China’s ‘gross aggression’ led to LAC clash: US

WASHINGTON: Referring to the Galwan valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops, US State Department on Tuesday (local time) said the recent incident where troops of both sides “beat each other to death” is a result of China’s sudden turn towards “gross aggression” in its entire periphery.
Addressing a press meet on Mike Pompeo’s Tokyo visit, a State Department official compared the past conflicts between India and China with the current stand-off.
A State Department official said the conflicts “in the Himalayas between China and India” has been “something that has been in the past handled according to unspoken or unwritten rules in the past to prevent these things from getting out of control”. However, the official said, the driving force behind the current Ladakh conflict is the sudden turn toward gross aggression by the Chinese government in its entire periphery.
Speaking about Pompeo’s opening remarks at the Quad foreign ministers meeting, another State Department official said that the state secretary has framed his discussion during the meeting with foreign ministers of India, Japan and Australia around the free world versus Chinese authoritarianism and there was a lot of agreement “around that table”.
Pompeo has denounced China’s “exploitation, corruption, and coercion” as he participated in a meeting in Tokyo of the Quad grouping of nations — the United States, Japan, India, and Australia.