Willing to improve ties with India, says China's new Foreign Minister

new delhi, January 2

China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in an op-ed piece for US-based magazine, The National Interest, has indicated that Beijing seeks to improve ties with New Delhi.

Days before replacing Wang Yi, Qin in an article titled “How China Sees the World”, referred to India-China border issues and said, “both sides are willing to ease the situation and jointly protect peace along their borders.” The Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake in the west of the LAC, have hosted flashpoints in recent years. In the east in Tawang, the site of the latest scuffle, there are discussions about Buddhist holy sites whose control can have implications for China’s authority over Tibet and its next spiritual leader according to a report in Newsweek.

Gang also blamed Taiwan and Japan for triggering the ongoing crises but maintained a neutral stance on the border dispute with India and the South China Sea.

The tension across the Taiwan Strait was not created by the Chinese mainland breaking the status quo, but by “Taiwan independence” separatists and external forces continually challenging the status quo of “one China”, he wrote in an article. In the case of the East China Sea, it was Japan who attempted to “nationalise” Diaoyu Dao (island) ten years ago, altering the status quo between China and Japan of agreeing to put aside differences, he said.

Recently, India and China held the 17th Round of Corps Commander Level Meeting at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on December 20 and agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector.

“In the interim, the two sides agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The MEA statement said the two sides agreed to stay in close contact, and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest.

“China’s development means a stronger force for peace, not a power poised to “break the status quo”. The tension across the Taiwan Strait was not created by China, he wrote. — TNS

Developed China force for peace

• China’s development means a stronger force for peace, not a power poised to break the status quo, Qin said
• Qin blamed US for challenging status quo on Taiwan, Japan for altering status quo in South China Sea