NEWS//India and China's border battles

China and India are skirmishing over the border between India and Tibet.  That border has a long history of contention. However, since the early 1990s, China and India have established a 2520 mile-long "Line of Actual Control" (LAC).

Thanks to Graphics News and South China Morning Press

India’s story

According to The Times of India, the LAC agreement means, "no activities of either side shall overstep the line of actual control." The Times also notes that "clause number 6 of the 1993 Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas mentions, 'The two sides agree that references to the line of actual control in this Agreement do not prejudice their respective positions on the boundary question.' This is supposed to serve as a status quo maintained and respected by both the countries in the absence of agreement over a mutually drawn border."

But the Times charges that since last spring, "Chinese troops continue to make incursions to the disputed areas and illegally construct military infrastructure. India has been objecting to this 'salami-slicing' repeatedly."

China’s story

The perspective on the Chinese side is much different. In a report by Yang Sheng published in China's Global Times, the charge is that "the Indian Army has changed its posture from border management to securing the border on the 1,597 km Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, after the People's Liberation Army (PLA) added a military deployment in the region, the Hindustan Times reported on Thursday [September 3]."

The article further charges, "India also deployed additional specialized forces such as the Special Frontier Force, and the Indian media said its soldiers have occupied 'key peaks on the southern bank of Pangong Lake.' The Indian Army has paid special attention by deploying a combat group (a mix of armored and mechanized elements) on the Depsang Plains, according to the Hindustan Times.

Yang Sheng warns, "These high-profile activities showed that the Indian military and its government leaders are extremely sure of themselves…. China must prepare for long-term tensions on the border, but if Indian troops invade Chinese territory and attack Chinese troops, no matter what kind of pressure China is facing to the east, India will surely pay a heavy price, said Chinese analysts."

The U.S. story

At a discussion with the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum earlier this week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun blamed the tense row at the contested Galwan Valley region on Beijing's "outsized demands to claim sovereign territory." In response, Ji Rong, spokesperson for China's embassy in India, criticized Biegun's remarks by accusing Biegun of harboring a "zero-sum Cold War mentality" and characterized seven decades of Communist Party rule as peaceful.

Sources: Times of India, The Global Times, MSN, Fox News, Al Jazeera, New York Times, Newsweek 

UPDATE (September 13): India and China are coming closer to negotiating a border settlement. http://global.chinadaily.com.