IASbhai Daily Editorial Hunt | 26th June 2020

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” –Anonymous

Dear Aspirants
IASbhai Editorial Hunt is an initiative to dilute major Editorials of leading Newspapers in India which are most relevant to UPSC preparation –‘THE HINDU, LIVEMINT , INDIAN EXPRESS’ and help millions of readers who find difficulty in answer writing and making notes everyday. Here we choose two editorials on daily basis and analyse them with respect to UPSC MAINS 2020.

EDITORIAL HUNT 92 :“Why China is being aggressive along the LAC“

Stanly.johny

HEADLINES:

Why China is being aggressive along the LAC

CENTRAL THEME:

Its moves are inﬂuenced by a host of factors — from the fractures in the global order to the decline of India’s smart power

SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : IR

MAINS QUESTION:

Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese think they have arrived.Chinese Aggression at Border is part of its revisionist policy. Comment -(GS 2)

LEARNING:

Rise of Neighbourhood
Reasons for clashes
Salami Slice !

INTRODUCTION:

OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD : India’s traditional clout in its neighbourhood was slipping: tensions with Pakistan have been high keeping the troops occupied in the border areas; Nepal raised boundary issues with India; Sri Lanka is diversifying its foreign policy and China is making deep inroads into that region; and Bangladesh was deeply miffed with the CAA.

The ongoing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) pose the biggest national security challenge to New Delhi in at least 20 years.

REVIVING CLAIMS : China has revived its claim on the entire Galwan Valley and has asked India to pull back from the areas.
DISPUTED FINGERS : Satellite images in the public domain suggest that China has set up defence positions in the valley as well as the disputed “Fingers” of Pangong Tso.
FACE-OFF AT HOT SPRINGS : Despite multiple rounds of military-level talks, tensions are unlikely to ease given the complexity of the ground situation.

REASONS THAT LED TO CURRENT SITUATION

DOKLAM INERTIA : India and China agreed to amicably resolve the Doklam stand-off that lasted for more than two months.
GEOPOLITICAL SENSITIVITIES : Barring occasional joint statements issued with leaders from the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries, reasserting India’s commitment to “freedom of navigation”.
CRITICISM : India has stayed away from criticising China on controversial topics, whether its “de-radicalisation” camps in Xinjiang, crackdown on protests in Hong Kong, or disputes with Taiwan.

BODY:

SALAMI SLICE STRATEGY

CHINESE LOCAL DRIVE : India’s infrastructure upgrade and its decision to change the status of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, was reckless.
INDIA ALIGNMENT TOWARDS USA : Experts have claimed that the tensions on the border are driving India deeper into a strategic embrace with the U.S.

There is a clear shift in Chinese foreign policy post the COVID-19 outbreak.

NEW ORDER : This is seen in China’s rising tensions with the U.S., its threats against Taiwan, repeated naval incidents in the South China Sea, and a new security law for Hong Kong.
REORIENTATION : Today’s China is an ambitious rising power which wants to reorient the global order.
IDEOLOGICAL WAR : China is not an ideological state that intends to export communism to other countries.

But like the Soviet Union of the post-war world, China is the new superpower on the rise.

TACTICAL FORMULA

“hide your capacity and bide your time”, “peaceful rise” or “peaceful development”.

It is fighting back through what game theorists call “salami tactics” — where a dominant power attempts to establish its hegemony piece by piece.

India is one slice in this salami slice strategy.

IASbhai Windup:

PERCEPTION OF DECLINE

SWING STATE : China doesn’t see India as a ‘swing state’ any more. It sees India as an ally-in-progress of the U.S.
COUNTERWEIGHTS : If India is what many in the West call the “counterweight” to China’s rise, Beijing’s definite message is that it is not deterred by the counterweight.
MESSAGE TO WORLD : This is a message not just to India, but to a host of China’s rivals that are teaming up and eager to recruit India to the club.
GEOPOLITICAL MANOEUVRING : When most of the world’s big powers are grappling with the pandemic, revisionist powers such as China have more room for geopolitical manoeuvring.

A confluence of all these factors, which point to a decline in the country’s smart power, allowed China to make aggressive moves on the LAC.

LACK OF STRATEGIC THINKING : This is a strategic trap. India has reached here partly because of the lack of depth in its strategic thinking.

WHAT INDIA NEEDS ?

NEIGHBOURHOOD REALISM : What India needs is a national security strategy that’s decoupled from the compulsions of domestic politics and anchored in neighbourhood realism.
LONG TERM FOCUS : It should stand up to China’s bullying on the border now, with a long-term focus on enhancing capacities and winning back its friendly neighbours.
There are no quick fixes this time.

SOURCES: THE HINDU EDITORIAL | Why China Is Being Aggressive

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