Published 12:25 IST, June 30th 2020
5 reasons why India has smudged China's sheen of invincibility in the world's eyes
Amid Beijing's rising belligerence and aggression, here are 5 ways in which India has smudged China's sheen of invincibility in the world's eyes recently
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Over the past few months, China has been under global fire for its aggressive posturing across various fronts. It has not only been at loggerheads with the US over the Coronavirus pandemic, but has also earned global condemnation for its human rights abuses and expansionist strategies in Hong Kong, South China Sea and Taiwan, among other old and new indiscretions.
Among this, from China's brazenness to try to deflect from taking responsibility for thousands of deaths across the globe to its belligerence highlighted in its land-grabbing activities across geographical fronts, here are 5 ways in which India has smudged China's sheen of invincibility in the world's eyes - a far cry from the pre-pandemic days when China's predominance appeared almost inexorable, with few voices dissenting.
1. Going toe-to-toe with the Chinese PLA militarily
India on the night of June 16, gave a befitting reply to China's People Liberation Army as violent clashes broke out along the LAC in the Galwan valley. Following this, China was quick to attempt a shift of blame to India without offering a sequence of events. It also shunned away from revealing casualty figures. While 20 of our Indian soldiers were martyred in the valley, sources report that PLA suffered at least 45 casualties. While both governments are trying to resolve the issue through diplomatic and military level talks, PM Modi during his Mann Ki Baat address said that the entire world had seen India's strength and commitment to protecting its sovereignty and borders and that in Ladakh, "a befitting reply has been given to those eyeing our territories." It is rare that China is challenged militarily in this way, and the incident was felt across the globe.
2. Blocking Chinese entities from investing in India under automatic FDA route
India back in April took a huge step to curb and control Chinese investment in the country when it decided to amend its foreign direct investment policy to ensure no hostile takeover of stressed firms could take place during the COVID-19 lockdown, as China is want of doing.
Reports had shown that in India, all successful start-ups worth over 1 billion US dollars (Unicorns) were in some way or the other funded by foreign entities with China as a major player in this market, with massive stakes in some very big names like-- Snapdeal, Ola, Swiggy, Zomato, Oyo, and others. Red flags were raised when People's Bank of China (PBoC) on April 12, bought a 1% stake in India's largest housing finance lenders - HDFC Ltd, an investment amounting to 1.75 crore shares in HDFC.
As per the new FDI policy amended by the government on April 19, neighbouring countries, such as China, will now require government approval for investing in Indian companies.
3. Bolstering 123 nations' effort to probe China over Covid's origin
The WHO on June 18 at the World Health Assembly acceded to the resolution signed by 123 members countries of the WHO seeking an independent investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected over 10.3 million people across the globe. India was one of the top supporters and signatories to this resolution, extending its support to probing the origins of the pandemic, despite China's objection to the resolution saying that it was 'too premature' to carry out the probe. Along with India, the resolution received overwhelming support from all the member countries of the European Union and 50 African nations.
4. Putting a full-stop to Chinese land-grabs, emboldening others
Apart from emerging strong in protecting its own territories, India has also extended its support to countries across the continent as China continues to threaten geographical territories under its expansionist regime. Recently amid Chinese aggression in the South China sea, the Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force conducted a joint training operation to expand mutual understanding between the two naval forces. Back in May, BJP leaders from the Centre attended Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen's swearing-in ceremony in May, as China continues to force its 'one-nation policy' onto the country. It has also voiced its support for Tibet and given shelter to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama following the abortive uprising against Chinese rule back 1959. With China's Ladakh expansion meeting the Indian Army, China knows it won't have free reign on other fronts either.
5. Banning Chinese apps and teaching China that protectionism isn't a one-way street
Giving China a taste of its own medicine, the Home Ministry on Monday banned 59 Chinese Apps including TikTok. The Centre stated that it received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside India.
It is important to mention that China which is a totalitarian regime has indulged in a complete ban of some of the biggest apps and sites like Youtube, Twitter, Google and others in its country. The ones who started the boycott under the name of 'protectionism' should be ready to face the boycott themselves. India's move gives other nations a point-and-negotiate option over China.
12:25 IST, June 30th 2020