Chinese use media on Arunachal Venkatesan Vembu
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 22:16 IST http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1064116 HONG KONG: To "jaw-jaw" may be better than to "war-war," as Winston Churchill said. Yet, the timing of Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi's latest verbal missile over Arunachal Pradesh — barely days ahead of President Hu Jintao's first visit to India — gives reason for disquiet, even though the substance of his statement is merely an iteration of China's long-held stand at the border talks. Sources familiar with the tortuous course of Sino-Indian diplomacy told DNA that while there was nothing new in Ambassador Sun's remark, the fact that such a view was articulated in front of the media — and not, as has always been the case, behind closed doors at the border talks — may hold some significance. Since Chinese diplomacy isn't exactly renowned for the transparency of its operations, the decision to make the statement to a television channel must be read as a conscious move by Chinese officialdom to give voice in public to a claim that it has all along been making in private. In China, foreign policy orientations seldom get critiqued openly — in public fora or in the media: Ambassador Sun must surely be familiar with the vibrant and open nature of the Indian media — and the political repercussions that his public remark would have. To that extent, his was a "mindful statement", one source said. And what purpose would be served by such a manoeuvre at such a stage? It could be a negotiation gambit, said one informed source. "If you ask for full, and 'magnanimously' settle for half, you can be seen to have negotiated a win-win solution," the source added. An observer commented that although there might be a furore in the Indian political establishment over the latest development — Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee has already felt constrained to respond to Ambassador Sun's comment — it was unlikely to seriously upset the negotiations or the political atmosphere ahead of Hu's visit. As recently as last week, Beijing had said that in its estimation, there had been "progress" in the border talks. The most recent issue of China's Foreign Affairs 2006, a Foreign Ministry publication, notes that Sino-Indian border talks have "made progress" and that the border areas remain "peaceful and tranquil." It further noted that the signing of a bilateral agreement during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India last year marked the "successful conclusion" of the first phase of negotiations on the framework for settling the border dispute. In recent times, the Chinese side has manifested a keenness to keep the focus on improving bilateral trade relations, which are expected to touch $20 billion this year, and move the border talks to the "backburner". Ambassador Sun's remark, however, doesn't appear calculated to put the border issue on the backburner; if anything, it has effectively got hardline opinions simmering again.
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