July 10, 2017
Amid border standoff:
Chinese expert warns of troops entering Indian-controlled Kashmir
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
India has exposed itself to China’s interference in (Indian-controlled) Jammu & Kashmir by sending Indian troops to disrupt Chinese soldiers from building a road in the Donglang region, a Chinese expert said Saturday (July 9).
If Pakistan requests, “a third country” can dispatch soldiers to the Valley, said an article written by Long Xingchun, director of the Centre for Indian Studies at China West Normal University.
“Even if India were requested to defend Bhutan's territory, this could only be limited to its established territory, not the disputed area. Otherwise, under India's logic, if the Pakistani government requests, a third country's army can enter the area disputed by India and Pakistan, including India-controlled Kashmir,” said Long Xingchun.
“Indian troops invaded China's Doklam area in the name of helping Bhutan, but in fact the invasion was intended to help India by making use of Bhutan,” Long wrote. “India controls Bhutan's defense and diplomacy, seriously violating Bhutan's sovereignty and national interests. Indians have migrated in large numbers to Nepal and Bhutan, interfering with Nepal's internal affairs. The first challenge for Nepal and Bhutan is to avoid becoming a state of India, like Sikkim,” the article added.
India’s hegemonic diplomacy
Long wrote about India’s “hegemonic diplomacy” in south Asia and claimed New Delhi’s policies have violated international laws and norms.
“For a long time, India has been talking about international equality and non-interference in the internal affairs of others, but it has pursued hegemonic diplomacy in South Asia, seriously violating the UN Charter and undermining the basic norms of international relations,” he wrote.
“Through mass immigration to Sikkim, ultimately leading to control of the Sikkim parliament, India annexed Sikkim as one of its states,” the article said.
“This incursion reflects that India fears China can quickly separate mainland India from northeast India through military means, dividing India into two pieces. In this case, northeast India might take the opportunity to become independent,” Long said adding:
“India has interpreted China's infrastructure construction in Tibet as having a geopolitical intention against India. India itself is unable to do the same for its northeastern part, so it is trying to stop China's road construction.”
India will burn itself if it uses Tibet Card during standoff
India will “burn” itself if it uses the “Tibet card” to exert pressure on China amid the military standoff in the Sikkim sector, Chinese media said on Monday (July 10) while referring to the hoisting of the Tibetan flag on the shore of a lake in Ladakh.
Quoting the Indian media, the Chinese media said the “Tibetan national flag, a pro-independence symbol adopted by the Tibetan government-in-exile”, was unfurled on the shore of Bangong lake, near the Sino-India border.
The lake in Ladakh is considered strategic as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the line that defines the boundary, cuts through it, according to Hindustan Times.
“It's the first time the Tibetan exile administration in northern India has flown the flag at this location,” the Global Times said in an article. “If New Delhi is pulling the strings of the Tibetan exiles' political act of flag-hoisting, it will only have burned itself. Both border issues and the Tibet question concern China's core interests and China won't yield to provocations.”
The article added, “When the Indian government attaches great importance to its relationship with China, it keeps a tight grip on anti-China political activities on its soil. However, when it is dissatisfied or has conflicts with Beijing, the Tibet card is played up. But India may overestimate the influence of Tibetan exiles.”
The article also warned: “Given the ongoing border spat, the Indian government should act prudently to avoid escalating tensions. It has the responsibility to control Tibetan exiles and their anti-China activities on Indian soil.”
The Global Times said New Delhi should “think more” about how to de-escalate the standoff. “China is India's biggest trading partner. For India, with a vast population living in poverty, peace and opportunities of development are of vital importance. New Delhi cannot afford to mess up the China-India bilateral relationship,” it added.
According to Hindustan Times, Tibetans living in exile in India and the community’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, are particularly sensitive issues for China. China was furious when the Dalai Lama visited Arunachal Pradeshﾠ– claimed by Beijing as “south Tibet” – in April, 2017. The government summoned Indian envoy VK Gokhale to protest the visit and severely criticized the Indian government.
1,250 million Indians support Free Tibet
A day after a Chinese expert called for military intervention by China in (he Indian-controlled) Jammu and Kashmir on the behalf of Pakistan, senior leader of the ruling Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) BS Koshiyari said that "Indians support independence of Tibet".
Veteran BJP leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari raised the issue of independence of Tibet from China saying "every Indian" is in support of the idea. An old RSS hand, Koshyari is an avid supporter of Tibetan independence from China, according to India Today.
Koshiyari said, the 125 crore (1,250 million) people of India are one with the people of Tibet in their struggle for freedom from Chinese oppression and will support them for as long as it takes for the Tibet to become independent."
Talking to India Today, Koshyari claimed: "The tendency of China is like the demons of the past. Its symbol is the dragon and like a dragon, China is oppressing and decimating the native Tibetans to establish its stronghold in the region."
Koshiyari also claimed, "China has destroyed over 6,000 monasteries in Tibet and is hell-bent on destroying the Tibetan culture. The Tibetan women are being forced to marry Han Chinese men so that they lose their ethnic identity."
Koshyari said that India had told China that Tibet should be given the right to self-governance, even if China stayed in overall control.
Meanwhile, a senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar said the people of India should boycott all Chinese goods and the Indian businessmen should stop importing Chinese products.
"The shopkeepers in India should install signboards at their establishments declaring that they do not sell Chinese products and only indigenously produced goods are sold. This will break China's back financially," Indresh Kumar told India Today.
Modi, Xi Jinping did not have a bilateral meeting at G20 summit
On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not have a bilateral meeting.
“I can tell you there was no bilateral meet between President Xi and PM Modi in Germany,” foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a regular media briefing when asked about the meeting.
"The atmosphere is not right for a bilateral meeting between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi," a Chinese foreign ministry official said ahead of the G20 Summit in the German city of Hamburg.
The conversation between the two leaders at an informal gathering of BRICS leaders on the margins of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on July 7 lasted about five minutes and made headlines, according to Hindustan Times.
President Xi chaired the informal meeting of BRICS leaders that was attended by Modi and others.
Geng again said the withdrawal of Indian troops from Donglang was a precondition for resolving the military impasse.
Responding to a question about Indian media reports that soldiers were prepared for the long haul in Donglang, Geng said the reports, if true, revealed India’s true intentions.
“If (the reports) are true, then that only proves that the illegal trespass by the Indian side is organized and deliberate. They intended to destroy and damage the status quo at the boundary area of China and India. So how can diplomatic solutions happen under such circumstances?” he said.
“We stressed many times that we urged the Indian side should withdraw their troops back to the Indian side of the boundary. This is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between the two sides.”
Geng stressed that China has the right to construct roads in the region. “China’s road construction in Doklam is normal construction on our territory which is legitimate, reasonable and lawful,” he said.
According to First Report, Chinese media has also claimed that India “planned” the trespass to coincide with Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump to convey to the US that New Delhi is ready to check China’s rise. Modi met Trump on June 26, ten days after the standoff began.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali, is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America.
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
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