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BEIJING: For the fourth year in a row, a Chinese premier has avoided discussing India during his once-a-year press conference, held at the end of the parliamentary session. The conscious move to avoid discussing China's biggest neighbour is a conscious policy move that deserves to be closely studied, observers and analysts of China-India relations said.
New premier Li Keqiang fielded questions from journalists from different countries including Russia, another neighbour with which it has had troubles in the past, but did not call any of the three Indian journalists in Beijing at his annual presser on Sunday. He also discussed China's competition with the US presence which, the Chinese say, is geared towards expanding American sphere of influence in the Asia Pacific.
Former foreign minister Yang Jeichi, who held a press conference before leaving office recently, discussed several countries including Japan and Russia but kept India out of his conversations with the media. Former premier Wen Jiabao did not discussed Beijing's relations with New Delhi in his annual press conferences during the last three years.
Sources said these are signs that the Chinese leadership does not want to discuss whether or not it would support India's claim for a seat in the Security Council or China's arms supply to Pakistan.
China is also worried that any comment on India may spark off a controversy and a slanging match between newspapers and television in the two countries, sources said. Chinese leaders and officials have earlier complained about the Indian media exaggerating the differences between the two countries, and the government even sponsored a conference to discuss the role of media in the two countries.
Former premier Wen Jiabao had taken a question from the TOI correspondent in 2008 to specifically convey his thanks to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for curbing anti-China demonstrations by some Tibetans in New Delhi in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic. But ever since, there has been a studious silence in Beijing's public posturing vis-a-vis New Delhi, which tends to reveal nuances. Chinese leaders have been silent on India, leaving the matter of issuing statements to foreign ministry spokespersons.
After Wen, new China rulers seal their lips on India - Times Of India
New premier Li Keqiang fielded questions from journalists from different countries including Russia, another neighbour with which it has had troubles in the past, but did not call any of the three Indian journalists in Beijing at his annual presser on Sunday. He also discussed China's competition with the US presence which, the Chinese say, is geared towards expanding American sphere of influence in the Asia Pacific.
Former foreign minister Yang Jeichi, who held a press conference before leaving office recently, discussed several countries including Japan and Russia but kept India out of his conversations with the media. Former premier Wen Jiabao did not discussed Beijing's relations with New Delhi in his annual press conferences during the last three years.
Sources said these are signs that the Chinese leadership does not want to discuss whether or not it would support India's claim for a seat in the Security Council or China's arms supply to Pakistan.
China is also worried that any comment on India may spark off a controversy and a slanging match between newspapers and television in the two countries, sources said. Chinese leaders and officials have earlier complained about the Indian media exaggerating the differences between the two countries, and the government even sponsored a conference to discuss the role of media in the two countries.
Former premier Wen Jiabao had taken a question from the TOI correspondent in 2008 to specifically convey his thanks to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for curbing anti-China demonstrations by some Tibetans in New Delhi in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic. But ever since, there has been a studious silence in Beijing's public posturing vis-a-vis New Delhi, which tends to reveal nuances. Chinese leaders have been silent on India, leaving the matter of issuing statements to foreign ministry spokespersons.
After Wen, new China rulers seal their lips on India - Times Of India
