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The Macartney–MacDonald Line is a proposed boundary in the disputed area of
William Johnson, a civil servant with the Survey of India proposed the " Johnson Line" in 1865, which put Aksai Chin in Kashmir. This was accepted by China until 1893, when Hung Ta-chen, a senior Chinese official at "China was the Aggrieved; India, Aggressor in '62", Kai Friese interview Neville Maxwell
Outlook, 22 October 2012.
The Macartney–MacDonald Line is a proposed boundary in the disputed area of Aksai Chin
Aksai Chin is a region administered by China as part of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, Xinjiang and Rutog County, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet. It is claimed by India to be a part of its Leh District, Ladakh Union Territory. It is a part of t ...
. It was proposed by British Indian Government to China in 1899 via its envoy to China, Sir Claude MacDonald. The Chinese Government never gave any response to the proposal. The Indian Government believed that, subsequently British India reverted to its traditional boundary, the Johnson–Ardagh Line. Independent scholars have not confirmed the claim.
History
William Johnson, a civil servant with the Survey of India proposed the " Johnson Line" in 1865, which put Aksai Chin in Kashmir. This was accepted by China until 1893, when Hung Ta-chen, a senior Chinese official at St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, gave maps of the region to George Macartney, the British consul at Kashgar, which coincided with it in broad details.
However, by 1896, China showed interest in Aksai Chin, reportedly with Russian instigation. As part of The Great Game
The Great Game is the name for a set of political, diplomatic and military confrontations that occurred through most of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – involving the rivalry of the British Empire and the Russian Empi ...
between Britain and Russia, Britain decided on a revised boundary ceding underpopulated border territory to be "filled out" by China. It was initially suggested by Macartney in Kashgar and developed by the Governor General of India Lord Elgin
Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the ...
. The new boundary placed the Lingzi Tang plains, which are south of the Laktsang range, in India, and Aksai Chin proper, which is north of the Laktsang range, in China. The British presented this line, currently called the Macartney–MacDonald line, to the Chinese in a note by Sir Claude MacDonald, the British envoy in Peking. The Qing government did not respond to the note. Scholars Fisher, Rose and Huttenback comment:
The Macartney–MacDonald Line is a partial basis of the Sino-Pakistan Agreement
The Sino-Pakistan Agreement is a 1963 document between the governments of Pakistan and People's Republic of China, China establishing the border between those countries in the disputed Kashmir region.
It resulted in both countries ceding ove ...
. It has been suggested that a solution to the Sino-Indian border dispute could also be based on the Macartney–MacDonald Line.Outlook, 22 October 2012.
Description
The Macartney–MacDonald line is described as follows:Notes
References
Bibliography
* * * *Further reading
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macartney-MacDonald Line China–India border 1893 in international relations 1959 in international relations Eponymous border lines