05-09-2007, 03:07 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Chinese chequers </b>
Pioneer.com
Wilson John
China is nibbling at Indian territory in Arunachal to show it means business
The UPA Government's denial of a report by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Mr Khiren Rijiju, about alleged Chinese intrusion 20 km into Indian territory is at best ambivalent, and yet it clearly re-emphasises China's persistent strategy to gain an upper hand in border negotiations by turning Arunachal Pradesh into a disputed territory.
Mr Rijiju has claimed that Chinese security forces have intruded 20 km and occupied large tracts of land in the Sumdorong Chu Valley, Aspalia and Lungar Car areas. According to him, the State police, on a request from the Union Home Ministry in 2005, had reported that the Chinese security forces had started the intrusion into Tawang district in 2004, occupying in the process large tracts of grazing lands. The Chinese, he has pointed out, have even constructed a helipad in Sumdorong Chu Valley.
The Ministry of Defence spokesman has dismissed the claim, describing it as "misrepresentation". But he has neither denied the occupation of Indian territory by Chinese security forces nor the construction of the helipad, thus, by default, accepting the Chinese claim on Arunachal Pradesh. And this is precisely the position that China wants India to accept while discussions on a possible border settlement are underway. Interestingly, the 10th round of talks was concluded, without any result, last month.
China has staked claim to 90,000 square km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh which shares a 1,030 km-long unfenced border with China and has been witness to a bitter border war in 1962. This "disputed territory" includes Sumdorong Chu Valley, Aspalia and Lungar Car where Chinese security forces have been making regular incursions to underscore their claim as part of a well-crafted strategy.
<b>The Chinese strategy of containing Arunachal Pradesh, and thus forcing India to make territorial concessions, has been multi-pronged. The first element of the strategy has been to refuse to accept the McMahon Line and labelling Arunachal Pradesh disputed territory</b>. Although Chou-En Lai had told Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956 that China would recognise the McMahon Line, he backtracked in a letter written on September 8, 1959, stating that China had never recognised the McMahon Line. Interestingly, China accepted the Mc Mahon Line while settling the border dispute with Myanmar. When the McMahon Line was drawn and accepted at Shimla in 1914, Myanmar and India were part of British India.
<b>The second element of the strategy has been to periodically intrude into Indian territory to keep the issue alive. The most serious intrusion was detected in June 1986 when a 12th Assam Regiment patrol found Chinese soldiers constructing permanent structures on Indian territory. Indian intelligence agencies discovered that the intrusion was at least one to two km deep. Although the Government of India lodged a formal protest, the Chinese denied any intrusion and maintained their troops were within their territory.</b>
<b>The next major intrusion occurred in June 2003 when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on an official visit to China. A 10-man Intelligence Bureau and Special Services Bureau team was patrolling the Indian side the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh's Subansari district when it was stopped by a 21-strong Chinese People's Liberation Army patrol.</b> The Indians were told not to step into the area again as it was Chinese territory. The Indians were detained, disarmed and interrogated before being released.
The third element of the Chinese strategy has been to create transportation and communications networks in the area with the primary objective of facilitating military presence as part of a policy of encirclement. Over the past two decades, Beijing has been constructing new roads, extending old ones and laying a rail link between the Chinese mainland and Lhasa, besides establishing extensive communications links. People from other provinces are being settled in areas bordering Arunachal Pradesh. New towns have come up in La-kang-tsung, Lung, Mikyim-dum, Damze, Pi-p'o, Dimi and Lema in the border region.
<b>The fourth element of the strategy is to make public statements of the Chinese claims.</b> The last such statement was made by China's Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi in November 2006. He said, "In our position, the whole of the State of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory. And Tawang is only one of the places in it. We are claiming all of that. That is our position."
Although External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee countered that "Arunachal is an integral part of India", the Chinese managed to drive their point home quite effectively. An experienced diplomat like Mr Sun Yuxi certainly would not have made an off-the-cuff remark without getting Beijing's clearance.
