sSatellite imagery confirms Chinese disintegration at PP-15 on the LAC. Xi Jinping told Putin that their partnership has limits. Xi ended his first foreign trip since Covid with the SCO summit in Uzbekistan. Tibetans cry for help as COVID restrictions keep many people at home. And a new report said the rotation of Western Theater Command military officers in 2021 was not unusual, contrary to Indian analysts.
China in a week
Last week, we learned about the separation between the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at Patrolling Point 15 (PP-15) near the Gogra and Kugrang rivers. Now, satellite imagery published by several media organizations has confirmed the disengagement among soldiers on the ground. NDTV’s Vishnu Somi informed of Citing MAXAR satellite imagery, the PLA base close to PP-15 has been dismantled and moved to three kilometers north of the previous location.
Open-source satellite imagery I accessed from the Copernicus Sentinel Hub database confirmed the disruption in PP-15 as reported by NDTV and other outlets.
Disruption has created a buffer zone in the Gogra Hot Springs area, which has started argument On whether India has reached an agreement by agreeing to create a buffer zone on its side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – which has benefited China.
“Since the PLA had a first mover advantage, the buffer zone is entirely on our side of the LAC. While the PLA has moved to its permanent post at Xian Pass/PP15, India has set up a new post at the edge of the buffer zone between PP15 and 16. wrote Lt Gen HS Panag (Retd) in The Print.
Complete withdrawal of troops will be a lengthy process and it may continue as the PLA has increased its presence in Ladakh by building several heliports and other infrastructure to support the permanent presence of its troops.
Read also: PP15 China wants more peace in Depsang Plains, Charding-Ninglung Nala, not war
In the meantime, ending speculation of Xi staying at home until the conclusion of 20th Party Congress, General Secretary, made his first foreign trip since the start of the Kovid epidemic. On his state visit, Xi indicated that Central Asia is important to China’s regional diplomacy, making its first stop in Kazakhstan.
“China attaches great importance to its relations with Kazakhstan, and to protect national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to maintain national stability and development,” Xi said during talks with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Strongly supports Kazakhstan in taking reform measures.”
Chinese state media ran a TAGLINE On social media platforms to capture Xi’s Central Asia visit, which said: “Building a beautiful home in the Eurasian continent”. The original idea was the creation of Moscow to establish Eurasian solidarity to counter the “West-led” order, but Beijing has cooperated in promoting the idea. The Eurasian dream of a new territorial status may now be a dream born in Zhongnanhai, not the Kremlin.
During his visit, Xi was accompanied by top Chinese officials Ding Xuexiang, Yang Jiechi, Wang Yi and He Lifeng. Though the visit was widely reported by the Chinese media, including the Chinese media, the visit was not very much trending on social media platforms. The hashtag “President Xi Jinping’s visit to Central Asia” has garnered 230 million views on Weibo, with more than a billion views usually being viewed for important events.
From Nur-Sultan, Xi traveled to Samarkand to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting.
In his remarks at the SCO, Xi called To counter “external forces by inciting color revolutions” on other members. ‘Color Revolution’ is Beijing’s referent term for protest movements used by foreign countries to bring about regime change.
“We must strengthen high-level exchanges and strategic communication, deepen mutual understanding and political mutual trust, and support each other’s efforts to protect security and development interests. We must ‘color’ external forces. ‘revolution’, oppose joint interference in the internal affairs of other countries under any pretext, and control the country’s future and destiny firmly in our hands.” Told In his speech at the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO.
Xi congratulated India on becoming the President of the SCO.
In his speech, Xi said, “The Chinese side congratulates India as the next rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and stands ready to work with all parties to support the Indian side in doing the good work of the presidency. “
Read also: The Forgotten Story of the Great Hindu Traders in Central Asia Shows That Enterprise Can Beat China
While in Samarkand, Xi held bilateral meetings with Vladimir Putin, who is most viewed by the international media and other member states.
read out The meeting between Putin and Xi did not mention Ukraine or the “no-limits” partnership between China and Russia, which appeared in previous readouts of meetings between the two leaders. Although we do not know what Xi told Putin on Ukraine, Putin began the bilateral meeting with Xi by saying, “We understand your questions and concerns in this regard”.
