Name? Zhao Lijian
Westphalian identity? Chinese
Age? 48
Why is he in the news? As spokesman of the Chinese foreign ministry, Zhao is likely to be the one to comment on border disputes of any kind. Yet, he didn’t have anything to offer on the latest clash between Chinese and Indian militaries in Sikkim this past Wednesday. Aside from of course stressing that “China’s border troops are committed to upholding peace and tranquillity along the border with India” and that Indian troops should do the same.
Why do we care? Because of the differences in reports of the border clash as the Indian army claims both sides were injured while the Chinese refuse to comment. There’s a pretty big difference between injuries on both sides and no comment…
Why should you care? China and India are both regional and global powers (not to mention nuclear powers). Thus, any form of confrontation between the two is cause for concern. That said, compared to previous clashes between the two; or between themselves and other opponents, this is a rather minor skirmish So on our How much should you care scale, this only gets a 2/10.
Who else cares? Tsai Ing-wen, President of Taiwan, as she also knows a thing or two about China’s intimidation tactics. This weekend Chinese aircraft entered Taiwan’s defence zone; prompting the newly instated Biden administration to renew it’s “rock-solid” commitment to Taiwan. Clearly Xi is attempting to advance China on multiple fronts while his counterparts (aka Modi and now Biden) are more focused on domestic issues.
Any further comments? The Chinese and Indian defence ministries said in a joint statement that the most recent round of disengagement talks had gone well… However, these talks have gone on for months without the presence of either Xi or Modi, emphasizing that neither leader is majorly invested nor concerned with this particular border at the moment; obviously aside from building (and denying) villages across it…
