Cable from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, 'Explanation to Burma about the Line of Actual Control'

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Explanation to Burma about the Line of Actual Control

[To] The Chinese Embassy in Burma:

Your cable dated 25 [October] was received.

Wu-suo-ding [sic] requests that [we] explain our three proposals on the Sino-Indian border issue. Charge d’Affaires Sun [Shengwei] may explain to him the following according to the editorial of the People’s Daily dated 27 [October]:

(1) The Line of Actual Control referred to is basically the Line of Actual Control from 7 November 1959 when Premier Zhou [Enlai] first proposed that both sides retreat by twenty kilometers. In the Eastern Sector it largely coincides with the so-called McMahon Line, and in the Western and Middle sectors it largely coincides with the traditional customary line which has consistently been pointed out by China. Border disputes can be avoided if the armed forces of both countries withdraw from the Line of Actual Control by twenty kilometers and become separated, hence establishing a better atmosphere for negotiations on the border issue. Therefore, the Chinese government’s proposals are not only fair and reasonable, but also good for peaceful settlement of the border dispute.

(2) India’s request that we withdraw to the position of 8 September is equivalent to it reoccupying the territories it occupied in the Western, Middle and Eastern sectors by crossing the Line of Actual Control beginning in November 1959. It will also continue to keep the armed forces of both countries in contact [with one another]. India’s request is one-sided and unfair and not conducive to peaceful settlement of the border dispute.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

26 October 1962