China’s cartographic ‘invasion’ and delusion

Abhijit Bhattacharyya

Author and Columnist

CHINA’s latest cartographic ‘invasion’ — a new map depicting Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh as part of Chinese territory — underlines Beijing’s compulsion and ambition to become the global numero uno under President Xi Jinping.

The move triggered a strong backlash, with China incurring the wrath of virtually every neighbour — be it India, Vietnam, Brunei, Philippines, Malaysia, Japan or Taiwan. All of them ‘lost land’ at the hands of Chinese cartographers, resulting in a diplomatic spat. Nevertheless, what’s important is the timing of the map’s release — days ahead of the New Delhi-hosted G20 summit. This is neither surprising nor unexpected for India; Foreign Minister S Jaishankar sees it as an ‘old habit’ of China.

Apart from India, other nations are also well aware of the Dragon’s “bull in a China shop” approach, whenever the situation arises to create chaos and confusion in a foreign land. The Chinese strategy has always been consistent with its avowed intention to show foreigners in a poor light in the global arena.

There are questions that beg answers. Why do the Chinese do it? Does it solve any of their problems or does it favour the Communist Party of China (CPC) in any way? The answers lie in China’s traditional diplomacy of deceit and deception.

Even a cursory glance at the history of China’s border issues with virtually each of its 14 neighbours — including the erstwhile USSR, Vietnam, India, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Mongolia and Nepal — would show how malice drives the Dragon.

Though it is an old, repetitive issue, New Delhi needs to be blunt about asking questions to expose China’s ceaseless lies and brazen mala fide intent. Thus, when independent China wasn’t even born and India, with her sovereign rights, had accepted the accession of the independent state of Jammu and Kashmir through the Instrument of Accession, did the CPC bosses go through that document before claiming something which never belonged to them under any circumstances? All the more so when the territory of China was hundreds of miles away from the Himalayas and the independent, sovereign land of lamas, Tibet, was the indisputable buffer state (like Nepal and Bhutan) between India and China.

Let’s revisit key words of the Maharaja Hari Singh-signed document (October 1947) on the merger of J&K into the Indian Union: “Now, therefore, I, Shriman Indar Mahandar Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hari Singhji, Jammu Kashmir Naresh Tatha Tibbet adi Deshadhipathi, Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State, in the exercise of my sovereignty in and over my said State do hereby execute this my Instrument of Accession…”

If Tibbet/Tibet is an integral part of sovereign J&K and the latter accedes to India, it is proven beyond doubt that at least a chunk of Tibet is an inalienable part of India. If so, New Delhi should now take the map of October 1947-acceded princely state of J&K, incorporate it into sovereign India’s map of 2023 and then circulate it among the international community.

In order to implement this move effectively, the Government of India should tell all concerned that henceforth, no map showing anything at variance with what has been published by the Indian state will be tolerated and any aberration will invite legal and punitive recourse.

Indeed, the ceaseless anti-India acts of China are becoming intolerable even for apolitical citizens of India. One dislikes the idea of seeing New Delhi chronically being at the receiving end of a CPC assault.

This tendency to rock the boat of all foreigners and neighbours is a legacy of the Han rulers, ingrained over thousands of years. Hence, Delhi should tell Beijing to change the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’s route so that it does not pass through the Pakistan-occupied Indian territory of J&K, being part of the sovereign Indian state since 1947.

Contextually, let us recall that after attaining independence in October 1949, Chinese dictator Mao Zedong had declared that he would “re-examine treaties concluded by predecessors with foreign powers” and either “recognise, abrogate, revise or re-negotiate them”. This was a notice and not repudiation of all inherited international commitments.

But what are Xi and the CPC’s cheerleaders doing now? No word on any of those policy declarations. Everything is unilaterally declared, claimed, forced; rivals are blackmailed or threatened into submission. And China’s border with India is the greatest challenge and opportunity for the CPC. If it remains unresolved, the CPC will have the opportunity to go on expanding territory clandestinely, as was done in the early 1950s — even before anyone could understand what was happening. The CPC says it doesn’t recognise the McMahon Line. The line drawn by McMahon doesn’t require the CPC’s endorsement. It’s a line that was agreed upon by Tibet and British India, only to be violently violated by the cunning force of Beijing in 1950.

The same goes for the Ladakh border. It’s essentially ‘J&K and Tibet’ border, not that of China. Yet, the desperate Dragon is undermining international and bilateral diplomacy of predecessor sovereign states. The list of CPC’s shenanigans is endless. It’s time for New Delhi to stand up and counter the neighbour with cartography. A new map of its own can surely be a non-lethal, yet effective, weapon to be banked upon by India.

The G20 joint communiqué is in jeopardy even before the start of the summit. It is a strategic opportunity for India to bring out a new map and publicise it during the summit itself.

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#Arunachal Pradesh #China #Xi Jinping