Live Blog

02 July, 2020, 12:30 PM IST

India-China Live News: Germany, US block China's anti-India move at UNSC

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane will visit Leh on Friday and will review the security situation in Eastern Ladakh.

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12:20 PM

India’s growing economic reliance on China may be tough to break

India’s economic ties with China runs deep, making the recent escalation in political and trade tensions between the two powerful neighbors all the more worrying for businesses.
Following a border clash in which several soldiers on both sides were killed, calls have been growing in India for a boycott of everything Chinese. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government this week banned the use of 59 Chinese apps. Goods purchased from China are being delayed at Indian ports, and authorities are planning to impose higher tariffs and stringent quality controls on shipments.
The U.S. pipped China to become India’s largest trade partner two years ago, but Beijing continues to remain New Delhi’s biggest source of imports. India’s purchases from China of everything from electronics to key drug ingredients to industrial machinery was just shy of $70 billion in 2019. The bilateral trade deficit of about $50 billion was far higher than with any other trading parter.
India has a goal to triple its annual exports to $1 trillion by 2025, and trade with China will play a key part in achieving that. China is now one of the top three buyers of Indian exports, accounting for 5.6% of outbound shipments last year. Key export items include gems and jewelery, agricultural products, textiles, and petrochemicals. Delays of these goods would have repercussions on dollar earnings for businesses, said Radhika Rao, India economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore.

12:03 PM

INS slams China for restricting access to Indian newspapers, media websites

The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has slammed China's action of restricting access to Indian newspapers and media websites and urged the Indian government to expeditiously take steps to ban access to Chinese media in the country.
INS president Shailesh Gupta on behalf of its members said the action of the Chinese government to restrict access to Indian newspapers and media websites is uncalled for.
He said even the access through the VPN (Virtual Private Network) server has been blocked by creating a technologically advanced firewall.

11:31 AM

Trump says he is getting angrier at Beijing as US welcomes India's ban on Chinese apps

US President Donald Trump has said he is getting "more and more angry" at China for spreading the coronavirus pandemic across the world, even as Washington welcomed India's ban on Chinese apps.
Amid calls for a tougher response from Washington against Beijing for its role in spreading death and destruction of the world economy, Trump tweeted on Tuesday night that "As I watch the Pandemic spread its ugly face all across the world, including the tremendous damage it has done to the USA, I become more and more angry at China."
"People can see it, and I can feel it!" Trump wrote in an ominous tweet Tuesday night, even as he was pilloried by critics for not responding forcefully to China's rolling up of Hong Kong.
Separately, secretary of state Mike Pompeo welcomed India's ban on certain mobile apps that he said "can serve as appendages of the Chinese Communist Party's surveillance state," adding that New Delhi's "clean app approach will boost India's sovereignty and boost integrity and national security."
The US President has lately resumed taunting Beijing by calling the coronavirus pandemic "kung-flu," but beyond verbal insults and token moves such as halting travel, he has done little in terms of punitive action against China, according to his critics.
"President Trump will forever be known as the President that lost Hong Kong," Democratic leader Senator Chuck Schumer said referring to the Chinese crackdown on Hong Kong, even as Republicans accused Democrats of going easy on China and letting it get too big.

11:06 AM

Germany, US block China's anti-India move at UNSC

China is livid after the US stepped in on Wednesday evening to delay a draft press statement condemning the terrorist attack at the Karachi Stock Exchange at the UN Security Council.
The US was the second country after Germany to delay the statement, both silent expressions of solidarity with New Delhi, after the Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and later PM Imran Khan blamed India for the attack.
The press statement, drafted by China, in addition to expressing condolence and solidarity with Pakistan government, said, "The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of Pakistan and all other relevant authorities in this regard."
China introduced the statement on Tuesday, and under a UNSC procedure, put it under "silence" until 4 pm New York time. The statement is a routine condemnation of a terror attack that is issued often by the UNSC. Under the silence procedure, if there is no objection until the deadline, it is deemed to be passed.

