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New Delhi: India is set to host the heads of governments from two key North Asian countries this month—South Korea and Japan—a development not lost on Asian power house China, which is tracking the developments with a wary eye, analysts and people close to the development say.
Two articles by the Chinese ambassador to India, Wei Wei—one in the Hindu newspaper on deepening India-China relations and the second in TheIndian Express about Japan’s recent actions “implementing its right-wing doctrine by trying to get rid of the post-war order”—are a reflection of that wariness, say people close to the developments.
In the article published in the Hindu, Wei Wei focused on India-China relations—the number of exchanges and meetings between the top leaders of the Asian giants in 2013, the “converging” economic interests of the two countries, and increased collaboration in international affairs.
He also wrote on the significance of the year 2014, which has been announced by both sides as the “Year of Friendly Exchanges” between India and China, besides marking 60 years of the enunciation of “Panchsheel”, or the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence governing India-China relations since 1954.
Wei Wei’s article in The Indian Express, in contrast, speaks of how 2013 was the year of development and cooperation for Asia, a major engine of the world economy, and how for “Asian emerging economies like China and India” it is important to “seize the hard-won economic recovery tendency and enhance mutually beneficial cooperation and push forward the reform of international financial regulatory system”.
In the same article, Wei Wei also berates the present Japanese leadership for fiercely implementing its right-wing doctrine by amending its pacifist Constitution and developing into a “military power”, which he says “obviously runs against the world trend of pursuing development and enhancing world economic recovery”.
The article also recalls how India and China “have made important contribution to the fight against the Japanese militarist aggression in World War II.”
People close to the development agreed that Wei Wei’s articles—a rare development— do reflect a concern in China that India is “being courted by countries like Japan and South Korea”.
One of the people cited above pointed out that the issues referred to by Wei Wei in the second article were essentially subjects between Japan and China.
“But the Chinese are wary of what India’s views may be on the subjects between China and Japan. Countries like South Korea and Japan are looking at India as a regional player,” this person said, adding China had keenly watched Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan last year.
India, Japan and South Korea each have their own problems with the rising giant China that is viewed by many countries in the region and beyond as unpredictable.
For India, the biggest irritant bedevilling ties is the unresolved border issue dating back to the brief but bitter 1962 conflict between India and China. South Korea sees China as the main backer of the nuclear armed communist administration in North Korea presently headed by Kim Jong-Un.
Japan’s political tensions with China, dating back to World War II, spilled over most recently after the election of the India-friendly Shinzo Abe in December 2012.
Recent tensions spiked over competing claims over a group of islands in East China Sea that the Japanese call the Senkaku and the Chinese call the Daioyu.
In November, China tried to establish its authority over the islands by demanding that all aircraft flying in the region obey its rules or face “emergency defensive measures”. This was followed by the Japanese cabinet in December approving the country’s first-ever national-security strategy that calls for a more proactive approach to security despite Japan’s post-World War II pacifist constitution.
Last week, visiting Japanese defence minister Itsunori Onodera discussed the national security strategy with his Indian host A.K. Antony. Following the talks, Indian officials said India had extended an invitation to the Japanese navy to take part in exercises along with the US and Indian navies scheduled for later this year. The three countries already have a trilateral dialogue mechanism in place and discuss strategic issues under its ambit.
China has maritime disputes with a number of other countries in South East Asia as well, including the Philippines and Vietnam. In contrast, Japan-India ties have warmed considerably since Abe took office. After taking over, Abe’s cabinet gave its go-ahead for a visit to India by Japanese emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. The invite from India had been pending for a decade and the visit took place in November.
India’s gesture was to invite Abe to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on 26 January, which a key Japanese politician last week described as “an epic signal” of the strengthening of India-Japan ties. India also has defence agreements with Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Vietnam, South Korea and Thailand.
A second person familiar with the developments said China’s ties with Japan and the region were far more complex given the deep interlinkages between the Chinese economy and the economies of the other countries in North and Southeast Asia. Bilateral trade between China and Japan was almost $330 billion in 2012 with Japan being China’s second-largest trading partner. India had a long way to go before it can catch up with such statistics, the person said.
According to Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor of East Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, “There is concern about a rising China in the region. That China will also look for ways to reduce influences between countries for the success of Chinese goals is also to be expected,” he said.
“If I were the prime minister, I would look at who brings what to the table. Chinese trade gap with India (in 2012) was $24 billion. Their investment in India is $240 million. There has been talk of Chinese setting up industrial parks in India but that (has) not materialised,” Kondapalli said, adding that India should look at what suits its national interests best.
