuo-sin: Hong Kong journalist with ties to the Guomindang. Ensured that Tibet was not treated as an independent country at the Afro-Asian Convention on Tibet.

Ciren, Asuo, and Chenbo: Three Tibetans from Dingri, who found themselves in trouble when a propaganda mission to Nepal went wrong.

A. B. Basnyat: Nepali consul in Lhasa; awoke one day to find himself under attack.

Qiangba Luozhuo: Both Nepali and Tibetan by blood, he opted for Nepali citizenship but helped organize resistance to the PRC.

A Wang Jinba: Hailing from Sikkim, he used his status as a senior monk to make protective icons for Tibetan rebels.

B. P. Koirala: Nepal’s prime minister. Began negotiations with Zhou Enlai on the Sino-Nepali boundary, but would be out of office before he had a chance to finish them.

Ma Tengbiao: Also known as Lokchung Tinglai or Kaku, the man from Qinghai coordinated various Tibetan resistance groups.

Wang Shengfu: An associate of Ma’s, who helped with Tibetan relief efforts.

Ismail: A Muslim who worked with Ma to circulate pamphlets against land reform.

Chou Shu: Originally from Jiangsu, she was married to a Guomindang agent in Calcutta. Arrived in Kathmandu just before Zhou in the company of a mysterious American named Backman.

Pan Zili: Chinese ambassador to India, who was also in charge of dealings with Nepal until a Chinese diplomatic mission was opened there.

Suonan Daji: Official in Ali, who wanted Sino-Indian trade in Tibet to grow.

Sangzheng Duojie Pamu: A Living Buddha, she sought assistance to make her way back to China after being brought to India by force.

Huang Mou and Chen Cai: Intelligence agents of the Republic of China, operating in India.

R. K. Nehru: Indian diplomat who argued that China and Pakistan could not negotiate a boundary because they were discussing Indian territory, before approaching Ambassador Pan on behalf of G. N. Taring, a Tibetan woman who had left her children behind.

Hamite: A Tibetan Muslim who had traveled back and forth from India several times. Learned how to operate a telegraph from Reginald Fox.

Reginald Fox: Former British agent; settled in Tibet where he had ties to the resistance.

S. Sinha: Indian diplomat and student of Chinese history; tried desperately to renew the Sino-Indian trade agreement.

Ye Chengzhang: Chinese diplomat; rejected Sinha’s plea.

Basang Ciren: Tibetan trader who tried and failed to get grain from Nepal.

Chronology of Main Events

October 1, 1949: Mao Zedong proclaims the People’s Republic of China.

1950: The PLA enters Tibet. The Korean War breaks out.

May 23, 1951: Conclusion of the Seventeen-Point Agreement between China and Tibet. Some resistance to Chinese rule remains in various parts of the Tibetan plateau, but relations are, by and large, peaceful. The agreement allows the Panchen Lama to return to Tibet.

1954: China and India sign an agreement on trade in Tibet, based on the five principles of peaceful coexistence. Zhou and Nehru visit each other’s countries, celebrating the achievement.

April 1955: The Afro-Asian conference is held in Bandung.

1956: Khamba rebellion intensifies. Mao abandons plans to implement reform in Tibet.

1958: Mao Zedong launches the Great Leap Forward.

March 1959: The Dalai Lama flees from Lhasa and makes his way to India, repudiating the Seventeen-Point Agreement along the way.

May Day, 1959: In Beijing, the Panchen Lama reassures diplomats from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe that all is well in Tibet.

June 1959: Gradual land reform is introduced in Tibet.

September 28, 1959: Malaya and Ireland move to discuss Tibet at the fourteenth session of the UN General Assembly. The Tibetan question continues to arise at the UN in subsequent years.

1960: Afro-Asian Convention on Tibet.

March 1960: Nepali Prime Minister B. P. Koirala visits China.

April 1960: Zhou Enlai visits Nepal. The two sides agree that troops will avoid coming within twenty kilometers of an as yet undemarcated boundary. Zhou also visits India, where his proposal to resolve a boundary dispute is rejected by Jawaharlal Nehru.

June 1960: PLA troops open fire on Nepalis; the exact location remains unclear. Zhou moves to resolve the matter swiftly. Nepal accepts the PRC’s offered compensation.

1961: China and Nepal conclude a final treaty demarcating their boundary.

June 1962: The trade in Tibet stutters to a halt, exacerbating food shortages.

October 1962: Outbreak of the Sino-Indian border war. The PRC easily defeats India, then withdraws to its customary position.

December 1962: Ceylon, Indonesia, Burma, Egypt, Cambodia, and Ghana gather in Colombo to seek means of reconciling China and India. Beijing rejects the proposals these countries offer in 1963.

March 2, 1963: Conclusion of Sino-Pakistani boundary agreement.

Muslim, Trader, Nomad, Spy

Prologue

It was the birds that broke his heart.

When the People’s Liberation Army flooded Lhasa in 1959, food grew scarce; the city was not equipped to supply so many people. Food prices rose, and the soldiers ordered people to start killing animals: yaks, dogs, and birds. There was a lake behind the Potala Palace where black-necked cranes—the black-necked cranes that so many Tibetans saw as symbols of peace—used to nest. These had been slaughtered. He had been told that he too must bring in his share of food. So he and his friends had somehow caught six nestlings, and put them on the ground. But then, they had not known how to kill them; they had never killed before. Finally, someone had produced a rock—but this he would rather not remember. The soldiers later told him that the birds were not large enough anyway.

Now he is climbing among the mountains, along paths unknown to the soldiers. Below, he can see the Lhasa River and how the geese are gone. The snow is thick, but in Tibet, the sun blazes hard and keeps you warm.

He pulls out his radio, and starts fumbling for the station he wants. The broadcast is in Tibetan, but it comes from Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the Guomindang in the republic, is urging the Tibetan people to rebel against the People’s Republic of China (PRC).¹

THE SOLDIERS DID not see the boy in the mountains that day. But as the stories told in this book show, the non-state actors who peopled the Tibetan frontier had a dramatic impact on the nature and diplomacy of the PRC. The nomads in search of grasslands for their herds, the traders swapping goods and gossip in the markets of the Himalayas, the spies who brought anticommunist propaganda to what the PRC saw as its sovereign territory, the people caught in the maelstrom of rebellion and counterinsurgency: these characters rarely take center stage in stories of Cold War China—partly because they seem too remote from the ideological contests of the time, partly because they remain difficult to study. And yet between 1959, when the Dalai Lama fled into exile, and 1962, when the Sino-Indian entente came to a bitter end, the fourth world—that stateless realm of nomadic tribes and hamlets strung along the peaks, far from the reach of central authorities—weighed heavily on the official mind of the PRC.² In this vast, mountainous stretch of land