Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Photo: Taken from Mayank Goel Facebook
India has recently had a rift with China over the Chinese survey ship Yuanwang 5 docked at the Sri Lanka port of Hambantota. The diplomats of the two countries continued to argue on the Internet. The High Commission of India in Sri Lanka recently commented on China for the first time. In the recent military operations in the Taiwan Strait, the “militarization of the Taiwan Strait” was mentioned in the pen battle with the Chinese ambassador. An Indian mainstream media interpreted it in an editorial on the 29th. This shows that the Indian government’s speech on the Taiwan issue has made a significant difference in terms of tone and signal. Change, no longer beat around the bush because of concerns about China.
An earlier visit to Sri Lanka by the Chinese research survey vessel Yuanwang 5 sparked a dispute between India and China. Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong published an article on the 26th, praising Sri Lanka’s support of the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, and allowing the “Yuanwang 5” to dock under foreign pressure, demonstrating the friendship between the two countries. However, there is a passage in Qi Zhenhong’s article that Sri Lanka has been invaded by a “northern neighbor” 17 times in history, which is obviously a mockery of India, annoyed by the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, and then alleging that many small The country is facing opacity and debt challenges, which has been interpreted as an innuendo that China’s “One Belt, One Road” plan is killing Sri Lanka.
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka rebuked Qi Zhenhong’s remarks on Twitter on the 27th as “violating diplomatic etiquette” and retorted that Qi Zhenhong’s criticism of the “northern neighbors” was a portrayal of China’s Su Xing. One of the High Commission’s tweets mentioned that the Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka’s article linked the “militarization of the Taiwan Strait” with Yuanwang 5’s visit to Sri Lanka. The Times of India pointed out in an editorial that this is the first time that an executive branch of the Indian government has described the situation in the Taiwan Strait in this way, which represents an important change in India’s tone towards China. India and Sri Lanka are both members of the British Association, and their respective High Commissions are equivalent to embassies.
The editorial mentioned that the tweet was significantly different from an earlier statement by the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the Taiwan Strait, where spokesman Arindam Bagchi had only called on relevant parties to “refrain from taking unilateral actions”. and change the status quo.” This shows that the Indian government no longer has reservations about the Taiwan Strait issue for fear of angering Beijing, and directly criticizes China for militarizing the Taiwan Strait. It is time for India to “make a bolder statement” on the Taiwan issue. Given China’s combative habits, it is not in India’s interest to hide its head and tail on the Taiwan issue. India should also consider sending a high-level delegation to visit Taiwan.
India has recently had a rift with China over the Chinese survey ship Yuanwang 5 docked at the Sri Lanka port of Hambantota. The diplomats of the two countries continued to argue on the Internet. The High Commission of India in Sri Lanka recently commented on China for the first time. In the recent military operations in the Taiwan Strait, the “militarization of the Taiwan Strait” was mentioned in the pen battle with the Chinese ambassador. An Indian mainstream media interpreted it in an editorial on the 29th. This shows that the Indian government’s speech on the Taiwan issue has made a significant difference in terms of tone and signal. Change, no longer beat around the bush because of concerns about China.
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka rebuked Qi Zhenhong’s remarks on Twitter on the 27th as “violating diplomatic etiquette” and retorted that Qi Zhenhong’s criticism of the “northern neighbors” was a portrayal of China’s Su Xing. One of the High Commission’s tweets mentioned that the Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka’s article linked the “militarization of the Taiwan Strait” with Yuanwang 5’s visit to Sri Lanka. The Times of India pointed out in an editorial that this is the first time that an executive branch of the Indian government has described the situation in the Taiwan Strait in this way, which represents an important change in India’s tone towards China. India and Sri Lanka are both members of the British Association, and their respective High Commissions are equivalent to embassies.
Sri Lanka has allowed the Chinese research ship Yuanwang 5 to dock at the Hambantota port, sparking heated discussions. Figure: Reprinted from China Central Radio Military (file photo)