China-India border face-off continues
A summary of the top news in Chinese politics and current affairs for June 30, 2017. Part of the daily The China Project newsletter, a convenient package of China’s business, political, and cultural news delivered to your inbox for free. Subscribe here.
On June 29, India’s army chief visited the mountainous state of Sikkim bordering China, where, according to Times of India, the Indian and Chinese armies had strengthened their positions by deploying around 3,000 troops each, virtually eyeball to eyeball. The Indian chief’s one-day trip was described by a spokesperson from the Indian army as “routine,” but the Chinese military and foreign ministry came down heavily by calling the visit India’s attempt at “trespassing” on the Chinese border, and asked Delhi to “withdraw troops to the Indian side of the boundary.”
The face-off is the latest incident in the tense Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction. The catalyst for it seems to be India’s objection to China’s construction of a road in the Doklam plateau that can take the weight of military vehicles weighing up to 40 tonnes. While India alleged that Chinese troops entered the area “unilaterally” and “would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India,” China claimed the area to be its territory and regarded the construction as “just and lawful.”
- South China Sea
China builds new military facilities on South China Sea islands: think tank / Reuters - Liu Xiaobo
154 Nobel laureates urge Chinese president Xi Jinping to allow Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment / Freedom Now
