2024-10-16
4 分钟The Economist Hello, this is Alice Su, co-host of Drum Tower, our weekly podcast on China.
We've chosen an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist.
Please do have a listen.
The Chagos Islands are the site of one of the shabbier episodes from the period when Britain gave up its empire.
Their 1,500 or so inhabitants, the Chagotians,
were forcibly expelled in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for an American military base on the atoll of Diego Garcia.
British authorities blocked families returning from trips,
cut off the supply of teachers and doctors,
gassed the island as dogs, and eventually deported anyone still left.
The British government, unsurprisingly, wants to draw a line under that sorry history.
On October 3rd, it announced plans to cede sovereignty over the islands to Mauritius.
But the deal is a mistake.
It mishandles Britain's historical obligations and the West's future military needs in favour of a debatable territorial claim.
A proper reckoning would start with the Chegosians themselves.
Initially, they were deported to Mauritius and the Seychelles,
where they faced poverty and racism.
Britain eventually offered them citizenship.
Today, many live in Crawley near Gatwick Airport.
Little attempt has been made to formally canvas Chegosian opinion, but Peter Lamb,
the local MP, says he hasn't heard a single voice in favour of Mauritian sovereignty.