<b>There is a reason why China is so determined to keep Arunachal as one of the key disputes between the two countries. In the Chinese scheme of things, large parts of Arunachal Pradesh, if not the entire State, are part of what they call 'South Tibet' to be governed by Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.</b>
Incidents like those pointed out by Mr Rijiju make up the big picture of China's game of geo-politics. This is what we must be aware of.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer.com
Wilson John
China is nibbling at Indian territory in Arunachal to show it means business
The UPA Government's denial of a report by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, Mr Khiren Rijiju, about alleged Chinese intrusion 20 km into Indian territory is at best ambivalent, and yet it clearly re-emphasises China's persistent strategy to gain an upper hand in border negotiations by turning Arunachal Pradesh into a disputed territory.
Mr Rijiju has claimed that Chinese security forces have intruded 20 km and occupied large tracts of land in the Sumdorong Chu Valley, Aspalia and Lungar Car areas. According to him, the State police, on a request from the Union Home Ministry in 2005, had reported that the Chinese security forces had started the intrusion into Tawang district in 2004, occupying in the process large tracts of grazing lands. The Chinese, he has pointed out, have even constructed a helipad in Sumdorong Chu Valley.
The Ministry of Defence spokesman has dismissed the claim, describing it as "misrepresentation". But he has neither denied the occupation of Indian territory by Chinese security forces nor the construction of the helipad, thus, by default, accepting the Chinese claim on Arunachal Pradesh. And this is precisely the position that China wants India to accept while discussions on a possible border settlement are underway. Interestingly, the 10th round of talks was concluded, without any result, last month.
China has staked claim to 90,000 square km of Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh which shares a 1,030 km-long unfenced border with China and has been witness to a bitter border war in 1962. This "disputed territory" includes Sumdorong Chu Valley, Aspalia and Lungar Car where Chinese security forces have been making regular incursions to underscore their claim as part of a well-crafted strategy.
<b>The Chinese strategy of containing Arunachal Pradesh, and thus forcing India to make territorial concessions, has been multi-pronged. The first element of the strategy has been to refuse to accept the McMahon Line and labelling Arunachal Pradesh disputed territory</b>. Although Chou-En Lai had told Jawaharlal Nehru in 1956 that China would recognise the McMahon Line, he backtracked in a letter written on September 8, 1959, stating that China had never recognised the McMahon Line. Interestingly, China accepted the Mc Mahon Line while settling the border dispute with Myanmar. When the McMahon Line was drawn and accepted at Shimla in 1914, Myanmar and India were part of British India.
<b>The second element of the strategy has been to periodically intrude into Indian territory to keep the issue alive. The most serious intrusion was detected in June 1986 when a 12th Assam Regiment patrol found Chinese soldiers constructing permanent structures on Indian territory. Indian intelligence agencies discovered that the intrusion was at least one to two km deep. Although the Government of India lodged a formal protest, the Chinese denied any intrusion and maintained their troops were within their territory.</b>
<b>The next major intrusion occurred in June 2003 when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on an official visit to China. A 10-man Intelligence Bureau and Special Services Bureau team was patrolling the Indian side the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh's Subansari district when it was stopped by a 21-strong Chinese People's Liberation Army patrol.</b> The Indians were told not to step into the area again as it was Chinese territory. The Indians were detained, disarmed and interrogated before being released.
The third element of the Chinese strategy has been to create transportation and communications networks in the area with the primary objective of facilitating military presence as part of a policy of encirclement. Over the past two decades, Beijing has been constructing new roads, extending old ones and laying a rail link between the Chinese mainland and Lhasa, besides establishing extensive communications links. People from other provinces are being settled in areas bordering Arunachal Pradesh. New towns have come up in La-kang-tsung, Lung, Mikyim-dum, Damze, Pi-p'o, Dimi and Lema in the border region.
<b>The fourth element of the strategy is to make public statements of the Chinese claims.</b> The last such statement was made by China's Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi in November 2006. He said, "In our position, the whole of the State of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory. And Tawang is only one of the places in it. We are claiming all of that. That is our position."
Although External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee countered that "Arunachal is an integral part of India", the Chinese managed to drive their point home quite effectively. An experienced diplomat like Mr Sun Yuxi certainly would not have made an off-the-cuff remark without getting Beijing's clearance.
<b>There is a reason why China is so determined to keep Arunachal as one of the key disputes between the two countries. In the Chinese scheme of things, large parts of Arunachal Pradesh, if not the entire State, are part of what they call 'South Tibet' to be governed by Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.</b>
Incidents like those pointed out by Mr Rijiju make up the big picture of China's game of geo-politics. This is what we must be aware of.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->