CHINA-INDIA: CHINESE POST ON PLA PORTAL REASSERTS CHINA'S AIM TO "TAKE BACK" ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Citing media reports a PLA website on June 3 posted an article captioned "The Medog Expressway in Tibet is about to open, becoming an important guarantee for the recovery of southern Tibet'. Stating that China has built a brand-new expressway in Nyingchi City, Tibet, connecting Pai Township in Nyingchi City to Beibeng Township in Medog County, the post said that by shortening the distance between the two places from the current 346 kilometres to 180 kilometres, the highway had shortened the travel time by 8 hours. The article said 'Medog County is located in the northeastern part of the Indian-controlled southern Tibet. During the British colonization of India, it took advantage of China’s poverty and weakness at the time, and occupied an area of 90,000 square kilometres. During the self-defense counterattack war against India in 1962, the PLA once repelled the Indian army that had invaded and occupied the area. However, because the road infrastructure was too poor and the altitude was too high, and the Himalayas were heavily snowed in winter, the PLA was unable to provide stable logistical supplies, so it took the initiative to withdraw from southern Tibet. The Indian army then pushed forward again to occupy southern Tibet, but fortunately, the Beibeng Township in Medog County was still under Chinese control. Beibeng Township is located on the border, and India’s actual line of control is on the border of this township. Therefore, China's improvement of road traffic conditions in Beibeng Township will indeed cause serious worries and anxiety on the Indian side.

Why is India worried about this road and even every new road that China has in the border area? It is because the border between China and India has not been delineated so far, and there is a disputed area of approximately 120,000 square kilometres, which has become the fundamental cause of the contradictions and conflicts between the two countries.

Southern Tibet is the largest area in the Sino-Indian territorial dispute. The key is that the place is extremely rich in hydropower resources, with many rivers, the annual rainfall is the highest in the world, reaching 9,000 mm, the vegetation is dense, the soil is fertile, and it is known as the "small Jiangnan".

The call for regaining this land in China has been very high, which has also caused India to feel panic and worry for a long time. In order to ensure that it can take this land for itself, India has played two major tricks. One is to establish there the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh" government which is determined to be the official administrative division of India; the second is to allow a large number of immigrants to increase the proportion of Indians and reduce the influence of Tibetans.

In addition, India has also been working hard on military defense. The first is to build roads. To this end, a special "Border Highway Organization", referred to as BRO, has also been established. For many years, BRO has been working hard to build roads and bridges in an attempt to confirm India's occupation of Chinese territory. However, India's economic level is very limited, especially the economic development of the northeast region is relatively backward. After the occupation of southern Tibet, the Indian government has not made much progress here, and BRO's border construction is even more lackluster. As we can see from Google Maps, the southern Tibet area occupied by India has only a few low-grade highways or even simple roads.

The Chinese side is completely different. China is known as the nickname of infrastructure madness. In 2013, Medog County opened a tunnel and owned a tertiary highway, which was connected to the national highway network. This time, a new expressway was built to Medog, which means that if China wants to take over the India controlled area of southern Tibet, it will have superior conditions to transport large forces, heavy combat equipment, and implement combat support.

This makes the Indian side feel terrified all day long. According to the Indian side, just over 10 kilometres north of the McMahon Line, two main mountain infantry units of the PLA are stationed. After the highways between Medog County and Beibeng Township are opened, more of the PLA's main force could quickly reinforce the front lines, which creates tremendous pressure on the Indian border troops.

India’s worries, fears, and opposition to China’s road construction are all in vain. Southern Tibet is China's legal territory. China not only has the right to safeguard sovereignty but also has advantages in national and financial resources. The Indians know very well that China will take back this 90,000 square kilometres of land sooner or later."







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