Weather factor in building roads in Doklam: China

BEIJING:  China asserted on Tuesday that the weather was a factor in the building of roads and other infrastructure at Doklam. Asked whether Beijing had now stopped building the road in Doklam, also known as Donglang, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had for a long time been building roads and other infrastructure there for border protection and to help local people eke out a living. “We will make an overall assessment of the weather conditions and all related factors, and according to the actual circumstances complete construction plans,” Hua told a daily news briefing. She affirmed that Chinese border troops were continuing their patrols in the area. Indian and Chinese troops had confronted each other at the Doklam plateau near the borders of India, its ally Bhutan and China in the most serious and prolonged standoff in decades. Trouble started in June when India sent troops to stop China building a road in the Doklam area, which is remote, uninhabited territory claimed by both China and Bhutan. India said it sent its troops because Chinese military activity there was a threat to the security of its own Northeast region. Neither country has offered explicit details of the terms of disengagement from the area which had raised fears of a wider conflict between the Asian giants who in 1962 fought a brief border war. (REUTERS)