China’s President Xi Jinping was a symbol of poise and good behavior when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in virtual mode this week. His assertion is that China is interested neither in a Cold War nor a Hot War, and wants to follow the path of peace. Good enough.
Words can be deceptive; more so when China speaks. A totalitarian state fashioned on Communist lines with shades of capitalism superimposed, and transparency in governance totally absent, China dramatically reversed its former policy of rising as a soft power with no military ambitions. Today, much of Asia is faced with muscle-flexing from China; be it with Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, or India. China is demonstrating its adventurism in the South China Sea, expanding its territorial controls much to the chagrin of the United States as also the littoral states. China is bent on grabbing Indian territory in Ladakh and beyond through overt and covert actions, including sneak-ins, usurpations and self-perfected techniques like ‘salami slicing, and with the motto, “two steps forward, one step backward.”
Unlike in the past, India has been a bit more alert of late. Its soldiers stopped Xi in his tracks in Doklam in 2017, and faced up to Chinese offensive in Ladakh region this year. India lost 20 of its brave soldiers, but China would not say how lethal the damage was which the Indian military inflicted on it in a swift, bloody counter-attack. Xi has the luxury of suppressing information; India cannot be secretive.
India, it now turns out, is doing more along the LAC, and is occupying hills beyond its normal call. Indian soldiers are proving themselves to be more lethal than Xi thought. Opinion within China itself is turning against him if the western media is to be believed.
Xi embarked on his expansionist agenda at the wrong time. The world was already facing the worst health crisis due to the lethal Covid-19 virus China unleashed – or even manufactured in a government lab in Wuhan – upon an unsuspecting humanity. Global economy took a huge hit. China had sent out the SARS virus some time ago, but its lethality was limited and it subsided in a matter of some months. This is the time for Xi to be apologetic, but he was apparently also seeking to take advantage of the attention deficit in the Trump administration on global matters in view of the election season there.
If Xi does not behave, the wider world will unite to call his bluff. India has already applied the brakes on him, at least for now.