Xi Jinping unlikely to touch on Doklam stand-off in his work report

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping will present his work report at the opening session of the Communist Party's five-yearly Congress on Wednesday. But there were doubts if he would mention the recent six-week border stand-off with India, the most significant military contest since Xi initiated a comprehensive revamping of the People's Liberation Army three years back.

The work report usually discusses the party's performance in different aspects of governance within the country and its relationship with the world. Mentioning or not mentioning Doklam would be an important decision for the party because the military plays a key role in the political establishment. The PLA holds two of the seven seats in the party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.

Communist officials who briefed journalists for 90 minutes on Tuesday about different issues slated for discussion at the Party Congress did not mention the border stand-off.

There are signs that the party leadership does not want a wider discussion on the issue because it might bring out differences within the party over the issue. A section of the party, often described as nationalists or hawks, felt that the military was given little say in the issue and diplomats were allowed to take call on how to deal with the "aggressor" India.

"The nationalists are very unhappy. At one point, the Global Times and other newspapers and Weibo (social media) tried to push the Chinese authorities into a corner," Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Head of the Department of Government and International Studies at the Hong Kong Baptist University, said.

The long border stand-off and subsequent settlement with India hugely disappointed the nationalists section in the party which expected the PLA to take aggressive action to drive out Indian troops from areas that China regards as its territory. There were critical remarks against the settlement in the Chinese social media, which is a rare event given the fact that it involved a sensitive military issue.