Tensions between China and India grow amid Taiwan clash

While the world’s attention was turned to the escalating tension between China and Taiwan, another alarming clash threatens to boil over.

China’s People's Liberation Army assembles during military training at Pamir Mountains in Kashgar in northwestern China. Picture: STR/AFP

As tensions between China and Taiwan hit an all-time high, another battleground has quietly emerged, following reports of an escalating conflict between the communist superpower and India.

For decades, the two nations have clashed over a region along their borders in the Himalayas, culminating in a war in 1962 which resulted in the establishment of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

That inhospitable strip of land is located in the western part of the Galwan Valley, in the Ladakh region near Tibet, although the countries disagree on the exact location and regularly accuse each other of breaching it.

For the most part, those disagreements haven’t led to violence, but in June 2020 a bloody dispute broke out, which left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.

It wasn’t until February this year that China admitted four of its own people were killed in the fight, although unconfirmed reports at the time put that figure much higher at 45.

Since then, tensions have calmed down – but now, it seems to be flaring up once again.

China’s new ‘violation’

On Monday, the Indian Defence Ministry claimed that China was no longer complying with the border agreement.

“The Indian side pointed out that the situation along the LAC had been caused by unilateral attempts of the Chinese side to alter the status quo and in violation of the bilateral agreements,” the statement reads.

This photograph released by the Indian Army on February 16, 2021 shows People’s Liberation Army soldiers during military disengagement along the Line of Actual Control at the India-China border in Ladakh. Picture: Indian Ministry of Defence/AFP

“The Indian side therefore made constructive suggestions for resolving the remaining areas but the Chinese side was not agreeable and also could not provide any forward-looking proposals.”

According to the Times of India, a nine-hour crisis meeting between the two sides on Sunday ended in a “bitter stalemate”, and resulted in China “virtually threatening” India.

A source told the publication the meeting “failed to move even an inch” closer to a peaceful resolution.

“Consequently, the much bigger problems at Charding Ninglung Nallah (CNN) track junction at Demchok and Depsang Plains simply seem insurmountable as of now,” the source added.

‘Unreasonable and unrealistic demands’

Meanwhile, Beijing has fired back, accusing India of “unreasonable and unrealistic demands”.

“China has made great efforts to promote the easing and cooling of the border situation and fully demonstrated its sincerity in order to maintain the overall situation of the relations between the two militaries,” Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army Western Theatre Command, said in a statement.

“However, India still insisted on the unreasonable and unrealistic demands, which made the negotiations more difficult.”

The sudden flare-up comes after Indian and Chinese troops were killed in June 2020. Picture: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece the Global Times also accused India of “triggering new incidents along the eastern section of the border” in a scathing article following the new dispute.

“Chinese experts have warned of the risks of a new conflict, saying that China should not only refuse to give in to India’s arrogant demands at the negotiating table, but also be prepared to defend against new Indian military aggression,” the report reads.

A separate Global Times piece on Monday reported that China was “prepared for upcoming confrontations” over the LAC.

Indian soldiers strengthen an army post adjoining the Line of Actual Control.

Threat of war

Worsening India-China relations come as experts grow increasingly concerned about the possibility of a new war following China’s alarming actions near Taiwan and in its air space.

And it seems those fears might be well founded, with The Diplomat recently reporting on a “mock Taipei” which had been constructed on the Zhurihe combat training base in Inner Mongolia from late March 2013 to mid-March 2015.

The publications reported that the “similarities are striking” between the replica and the real thing.

The Diplomat reported that the construction of the mock city coupled with the staging of invasion drills was a significant step forward in the crisis.