China’s new land border law & Indian concerns

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Context:

Recently, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s ceremonial but top legislative body, passed a new land law for the “protection and exploitation of the country’s land border areas” which will come into effect from 1st January 2022.

Two perspective of the law

• The law is not meant specifically for the border with India; however, the 3,488-km boundary remains disputed, and some experts feel it could create further hurdles in the resolution of the 17-month-long military standoff.
• Others think the law is just words — what has vexed ties is not domestic Chinese legislation, but their actions on the ground.

The Chinese law

• It states that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China are sacred and inviolable, and asks the state to take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines (these).
• The state can take measures to: 
  • Strengthen border defence,
  • Support economic and social development and Opening-up in border areas,
  • Improve public services and infrastructure in such areas,
  • Encouraging and supporting people’s life and work there, and
  • Promoting coordination between border defence.
• In effect, this suggests a push to settle civilians in the border areas. However, the law also asks the state to follow the principles of equality, mutual trust, and friendly consultation, and handle land border related-affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations to properly resolve disputes and longstanding border issues.

China’s land borders

• China shares its 22,457-km land boundary with 14 countries including India, the third longest after the borders with Mongolia and Russia.
• India- China Border 

• India shares a 3488 kilometer long boundary with China. however it is unfortunate that the entire boundary is disputed.
• The line which delineates the boundary between the two countries is popularly known as the McMahon Line, after its author Sir Henry McMohan.
• In 1913, the British India government had called the trip a tight conference, where the boundary between India and Tibet was formalized after a discussion between the Indians and Tibetans.
• A convention was adopted, which resulted in the delimitation of the Indo Tibetan boundary.

• This boundary is not accepted by China which terms it as illegal.

• In 1957, China occupied Aksai Chin and built a road through it.

• This move by China was followed by intermittent clashes along the border that finally resulted in the border war of 1962.

• After this war, the boundary known as the Line of actual Control (LAC) came into existence. It is a military held line.

• Unlike the Indian border, however, China’s borders with these two countries are not disputed. The only other country with which China has disputed land borders is Bhutan (477 km).

A signal to India

• The announcement of a law that makes China’s borders “sacred and inviolable” at a time of prolonged ongoing discussions to resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh signals that Beijing is likely to dig in its heels at the current positions.
• Experts cited that the new law gives the responsibility of the border clearly to the PLA — “as opposed to us”, with a lack of clarity on who among the Ministries of Home and Defence is responsible for border management.
• There is a clear distinction, clear approach that PLA will do border management.

• With this new law, the PLA pulling back from any other area (in Ladakh) is now near to impossible.
• The PLA is now bound to protect the integrity, sovereignty of the border.

• Overall, it will make negotiations a little more difficult, a pullout from balance areas less likely.
• Some experts feel it is not what the law says, but what China does on the ground that matters.

• Every country is in the business of protecting its territorial integrity, that’s the job of any government. The big question is what is your territory, and there we don’t agree with each other.

• The law has no implications for the question of settling the border dispute, which the two countries have been negotiating for several decades now, except to say that the central government of China is responsible for it, and that is true even without the law.

• It is only a whole amount of language, words, verbiage, whatever you want to call it.

• The “real issue”, is “what they are doing with their military, what they have done since May 2020, the way India has reacted. That is what impacts the ground situation.
• According to experts, by their actions in eastern Ladakh last year, “the Chinese are clearly indicating that they are tired of trying to resolve the boundary or the LAC through negotiations; they’re indicating they’ll do it through use of force.

Model border villages

• China has been building “well-off” border defence villages across the LAC in all sectors.
• President Xi Jinping visited a village in Tibet near the border with Arunachal Pradesh in July this year.
• China is trying to change the facts on the ground not only through military but also civilian presence, which means India is going to see a resettlement of Chinese civilian population closer to the LAC.

The Indian Express Link:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/chinas-new-land-border-law-indian-concerns-7592418/

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