A Conflict of No Good

Sino-Indian relations are e xperiencingtheir most severe standoff since thetwo nations’ border war 55 years ago. Inlate June, Indian troops trespassed into Chinain the Donglang area at the Sikkim section ofthe China-India boundary. According to his-torical documents of the two countries, theSikkim section of the China-India boundaryhas been defi ned by treaties, and there is noborder dispute between the two countries inthe area.

The stalemateInformation from different sources all hintsthat the immediate cause of India’s move isthe pressure New Delhi feels due to China’srecent infrastructure construction in theborder area. At the beginning, the IndianGovernment claimed that China’s road-build-ing activity had crossed the Indian border,but later, New Delhi denied its previousstatement and claimed its military move wasmeant to “safeguard Bhutan’s disputed terri-tory” with China. However, China and Bhutanhave no territorial disputes in that area. Andreports also disclosed that Bhutan was noteven informed before India’s trespass.According to China’s Ambassador toIndia Luo Zhaohui, it is the first time thatIndian troops have crossed the mutuallyrecognized boundary and trespassed intoChina’s territory, triggering a close-rangefaceoff between Chinese and Indian bordertroops.

According to the Convention BetweenGreat Britain and China Relating to Sikkimand Tibet (1890), a boundary agreementaccepted by both China and India, MountGipmochi, located at southwest Donglang, isthe point where the settled borders of China,India and Bhutan meet. But now India is at-tempting to make the whole Donglang areathe junction of the three countries.

To this, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokes-person Geng Shuang responded clearly that“just as its name implies, the tri-junction is apoint rather than a line or an area. The 1890convention clearly stipulates that the Sikkimsection of the China-India boundary com-mences at Mount Gipmochi in the east. Theillegal trespass by Indian troops took place atthe Sikkim section of the China-India bound-ary over 2,000 meters away from MountGipmochi.”

China’s Donglang area is perceived tobe of strategic importance for India, givenits proximity to the narrow Siliguri Corridor,which connects India’s eastern territory withthe rest of the country. The increasing im-patience of New Delhi, arising from its slowprogress in border construction, helped trig-ger the incursion. India sees China’s effortsin promoting infrastructure connectivityin the region, including a planned railwayfrom Tibet Autonomous Region to Nepal’sKatmandu, as a potential threat to its na-tional security If conflict with China arises,its eastern territory can easily be cut off fromthe rest of the country.

Since the outbreak of the incident, Chinaurged India to withdraw its troops and thetwo sides had staged several rounds of ne-gotiations. However, India has showed nointention to withdraw and seems to haveprepared for a long standoff. The situationhas become worrisome.

India’s misjudgments

The current situation derives from misjudg-ment by India, its military in particular.India sees China as a neighbor that hasterritorial ambitions toward India. The SouthAsian subcontinent giant might have soughtopportunities to revenge the 1962 borderwar. Such paranoia has led New Delhi to be-lieve that Chinese strategies and initiativesare targeting India, whether it is the Belt andRoad Initiative on promoting regional devel-opment or Chinese ships sailing through theIndian Ocean. Meanwhile, India was the onlylarge nation in the region that didn’t attendthe Belt and Road Forum for InternationalCooperation hosted by China in Beijingin May.

New Delhi has been bound up in greatpower diplomacy in recent years. SinceNarendra Modi took power in 2014, India hasbeen keen on developing security partner-ships with the United States, Japan, Australiaand ASEAN nations, Viet Nam in particular.It pursues its Indo-Pacific Strategy with theUnited States, taking sides with Washingtonin foreign affairs, by which the Indian Government believes it can balance China’sgrowing infl uence.

Knowing that the Chinese border troopsrefrain from “fi ring the fi rst bullet” in any giv-en confl ict, for many years, the Indian troopshave continued to furtively nibble away atChinese territory and strengthen its illegaloccupation of disputed land.

Besides, India is also led to believe thatChina will compromise toward its trespass asthe latter is set to host the upcoming BRICSSummit in September and thus cannot af-ford a large-scale military confrontation.Thus, India has become emboldened tounderstake such actions. But its provoca-tive and status quo-changing move in theundisputed area will probably force China toreadjust its policy.

Testing the patience

For China, the Donglang incident is one ofthe rare diplomatic and military challengesit has met in recent years. Such a challengehas strategic implications.

China has a stern resolve in defending itsterritorial integrity—it neither makes troublenor is afraid of trouble. China has been com-mitted to developing friendly relations with neighboring countries, but such good faithshould not be misinterpreted as weakness orcompromise in its ability to effectively safe-guard its core interests.

Reckless acts aimed at encroaching onother countries’ national sovereignty couldbackfi re. China bears no geostrategic ambi-tions toward the South Asian subcontinentor Indo-China Peninsula, but it will nothesitate to take measures to safeguard itsterritory if necessary. In the light of its cur-rent national strength, China can now foilany invasion attempts more effectively thanit did during the 1962 border war.

The international community hasevolved to a point where it operates accord-ing to international law. Nation states arecapable of dealing with border disputes onthe basis of international law.

China has always been fi rm in its convic-tion that force may be used only after allpeaceful alternatives have been tried and ex-hausted. In spite of India’s provocation, Chinawill not give up diplomatic efforts to settlethe matter.

But fi rst of all, the true purpose of India’strespass must be explored, whether it is tooccupy Chinese territory or compete withChina for perceived influence over otherregional states such as Nepal and Bhutan.Either way, as China has repeatedly stated,India’s withdrawal of its border troops whohave illegally crossed into the Chinese terri-tory is the precondition for any meaningfuldialogue between the two sides.

Looking at the bigger picture, as bothChina and India are large developing nations,strengthening social and economic develop-ment to improve their peoples’ livelihoodsshould be a more urgent task for the twogovernments. They should try their best torefrain from allowing the border incident toevolve into a geopolitical contest. Thougheach side has voices soundly beating theother, their governments should providerational options. If China and India, the twomost promising emerging economies, pourall their resources into a border confl ict, bothwill lose, leaving the established powers thebiggest winners of a China-India confronta-tion.

Furthermore, while we can choose en-emies, we cannot choose our neighbors.Without peaceful border relations, both na-tions will find it difficult to concentrate onnational development. As China and India areboth great ancient civilizations of the world,it is hoped that they can draw wisdom fromhistory and fi nd the path to peace.

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