China Threatens To Take Military Way If ‘India Doesn’t Listen’ 

BEIJING – China would be forced to use a “military way” to end the standoff in the Sikkim sector if India “refuses to listen” to it, a Chinese expert has warned.

As the standoff at the Doklam area continued for the third week, the longest between the two countries, the official media in China and the think-tanks in Beijing have said that “war is possible if the conflict between India and China is not handled properly”.

“China is trying its best to use historical lessons to reason with India and show sincerity in peacefully solving the problem, but if India refuses to listen, then China would have no other choice than to use a military way of solving the problem,” Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told the state-run Global Times.

Mr Hu claimed that India is provoking China because it wanted to prove to the US that it could contain China while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the US. Mr Hu said that Donald Trump was not like his predecessor Barack Obama.

“Barack Obama believes India is important only because they share the same values, but Trump is very pragmatic, and he doesn’t treat India as a valuable ally because New Delhi is too weak to confront Beijing,” Mr Hu claimed.

“Although India always treats China as its biggest rival, China does not think so, as India lags far behind China,” claimed Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based military expert. He was quoted as saying this by state-run Global Times.

“Chinese experts also scoffed at India’s military threat after Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitely asserted on Friday that the India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962,” the report in Global Times stated. Global Times is known for its nationalist stance.

“The gap between the militaries of China and India today is even bigger than in 1962, and I hope India can keep calm for its own good,” Mr Hu claimed.

Since the standoff on June 6, when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) destroyed bunkers of the Indian Army claiming the area belonged to China, Chinese media have carried several reports warning India for escalating border tension.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.

No Question Of Compromise, Withdraw Your Troops, Says China To India

China on Wednesday said that there is "no scope for a compromise" with India about the nearly two-week old standoff at the Sikkim border and said the "ball is in India's court" to end the tension.

China's Ambassador to India, Luo Zhaohui, told news agency PTI that withdrawal of Indian troops from the area is a "precondition" to any resolution.

Asked about warning remarks by official Chinese media and think-tanks that the conflict can lead to a "war" if not handled properly, the ambassador "There has been talk about this option, that option. It is up to your government policy (whether to exercise military option)."

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are attending a summit of the G20 group of nations in the German city of Hamburg later this week. So far, no bilateral meeting has been arranged for them.

The stand-off between the armies of the two countries is located on a plateau next to Sikkim, which borders China.

According to the Chinese interpretation of events, Indian guards crossed into the Donglang region early in June and obstructed work on a road on the plateau.

Beijing claims that the area entered by Indian troops is a part of China according to an 1890 agreement with the British. Doka La is the Indian name for the region.

India however says that it intervened on behalf of Bhutan. As the tiny Himalayan Kingdom was not party to the 1890 agreement between Britain and China, a dispute remains between China and Bhutan over where their common border lies.

Bhutan said last week that the road was being built inside its territory. It has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.

Troops from the two sides are confronting each other close to a strategic valley controlled by China that separates India from Bhutan and gives Beijing access to the so-called Chicken's Neck, a thin strip of land that connects India to its seven northeastern states.

"The situation is grave and made me deeply worried. It is the first time that Indian troops have crossed the mutually recognised boundary and trespassed into China's territory triggering a close range face-off between Chinese and Indian border troops. Now 19 days have passed, but the situation still has not eased," the ambassador said.

India said last week that the construction of the road was also "a serious security concern".