Chinese authorities maintain a studied silence, but think tanks in the country have rubbished allegations of the involvement of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the Manipur ambush that left 18 Indian soldiers dead.
The Global Times , affiliated to the Communist Party of China (CPC), quoted academics as saying that talk of a Chinese hand in the killings through the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) was “absurd”. The daily cited an Indian media report as saying that the NSCN-K “may have unilaterally ended its ceasefire … at the behest of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA)”.
Countering the charge, it quoted Zhao Gancheng, director of the Centre for Asian-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, as saying that, “The Indian media has long been a rumour-monger when it comes to China’s support for the insurgent groups in north-eastern India.”
The official’s argument was that “a connection between China and the Indian rebels is impossible, especially after India and China resumed diplomatic relationships in 1988”.
The Indian media report had quoted an official claiming that the government had acquired recordings of a phone call in which a PLA official asks the NSCN-K leader about his health and tells him to learn the Chinese language. Rebutting the claim, Wang Dehua, director of the Centre for South Asian Studies at Tongji University said, “The phone intercepts can prove nothing … It is hard to determine the identity of Chinese [officials] just by a phone conversation. It can be easily doctored.”
Impact of Modi visitSome Chinese scholars pointed out that the theory of Beijing’s involvement in the strike does not make sense, given the fresh momentum that was imparted to ties by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit.
“It is impossible for China to intervene in the domestic affairs of India, especially when the two countries’ relationship is developing very well after Modi’s visit,” said Li Li, deputy director of the Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceania Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Some analysts assert that a China-inspired attack is not logical, given Beijing’s stake in the stability of India’s north-east to ensure the success of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor — part of the “one belt one road” initiative, which is a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping. An earlier article in the Global Times pointed out that the “one belt, one road” initiative, which includes the BCIM corridor, is “not only an economic task, but also a diplomatic mission”.
