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Beyond Doklam: how long can China and India’s kiss-and-make up act last?

Standoff in Bhutan was just one marker of the changing nature of engagement between India and China at the military, government and – worryingly – popular level, too

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Chinese troops hold a live-fire military exercise in Tibet during the standoff with India over Doklam. Photo: Handout
The standoff between China and India in the Doklam area of Bhutan has been resolved with each government putting out differing versions of the exact terms of the settlement. But it is certain that the status quo from before June 16 this year has been restored. The Chinese have stopped road construction in the area, which had led to the Indian action in the first place and Indian troops have pulled back to their positions.

The Chinese government has sought to sell the deal as a case of the Indians having blinked, of bowing to Chinese threats and coercion. It is doubtful the line has much purchase even within mainland China, where the netizen community might have constraints on their conversations but are not stupid and not entirely without access to information from the outside world.

Chinese television shows soldiers preparing artillery guns during a live-fire drill in Tibet, on the border with India. Photo: AP
Chinese television shows soldiers preparing artillery guns during a live-fire drill in Tibet, on the border with India. Photo: AP
What then explains China’s high-decibel campaign of vilification against India in the wake of the standoff and which shows no sign of letting up even now? The issue is worth examining for what it says about the future direction of India-China relations.

It is a little-noticed reality that ordinary Chinese view India somewhat differently than they do other major global powers. While there is a template of nationalist rivalry with Japan and another of a larger, geopolitical rivalry with the United States, neither template fits the relationship with India.

India has, in recent years, built up a growing profile in China especially through the popularity of yoga and its films. The Indian sports drama Dangal that showcased the relationship between a strict father and his daughters was a hit this year in China with its similar problems of patriarchy and parental pressures on children. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promotion of yoga across the globe and of India, as a sort of cultural and spiritual superpower has had some impact in China, too.

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India’s influence is also evident in other, perhaps, more important ways, in China. Notably, these include its identity as the world’s largest democracy and in the popularity of Mahatma Gandhi among intellectuals and civil society activists. The interest in Gandhi’s methods of non-violent struggle specifically, is not surprising given the constraints on civil society and on political activity in China.

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