10:45 AM

Bahraich MLA to give free face masks to those deleting Chinese apps from mobile phones

A BJP MLA in Bahraich, Uttra Pradesh, has started a campaign to provide free face masks to all those who delete Chinese applications from their mobile phones.
"After banning of 59 Chinese apps in the country by the Centre, I have started a campaign of providing free face masks for deleting Chinese apps," said local BJP MLA Anupama Jaiswal.
The campaign is being run with the help of the party's Mahila Morcha.
Jaiswal was Minister of State for Basic Education but was removed last year by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after allegations of corruption were made against her.
India on June 29 banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including hugely popular TikTok and UC Browser, saying they were prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.

10:28 AM

Closely monitoring developments in Hong Kong that houses large community: India

India, for the first time, has commented on the ongoing developments in Hong Kong and stated that it is closely monitoring the developments as a large Indian community resides there. India called for addressing the impasse in Hong Kong ‘properly and objectively’.
“Given the large Indian community that makes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China its home, India has been keeping a close watch on recent developments. We have heard several statements expressing concern on these developments. We hope the relevant parties will take into account these views and address them properly, seriously and objectively,” India stated during ‘Presentation of annual report and oral update on Covid-19 by the High Commissioner under Agenda 2’, ET has reliably learnt.
This is part of the 44th session of the Human Rights Council being held between 30 June-21 July in Geneva.
The Hong Kong police on Wednesday arrested as many as 200 people protesting on the first day after Beijing upended the National Security Law in Hong Kong.

10:10 AM

India's app ban a setback to global ambitions of Chinese tech giants

The Indian government's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps may not significantly impact their revenues, but it is a big setback for many internet giants with global ambitions. The ban includes apps from some of the largest Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba, Bytedance, Baidu, Tencent, Xiaomi, YY Inc and Lenovo, which have been building up user bases of millions in India. Even more worryingly for them, India's move could set a global precedent, said experts tracking the digital economy.
Unlike US tech majors like Facebook and Google, which have been able to build big businesses in Europe and Asia, India and Southeast Asia are some of the markets that large Chinese companies have been betting on to show that they can succeed beyond their home turf.
With no global competitors at home due to the great Chinese firewall, many of these companies have flourished in their huge domestic market, generating billions in profits. They have used these funds to expand globally, either through investments or direct operations.

10:06 AM

If elected, bolstering ties with 'natural partner' India will be high priority: Joe Biden

Democratic presidential candidate and former US vice-president Joe Biden has said that if he wins the November elections, strengthening relationship with India which is America's "natural partner", will be a high priority for his administration.
"India needs to be a partner in the region for our safety's sake and quite frankly for theirs," he said in response to a question on India-US relationship during a virtual fund raiser event on Wednesday.
Referring to his eight years as the vice president, he said, "In our administration I was proud to play a role more than a decade ago in securing Congressional approval for the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement, which is a big deal".

09:58 AM

Modi govt effectively facing China's actions: BJP leader Ram Madhav

The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi can effectively face the "hasty and mischievous" actions of China, BJP General Secretary V Ram Madhav said on Wednesday.
Observing that coronavirus and China dominated the news at present, he said while the government fighting against the virus was also "dealing effectively" with the neighbouring country.
"Coronavirus was was born in China. When we are defeating corona, will we leave China? The government which can face Chinas hasty and scamp actions with equal strength, is there in Delhi today, under the leadership of Modiji, he said.

09:21 AM

India is continuing to show it won’t back down from China’s aggression: Nikki Haley

Good to see India banning 59 popular apps owned by Chinese firms, including TikTok, which counts India as one of it… https://t.co/jo1THNrFtm
— ANI (@ANI) 1593661497000

09:18 AM

India uses Hong Kong to land diplomatic punch on China

After its ban on 59 Chinese apps, the government Wednesday seemed to launch a fresh diplomatic offensive against China by breaking its silence on China's new security law for Hong Kong.
At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the government said Wednesday that given the large Indian community that makes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China its home, India has been keeping "a close watch on recent developments".
"We have heard several statements expressing concern on these developments. We hope the relevant parties will take into account these views and address them properly, seriously and objectively," said India's permanent representative to UN in Geneva Rajiv Chander. He didn't name China though.

