Amid the failure of multiple rounds of military and diplomatic negotiations with India to resolve the 18-month long military standoff in eastern Ladakh, the Chinese government has now hardened its stand on the border row.
In a subtle way, the Chinese government brought in a new law on last Saturday stipulating that the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country are sacred and inviolable". Observers believe that with the new land border law, China has vowed legally to reclaim territories which it says belong to it. China shares a 22,000 km land border with 14 nations.
The new law allows China to take measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and land boundaries and "guard against and combat any acts that undermine territorial sovereignty and land boundaries".
The development comes a few days after China signed a memorandum of understanding with Bhutan. The MoU speaks of a three-step roadmap for a settlement of the China-Bhutan boundary dispute.
China has serious differences over the border with India in different regions especially Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh. Twenty-two rounds of Special Representatives-level talks since 2003 to resolve the border dispute have not yielded any positive outcome.
Experts believe that China’s new law strengthens the People’s Liberation Army’s policy to work closely with civilians staying in border areas. "China will now bring more people to settle along the border—to work as the first line of defence," an expert says while commenting about the new land border law.
Last week, Lt Gen Manoj Pande, Eastern Commander of the Indian Army, stated that villages on the other side of the border were part of China's strategy model and was a matter of concern. It is estimated that since 2017, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been building 628 border defence villages in Tibet along its frontier with India and Bhutan. China has worked on better infrastructure in the area with a dual-use strategy, which means it (infrastructure) can be used for both civilians and military purposes.
To counter this Chinese dual strategy, the Indian Army is also working with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh for the development of model villages along the border with Tibet.
Better infrastructure for border villages was mentioned by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Tibet earlier this year. He had said, "It is necessary to strengthen the construction of border infrastructure and encourage people of all ethnic groups to take root in the border, guard the country and build their hometowns".
"Strengthen the border areas, do a good job in the four major issues of stability, development, ecology and strong borders," Xi had further said.
As per the new law, “The state supports the construction of border towns, improves the system of border towns, improves the functions of border towns and strengthens the construction of supporting capacity.” On the issue of resolving border disputes, the law says: “The state shall, following the principle of equality, mutual trust, and friendly consultation, handle land border-related affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations to properly resolve disputes and longstanding border issues.”
China's new land borders law, which comes into force from January 1, 2022, is also aimed towards developments in Afghanistan, as Beijing is closing monitoring the return of the Taliban. The new law also aims to protect China’s territory from a possible inflow of refugees or Islamic extremists crossing over to link up with the Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.
