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Saturday 7 November 2009
China on guard against outside influence
When the Dalai Lama visits the Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh tomorrow, he will step right into the heart of a long-running border dispute between China and India.
When the Dalai Lama visits the Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh tomorrow, he will step right into the heart of a long-running border dispute between China and India. Our correspondents examine this and other sore points between the Asian giants.
By Sim Chi Yin 07 November 2009
BEIJING: To India, the rugged piece of land in its north-east is known as ‘Arunachal Pradesh state’. To China, it is historically called ‘south Tibet’.
The Dalai Lama is set tomorrow to visit the area, which lies at the heart of a long-running border dispute between the two Asian powers. He has attempted to ease China’s concern over his trip, calling it religious and not political.
Last month, Beijing protested against Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trip to the area. In an unusually tough commentary, the official People’s Daily newspaper on Oct 14 blamed ‘some’ Indians for ‘turning to hegemony’.
All this has only escalated the ill will between the two sides that, in recent months, has spanned trade friction, alleged border incursions and a heated media war.
India’s attitude towards the government-in-exile of the ageing Dalai Lama has always been a sore point for Beijing, but the fight over Arunachal Pradesh has heated up even more as the issue of his succession approaches.
As the Arunachal Pradesh town of Tawang was the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, there has been speculation that it could be the place where the next reincarnation of Tibet’s top spiritual leader will be found.
That has made it even harder for China to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans.
Beijing may see the Dalai Lama’s trip to Tawang as an attempt to ‘internationalise’ China’s border dispute with India, said Professor Taylor Fravel, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an expert on China’s border security.
Professor Jia Haitao, head of the Institute of Chindian Studies at Jinan University in Guangzhou, said in a phone interview: ‘It’s very regrettable that he is going. It appears he is backing India’s claim to the area.’
As it is, Beijing has been extra vigilant in guarding against outside influence over the vast Tibetan plateau since last year’s massive anti-government protests there.
But while the question of Tibet remains a constant irritant to China-India relations, developments on the ground have also sparked a negative chain of reactions on both sides, noted Prof Fravel.
India has started a major upgrade of its border defences in the past two years, which will leave it with a stronger military presence within striking distance of the border than that of China, he said.
That has Beijing very worried. After all, China and India fought a war over their 4,000km border in 1962, and now both are nuclear powers.
Mutual suspicion from that war has lingered. Since 2005, when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India amid much fanfare, the two countries have held 13 rounds of border talks but have little to show for them.
China has appeared tougher in pressing claims to the area of Arunachal Pradesh of late. But Chinese commentators like Mr. Shi Hongyuan of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in turn, blame the Indian media for playing up the ‘China threat’.
Other Chinese analysts have written recent articles slamming India’s ‘alarmist’ news reports alleging Chinese troop incursions - denied by New Delhi - as part of a self-interested ploy by Indian hardliners to get more resources for the country’s military.
In fact, both sides might simply be fed up with the talks that do not seem to be going anywhere, said Prof Jia.
‘If China sounds like it’s more aggressive now, it might be because quiet negotiations have not reaped the results it anticipated,’ he said.
Still, experts say there is little chance of a military clash like the one in 1962. Reports of border incursions are ‘probably vastly overstated’, Prof Fravel said.
‘In the dispute with India, China already controls the territory that it values most,’ he said. ‘And China can live with an unresolved border for many years to come, as this only consolidates its control over the territory that it occupies. The benefits of war are limited.’
Prof Jia agreed: ‘Both sides just really need to press on with talks. Problems of history need cools heads to solve.’
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China on guard against outside influence
When the Dalai Lama visits the Himalayan region of Arunachal Pradesh tomorrow, he will step right into the heart of a long-running border dispute between China and India. Our correspondents examine this and other sore points between the Asian giants.
By Sim Chi Yin
07 November 2009
BEIJING: To India, the rugged piece of land in its north-east is known as ‘Arunachal Pradesh state’. To China, it is historically called ‘south Tibet’.
The Dalai Lama is set tomorrow to visit the area, which lies at the heart of a long-running border dispute between the two Asian powers. He has attempted to ease China’s concern over his trip, calling it religious and not political.
Last month, Beijing protested against Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s trip to the area. In an unusually tough commentary, the official People’s Daily newspaper on Oct 14 blamed ‘some’ Indians for ‘turning to hegemony’.
All this has only escalated the ill will between the two sides that, in recent months, has spanned trade friction, alleged border incursions and a heated media war.
India’s attitude towards the government-in-exile of the ageing Dalai Lama has always been a sore point for Beijing, but the fight over Arunachal Pradesh has heated up even more as the issue of his succession approaches.
As the Arunachal Pradesh town of Tawang was the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, there has been speculation that it could be the place where the next reincarnation of Tibet’s top spiritual leader will be found.
That has made it even harder for China to win the hearts and minds of Tibetans.
Beijing may see the Dalai Lama’s trip to Tawang as an attempt to ‘internationalise’ China’s border dispute with India, said Professor Taylor Fravel, a political scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an expert on China’s border security.
Professor Jia Haitao, head of the Institute of Chindian Studies at Jinan University in Guangzhou, said in a phone interview: ‘It’s very regrettable that he is going. It appears he is backing India’s claim to the area.’
As it is, Beijing has been extra vigilant in guarding against outside influence over the vast Tibetan plateau since last year’s massive anti-government protests there.
But while the question of Tibet remains a constant irritant to China-India relations, developments on the ground have also sparked a negative chain of reactions on both sides, noted Prof Fravel.
India has started a major upgrade of its border defences in the past two years, which will leave it with a stronger military presence within striking distance of the border than that of China, he said.
That has Beijing very worried. After all, China and India fought a war over their 4,000km border in 1962, and now both are nuclear powers.
Mutual suspicion from that war has lingered. Since 2005, when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited India amid much fanfare, the two countries have held 13 rounds of border talks but have little to show for them.
China has appeared tougher in pressing claims to the area of Arunachal Pradesh of late. But Chinese commentators like Mr. Shi Hongyuan of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in turn, blame the Indian media for playing up the ‘China threat’.
Other Chinese analysts have written recent articles slamming India’s ‘alarmist’ news reports alleging Chinese troop incursions - denied by New Delhi - as part of a self-interested ploy by Indian hardliners to get more resources for the country’s military.
In fact, both sides might simply be fed up with the talks that do not seem to be going anywhere, said Prof Jia.
‘If China sounds like it’s more aggressive now, it might be because quiet negotiations have not reaped the results it anticipated,’ he said.
Still, experts say there is little chance of a military clash like the one in 1962. Reports of border incursions are ‘probably vastly overstated’, Prof Fravel said.
‘In the dispute with India, China already controls the territory that it values most,’ he said. ‘And China can live with an unresolved border for many years to come, as this only consolidates its control over the territory that it occupies. The benefits of war are limited.’
Prof Jia agreed: ‘Both sides just really need to press on with talks. Problems of history need cools heads to solve.’
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