by DUCKY PAREDES
‘India’s tit-for-tat diplomacy comes after China began issuing
new biometric passports showing Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai China –
regions that New Delhi claims – as part of Chinese territory.’
PERHAPS, we should at least follow India’s lead. When the People’s
Republic of China (PROC) issued new passports, with its map of China and
the territories that the PROC is claiming, India has taken to stamping
its own map on visas issued to visiting Chinese.
Tit for tat. China includes in its map territories that the Indians
claim as part of their territory. So does India show the territories
claimed by them and in fact held by India but appearing on the new
Chinese passports.
India began stamping its map on visas given to Chinese visitors after
China began issuing passports showing disputed territories as its own.
“We have started issuing visas with India’s map as we know it,” said a foreign ministry official.
India’s tit-for-tat diplomacy comes after China began issuing new
biometric passports showing Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai China -- regions
that New Delhi claims -- as part of Chinese territory.
The Indian response can only increase tensions between the two Asian giants.
Perhaps, the Philippines and Vietnam should also do the same thing.
The new PROC-issued passports include disputed islands in the South
China Sea in the map outline on the new passports. This will not sit
well with both the Philippines and Vietnam. By the way, the new PROC map
also includes two of Taiwan’s most famous scenic spots.
The Philippines and Vietnam filed formal protests with the Chinese.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto del Rosario wrote a protest note to
the Chinese embassy and the Vietnam government has also lodged its
objections with Beijing.
The Hindu newspaper of India says that the Indian government had
decided not to take up the issue formally with China. “It feels it will
be better to speak through actions... than words,” the newspaper quoted
an unidentified government official as saying.
Beijing has attempted to downplay the diplomatic fallout from the
recently introduced passports, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman
saying the maps were “not made to target any specific country”.
Only idiots will swallow that line.
The disputed border between India and China has been the subject of
14 rounds of fruitless talks since 1962, when the two nations fought a
brief, bloody war over the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal
Pradesh.
China’s build-up of military infrastructure along the frontier has
become a major source of concern for India, which increasingly sees
Beijing as a longer-term threat to its security than traditional rival
Pakistan.
Where will our dispute with China take us? Our diplomats had better
carefully study what has happened between India and China since their
dispute began, including a brief shooting war half a century ago.
India is also wary of increased Chinese activity in Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh, as it should be. India sees its two neighboring countries as
more properly within its sphere of influence.