Xi hints Beijing is ready to work with Russia help each other’s ‘core interests’. Body language and comments made during the exchanges between Putin and Xi suggest that relations are not strong, at least for now, as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has experienced several setbacks.
chinascope Recently told you about the disruption in the lives of Tibetans due to the Covid outbreak. The situation is getting worse day by day. Tibetans are posting videos on Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik Tok desperation, Crying for help, the lockdown has left many people living in remote villages without food.
Lhadan Tethong, director of the Tibet Action Institute, is surprised at the amount of information emanating from Tibet due to the lockdown.
“I am a pregnant woman who is about three months pregnant and had come to visit relatives in early June. The original plan was to leave Lhasa and return to the mainland in mid-August. It was delayed due to the severe epidemic in Lhasa.” wrote A Weibo user stranded in the capital of Tibet.
Lhasa city government apologized For “inadequate preparedness, insufficient capacity, inadequate response and poor execution” in the management of the COVID outbreak in Tibet. The hashtag “Lhasa city leaders apologize for lack of epidemic prevention and control work” on Weibo has garnered 120 million views.
There is a clear shortage of food grains.
“Those 5 eggs were the only source of protein for us in the toughest of times, due to shortage of supplies due to the pandemic. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, till now I have received a total of 3 government hot dishes. A drop in the bucket for us.” wrote A Tibetan Weibo user.
Meanwhile, Toronto-based Citizen Lab has published a new report about China collecting DNA samples from Tibetans since 2016.
“Our research shows that since June 2016, police in the Tibet Autonomous Region have engaged in a large-scale DNA collection program targeting men, women and children throughout the region. Mass DNA collection is an ongoing process of criminal activity. The investigation appears to be unconvincing. Instead, our research suggests that mass DNA collection is a form of social control directed against the Tibetan people.” wrote Emil Dirks in his report.
China in world news
Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei has inspired a swarm of US and EU officials to support Taiwan. European Union Intelligence and Situations Center (EUINTCEN) director Jose Casimiro Morgado was to travel to Taiwan, but had to Cancel His “top-secret preparation” after the trip was leaked to Beijing, according to politician,
Following the leak, Beijing pressured the European Union to cancel the unusually sensitive trip.
An EU official denied politicianMorgado was planning to hold meetings with Taiwanese officials over the phone. Regardless, leaks from the European Union It shows The extent of Beijing’s presence in the top echelons of European politics.
And a new report sheds light on PLA military leadership.
National Defense University Senior Research Fellow Joel Wuthno, known for his work on the PLA, has published a new report analyzing the biographies of 300 senior PLA officers. report titled Gray dragons: an assessment of China’s senior military leadership It is said that there is a similarity between China and Russia in the type of officers being promoted.
“When you go through the data and analyze what China is promoting” [senior] level, you start to see some similarities to “the generals who were mistaken for giving” [Russian President Vladimir] Putin clearly gave very poor military advice,” Vuthno reported. south china morning post in an interview.
In the report, Wuthno argues that the sudden turn of PLA officers to the Western Theater Command during 2021 does not indicate Xi is dissatisfied with the Theater Command, some Indian analysts had argued.
“However, comparative data indicated that the pattern was not unusual. Of the five theater commands, both Western and Central TCs had four commanders between 2016 and 2022, while two others had three and one had two. 6 Even four officers over the years are not out of step with TC leader grade officers’ tendency to turn around an average of five times over the past ten years,” Wuthno writing in his report.
Read also: Xi Jinping, Putin congratulate India on becoming SCO President next year, extend full support
Must read this week
Why Xi Jinping chose Central Asia for his first post-COVID-19 visit raffaello pantucci
Sino-US Cold War is approaching jia qingguo
Wrong way to view Xi-Putin meeting— Evan Feigenbaum
experts this week
Achieving the “Asian century” by no means means that China cannot fight back in the face of continued pressure from India in the border areas and encroachment on Chinese territory. Given the series of talks on dissolution, China has been very sincere in resolving border disputes through peaceful dialogue. Told In an interview with Liu Zhongyi, Secretary General, Center for China and South Asia Studies, Shanghai Institute for International Studies, Guancha, Liu’s interview was read over 196,031 times Guanchawebsite of.
The author is a columnist and a freelance journalist, currently pursuing an MSc in International Politics with a focus on China from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He was previously a Chinese media reporter for the BBC World Service. He tweeted @aadilbrar. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Neera Mazumdar)