09:07 AM

Rajnath Singh to visit Ladakh, may go to forward areas also

Amid ongoing tension with China at the borders, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting the eastern Ladakh region to interact with soldiers deployed there.
The minister would be flying from Delhi to Leh on Friday and would also interact with the soldiers injured during the barbaric attack carried out by Chinese People's Liberation Army on June 15.
In the attack, India lost 20 soldiers and Chinese Army too had casualties, but their figures are still unknown.
Sources said that Rajnath Singh may visit forward locations where Indian troops are deployed.
Reacting to the killing of Indian soldiers, the Defence Minister had stated that the loss of soldiers in Galwan Valley is "deeply disturbing and painful".

08:50 AM

Aggressive stance against India, other countries confirms true nature of Chinese Communist Party: White House

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that according to President Donald Trump the aggressive stance of Beijing against India and other countries in the region confirms the "true nature" of the Chinese Communist Party.
Against the backdrop of the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh, she said the US was closely monitoring the current situation and supports its peaceful resolution.
The Indian and Chinese armies are locked in a bitter standoff in multiple locations in eastern Ladakh for the last seven weeks, and the tension escalated manifold after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a violent clash in Galwan Valley on June 15. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details.

08:13 AM

India's ban on 59 apps aims to foil China bid to mine data

India's decision to ban 59 Chinese apps may appear to be a small step and taken primarily to register displeasure with China over its military actions on the LAC in eastern Ladakh but according to high level sources, it reflects a larger effort to thwart the Chinese Communist Party's strategy to mine data for both political and military purposes.
The decision is the driver for a larger plan to deny China and its entities access to sectors in India as diverse as civilian infrastructure and emerging tech like AI, in an attempt to push back against what is now widely known as the CCP's 'military-civilian fusion' strategy. The Chinese playbook involves using apps like TikTok and UC Browser for largescale mining of data that could be used by China for both political and military purposes. For instance, reports that US President Donald Trump's recent rally registrations may have been hijacked by TikTok bots rang alarm bells in India.
It may have taken the current crisis in Ladakh to spur the Indian government to action, but the security establishment has been raising red flags about Chinese apps for some time now.
While 'military-civilian fusion' programme in China has been happening in fits and starts and at a fairly basic level since Mao's time, President Xi Jinping has ordered what he calls 'deep fusion'. At its most simple, the Xi version envisages bringing together civilian technologies, education, entertainment and research with security and military sectors to innovate, build on new generation advanced technologies primarily for the PLA, and further China's national security agenda.
China's primary target is obviously the US, but India is important for the sheer volume of data generated. Advance technologies with disruptive military and political aims, particularly across borders, needs mega volumes of data. For instance, China's facial recognition and surveillance technologies have benefited enormously from Chinese companies proliferating these in African countries, primarily for mining data.

08:04 AM

Watch | India's permanent representative to the UN speaks on recent developments in Hong Kong

#WATCH Given the large Indian community that makes #HongKong its home, India has been keeping a close watch on rece… https://t.co/ZnuwVal9TZ
— ANI (@ANI) 1593624564000

07:37 AM

White House press secy on US President's take on India banning 59 Chinese apps

With regard to India & China,we're closely monitoring the situation. Both India&China have expressed desire to de-e… https://t.co/AexxrkodNh
— ANI (@ANI) 1593640912000

07:01 AM

Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee President Kamal Nath has sent legal notices to BJP Vice President Prabhat Jha and MP state President VD Sharma for accusing him of favouring Chinese firms by reducing import duty.

