China Scoops Up 640sq km of Indian Land

In the seemingly never ending obsession that China has with re-appropriating land that was once Chinese territory several thousand years ago, the PLA have helped themselves to 640 square kilometers of land at Ladakh.

According to reports in the Hindustan Times and Headlines Today, Chinese military forces have gradually assumed control over an aggregate of 640 km across three sectors along the border in Depsang, Chumar and Pangong Tso. The media reports also said that after a PLA incursion into Indian territory on April 15, Indian forces have been prevented from patrolling the Depsang Bulge.

A report compiled in the first week of August during an Indian inspection led by Shyam Saran who visited the border in order to ascertain how Indian infrastructure could be reinforced along the disputed demarcation line in order to best serve India's interests. Despite being commissioned by the India Prime Minister, no one in Parliament seems to be aware of the occupation by the PLA.

When asked about the report by Headlines Today, an Indian newspaper, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said:

“Actions are taken on the basis of information that is received. It is not possible to keep forces everywhere permanently. We take action if we get to know something. There is nothing to worry about. We have acted on all information.”

Numbers of troops on both sides have increased to nearly 40,000, and politicians on both sides have visited the border in an effort to reduce tensions.  Beijing claims around 92,000 km of land, and has opposed the signing of a Border Defense Cooperation Agreement that was proposed by the Indian Defense Ministry, saying that such an agreement must include a freeze of infrastructure development along the border.

 

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Striking Workers Disrupt $2.5m Indo-China Deal

Indo-Chinese relations aren't exactly at an all time high these days,  a long festering border dispute, and India's recent increase in military activity along the disputed demarcation line that seperates China and India haven't done much to ease tensions.

The military action is caused ripples in Chinese industry, in one instance, a strike at a tire factory in Shandong, where it's been made clear that Indian management that would take control of the plant are not welcome.

The Chinese workforce at the Cooper Tires factory in Shandong have been on strike since July, and it's causing problems for a takeover worth $2.5m, since the new owners, Indian based Apollo Tires would then have a 65% controlling stake in the Chinese-US joint venture.  Putting it quite simply, the problem is that they're Indian.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, the Cooper Shandong's union rep, a Mr. Liang said “We oppose this purchase also because Apollo is an Indian company.  If it was Michelin, we might have agreed.”

The strike comes at a particularly unwelcome time, since Liang Keqiang's visit to India in May was supposed to help the two countries increase trade, although now that Mr. Liang has dug his heels in over the nationality of the incoming management team because he wasn't involved in the deal to the extent that his ego demands - and has thrown a multimillion dollar deal into chaos.

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