Editor’s note for Wednesday, September 2, 2020

My thoughts today:

Yesterday we noted a report that quoted U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun saying that “there is certainly an invitation there at some point to formalize” a NATO-like structure out of the Quad, an informal alliance between the U.S., India, Japan, and Australia.

The Kashmir Walla, a Srinagar-based website suggests there might be a connection between moves such as the above, and China’s aggressive attitude towards India on their shared, disputed border (see our top story). What will China achieve out of “upping its ante” on Indian borders?

“The most plausible explanation to this is China wants to put a heavy price on India’s entente with the U.S.”

Our word of the day is China has never occupied an inch of another country’s territory (从未侵占过别国一寸土地 cóngwèi qīnzhàn guò biéguó yī cùn tǔdì). This is a quote from a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson about China’s Himalayan standoff with India.

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief