India’s China problem
Anxiety about China is a favorite Indian pastime. Whether it’s China’s proliferation of missile technology to Pakistan or its lead in the economic race, China’s rise is matched with a rise in Indian apprehension. Exhibit A: The current uproar in India over a TV interview by the Chinese ambassador, in which he said that his country “claims” ...
Anxiety about China is a favorite Indian pastime. Whether it's China's proliferation of missile technology to Pakistan or its lead in the economic race, China's rise is matched with a rise in Indian apprehension.
Exhibit A: The current uproar in India over a TV interview by the Chinese ambassador, in which he said that his country “claims” the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Chinese maps have claimed the area as “South Tibet” since at least 1962. Negotiations have gone nowhere over the years. Despite being separated by the tallest wall in the world, the Himalayas, the two countries are still without a mutually-defined border. But last year the two countries signed a deal and relations seemed to be moving forward.
But the ambassador’s statement is causing some Indian commentators like Brahma Chellaney to renew their charges that there’s a pattern of Chinese expansionism at play. In his article, “Autocratic China becoming Arrogant,” Chellaney writes:
[The ambassador’s statement] brings out clearly that China is unwilling to settle the border issue on the basis of the status quo. Not satisfied with the Indian territories it has occupied, either by conquest or by covert encroachment, Beijing wishes to further redraw the frontiers with India, even as it keeps up the charade of border negotiations.”
It’s unclear whether the offending statement was a gaffe or an intentional attempt to put pressure on the ongoing border negotiations. But as far as gaffes go, it was a pretty big one. Witness some of the editorials it set off: “Tackling the Mandarins,” “Why I remain wary of China,” and “China: Not Trustworthy.” The ambassador’s timing is also terrible. Hu Jintao is scheduled to visit India later this month to discuss trade relations and the statement is likely to hang over his visit like a dark cloud. He was expected to raise the issue of Indian restrictions against Chinese firms with ties to the People’s Liberation Army. India has refused to let one such Chinese company submit a bid on a harbor reconstruction project because the same company was also building a Chinese port in Gadwar, Pakistan. It seems Hu Jintao, who in the last year has done some stellar traveling diplomacy, will have his work cut out for him in India.
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