China has resolved its boundary disputes with all its neighbors except India and Bhutan, and the Chinese government suggests its India, and not China, which is the problem. In the image a Chinese soldier looks homeward from their post overlooking Nathu La pass. Photo Credit: Vijainder K Thakur/Sawf NewsNovember 20, 2009, (Sawf News) - China keeps pointing to the success that it has had in resolving its boundary disputes with countries like Russia, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Burma, Afghanistan and Pakistan in contrast to the lack of progress in its efforts to resolve its boundary dispute with India, implying that India, not China, is the problem.
Many western analysts buy the Chinese contention and point out that not only has China settled all of its land border disputes except those with India and Bhutan, it settled them by giving up over sixty percent of its territorial claims. China has settled 11 boundary disputes since 1998.
It is interesting why China had so many boundary disputes, but we will not dwell on that here.
Kashmir Disputed Territory. Photo Credit: UT AustinThere are two good reasons why China's boundary dispute with India is proving more intractable than its disputes with other nations. The Indian dispute involves military aggression and forcible occupation of Indian territory in 1962. It is also intrinsic to the China's suppression of the Tibetan people and culture.
On Wednesday, China settled its protracted boundary dispute with Vietnam with the two countries agreeing to a package of agreements on the demarcation of their 1,300 km border. The two countries next hope to settle their maritime boundary dispute in the future.
Earlier, in July 2008, China reached an agreement with Russia over their 4,300 km border with Russia, after four decades of negotiations. The two nations fought a short but bloody skirmish in 1969 over an uninhabited island in the Ussuri river.
Following the Wednesday settlement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang cheekily said: "Now, at present, the China-India boundary issue is the more pronounced one [of our territorial disputes]."
He added that the Chinese government pursued "a larger policy to peacefully resolve" disputes through "dialogue and consultations," noting that "With Russia, Vietnam and other countries, we have signed agreements based on this principle."
Package Settlement:
India and China have had, since 1981, 13 rounds of talks to resolve differences over the 4,000 km border. The last round was in August in New Delhi. The talks have made little progress.
"A larger policy" that Qin talked about on Wednesday probably refers to a package deal that China has repeatedly offered India, before and after the 1962 Chinese aggression.
China's insistence that only a package deal can lead to a settlement is interesting, as it's indicative of a closed mind.
Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. Photo Credit: UT AustinUnder the package deal, China will drop its claim on Arunachal Pradesh in return for India's acceptance of the Chinese claim in the western sector.
The package deal on offer does not sound all that bad to many Indians and almost all western analysts. However, it is unacceptable to the Indian government and people by large since it legitimizes aggression and the forcible occupation of Aksai Chin in 1962. Such a deal would also dilute India's sovereignty over Kashmir.
India wants a sector by sector approach to the boundary dispute that does not involve transfer of populated areas. In order to be palatable to Indians, a border settlement with China must involve significant roll back of the Chinese occupation in Aksai Chin.
It is likely the package settlement offered to India also involves a further clipping of His Holiness The Dalai Lama's wings. China's claim on Arunachal Pradesh is intrinsic to its claim on Tibet. China will not drop its claim over Arunachal Pradesh unless India gives iron clad guarantees that the Dalai Lama will not play the Tawang card.
Any further clipping of the Dalai Lama's wings at the behest of the Chinese would constitute a sell out of the Tibetan people who have a greater historic affinity with India than China. By accepting Chinese sovereignty over Tibet India has gone as far as it can go. It must continue to stand up against the suppression of the Tibetan culture.
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