Former Madhya Pradesh CM and Congress leader Kamal Nath has sent a legal notice to BJP's Madhya Pradesh unit chief… https://t.co/QLDVwmDHWx
— ANI (@ANI) 1593653245000

06:25 AM

India, China hold marathon Corps Commander talks

Indian and Chinese militaries on Tuesday held an over 10-hour Corps Commander-level dialogue with a focus on finalising modalities for the disengagement of troops from various standoff points in eastern Ladakh, and explored ways to ease tension in the region, government sources said. In the meeting, the Indian delegation conveyed concerns over China's "new claim lines" in the region and demanded restoration of status quo ante as well as immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso and a number of other areas, they said.
The talks took place on the Indian side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Chushul sector in eastern Ladakh. The meeting began at 11 AM and was continuing beyond 9 PM, the sources said.
The Indian delegation at the meeting was headed by 14 Corps Commander Lt Gen Harinder Singh while the Chinese side was led by the Commander of the TibMilitary District Major General Liu Lin.
The sources said the Indian side also pitched for strictly following provisions of a number of agreements on dealing with issues relating to handling of border issues.The focus of the talks was on finalising the modalities for de-escalation, and disengagement of troops from various friction points, the sources said adding there were deliberations on confidence building measures as well.
There was no official word on details of the meeting. It was the third corps commander-level meeting since the standoff began on May 5.
In the previous two rounds of talks, the Indian side demanded immediate withdrawal of Chinese troops from various areas in the region.

06:18 AM

Railways scraps tender for thermal cameras after vendors say specifications may favour Chinese firm

06:17 AM

China welcomes progress in Sino-India military commander-level talks

06:15 AM

The trust deficit

The trust deficit is huge due to the premeditated attack on Indian soldiers near PP-14 in Galwan Valley on June 15, in which 20 Indian soldiers led by Colonel Santosh Babu and an unspecified number of Chinese troops were killed.
"After agreeing to the disengagement plan for Galwan and Hot Springs during the June 6 and 22 meetings between the corps commanders, the PLA promises did not translate into concrete action on the ground. Pangong Tso also remains a tough nut to crack, with the PLA in no hurry to move back," said a source.
The top military meeting, held in a "business-like manner" on Tuesday, was in keeping with the "agreement" between Indian and Chinese foreign ministers during their June 17 conversation that "the overall situation would be handled in a responsible manner" and both sides would "sincerely' implement the disengagement understanding of June 6".
As per the proposed disengagement plan, the rival troops will gradually move back 2.5 to 3 km in phases to de-escalate tensions at the face-off sites, which will be followed later by de-induction of the huge military build-up along the LAC.
The PLA has deployed well over 20,000 soldiers from its 4th Motorised Infantry Division and 6th Mechanised Infantry Division as well as 'reserves' from the Western Theatre Command along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, especially in the strategically-located Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO)-Depsang sector.

06:13 AM

Ladakh standoff: India, China agree to restart Galwan, Hot Springs pullback

India and China have broadly agreed to restart the gradual and verifiable troop disengagement from 'friction points' in Galwan Valley and Gogra-Hot Springs areas of eastern Ladakh, which got derailed the last time after Chinese soldiers reneged on the pullback agreement, leading to the bloody clashes on June 15.
Official sources on Wednesday said "both sides emphasised the need for an expeditious, phased and step-wise de-escalation as a priority" during the 12-hour marathon meeting between 14 Corps commander Lt-General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin at Chushul on Tuesday. This was the third such meeting since June 6.
It will, however, be a long-drawn process, with a lot of finetuning yet to be done. Moreover, India will be extremely cautious this time, closely verifying each de-escalation and disengagement step at the troop confrontation sites on Indian territory at Patrolling Points (PP) 14, 15 and 17A in the Galwan and Hot Springs areas.

06:10 AM

Important Developments

India and China emphasize on expeditious and phased de-escalation during military talks.
Boris Johnson held China in 'clear and serious breach' of pact, confirms citizenship route for Hong Kong.
US secretary of state Pompeo welcomes India's decision to ban Chinese Apps.

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