(TibetanReview.net, Nov17’23) – Chinese president Xi Jinping’s claim Nov 16 that his country had “not provoked a conflict or war, or occupied a single inch of foreign land” has been received with derision in India which had suffered an invasion, numerous incursions, and continuing territorial occupations amid ongoing border disputes resulting from its illegal annexation of Tibet over half a century ago.
“Throughout the 70 years and more since the founding of the People’s Republic, China has not provoked a conflict or war, or occupied a single inch of foreign land,” Xi has said.
Xi’s remarks came at a dinner on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, hours after his highly anticipated talks with US President Joe Biden, where the two leaders pledged to reduce tensions as they met for the first time in a year, reported the ANI news service Nov 17.
The event was organized by the US-China Business Council and National Committee on US-China Relations.
On Xi’s claim of communist China being innocent of involvement in any territorial aggression, the report noted that, notably, in 2020, Indian and Chinese troops clashed at Galwan Valley of Ladakh, the same year the Covid-19 pandemic started. That clash resulted from a night-time attack by Chinese troops and ended in casualties on both sides.
“Since May 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC (Line of Actual Control) in eastern Ladakh, both sides have been deployed in forward positions near Patrolling Point 15, which emerged as a friction point in the wake of the Galwan clash,” the report said.
It noted that over 50,000 Indian soldiers had been stationed since 2020 at forward posts along the LAC, with advanced weapons to prevent any attempts by China to change the status quo unilaterally on the LAC.