“India needs $1 trillion in investment in infrastructure and investments in manufacturing. Japan has promised $92 billion in infrastructure (the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor), which is one-tenth of the investment India is looking for. There are some 900 Japanese companies in India. And during Abe’s visit India and Japan will announce the launch of the Bangalore-Chennai highspeed railway. The trade gap with Japan is no where near as large as with China and whatever the deficit, Japan makes up by investments into India. With South Korea too, the story is similar (with that of Japan) in terms of investment and trade,” Kondapalli said.
China signals concerns over India being courted by Japan and South Korea - Livemint
Two articles by the Chinese ambassador to India, Wei Wei—one in the Hindu newspaper on deepening India-China relations and the second in TheIndian Express about Japan’s recent actions “implementing its right-wing doctrine by trying to get rid of the post-war order”—are a reflection of that wariness, say people close to the developments.
In the article published in the Hindu, Wei Wei focused on India-China relations—the number of exchanges and meetings between the top leaders of the Asian giants in 2013, the “converging” economic interests of the two countries, and increased collaboration in international affairs.
He also wrote on the significance of the year 2014, which has been announced by both sides as the “Year of Friendly Exchanges” between India and China, besides marking 60 years of the enunciation of “Panchsheel”, or the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence governing India-China relations since 1954.
Wei Wei’s article in The Indian Express, in contrast, speaks of how 2013 was the year of development and cooperation for Asia, a major engine of the world economy, and how for “Asian emerging economies like China and India” it is important to “seize the hard-won economic recovery tendency and enhance mutually beneficial cooperation and push forward the reform of international financial regulatory system”.
In the same article, Wei Wei also berates the present Japanese leadership for fiercely implementing its right-wing doctrine by amending its pacifist Constitution and developing into a “military power”, which he says “obviously runs against the world trend of pursuing development and enhancing world economic recovery”.
The article also recalls how India and China “have made important contribution to the fight against the Japanese militarist aggression in World War II.”
People close to the development agreed that Wei Wei’s articles—a rare development— do reflect a concern in China that India is “being courted by countries like Japan and South Korea”.
One of the people cited above pointed out that the issues referred to by Wei Wei in the second article were essentially subjects between Japan and China.
“But the Chinese are wary of what India’s views may be on the subjects between China and Japan. Countries like South Korea and Japan are looking at India as a regional player,” this person said, adding China had keenly watched Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan last year.
India, Japan and South Korea each have their own problems with the rising giant China that is viewed by many countries in the region and beyond as unpredictable.
For India, the biggest irritant bedevilling ties is the unresolved border issue dating back to the brief but bitter 1962 conflict between India and China. South Korea sees China as the main backer of the nuclear armed communist administration in North Korea presently headed by Kim Jong-Un.
Japan’s political tensions with China, dating back to World War II, spilled over most recently after the election of the India-friendly Shinzo Abe in December 2012.
Recent tensions spiked over competing claims over a group of islands in East China Sea that the Japanese call the Senkaku and the Chinese call the Daioyu.
In November, China tried to establish its authority over the islands by demanding that all aircraft flying in the region obey its rules or face “emergency defensive measures”. This was followed by the Japanese cabinet in December approving the country’s first-ever national-security strategy that calls for a more proactive approach to security despite Japan’s post-World War II pacifist constitution.
Last week, visiting Japanese defence minister Itsunori Onodera discussed the national security strategy with his Indian host A.K. Antony. Following the talks, Indian officials said India had extended an invitation to the Japanese navy to take part in exercises along with the US and Indian navies scheduled for later this year. The three countries already have a trilateral dialogue mechanism in place and discuss strategic issues under its ambit.
China has maritime disputes with a number of other countries in South East Asia as well, including the Philippines and Vietnam. In contrast, Japan-India ties have warmed considerably since Abe took office. After taking over, Abe’s cabinet gave its go-ahead for a visit to India by Japanese emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. The invite from India had been pending for a decade and the visit took place in November.
India’s gesture was to invite Abe to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations on 26 January, which a key Japanese politician last week described as “an epic signal” of the strengthening of India-Japan ties. India also has defence agreements with Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Vietnam, South Korea and Thailand.
A second person familiar with the developments said China’s ties with Japan and the region were far more complex given the deep interlinkages between the Chinese economy and the economies of the other countries in North and Southeast Asia. Bilateral trade between China and Japan was almost $330 billion in 2012 with Japan being China’s second-largest trading partner. India had a long way to go before it can catch up with such statistics, the person said.
According to Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor of East Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, “There is concern about a rising China in the region. That China will also look for ways to reduce influences between countries for the success of Chinese goals is also to be expected,” he said.
“If I were the prime minister, I would look at who brings what to the table. Chinese trade gap with India (in 2012) was $24 billion. Their investment in India is $240 million. There has been talk of Chinese setting up industrial parks in India but that (has) not materialised,” Kondapalli said, adding that India should look at what suits its national interests best.
“India needs $1 trillion in investment in infrastructure and investments in manufacturing. Japan has promised $92 billion in infrastructure (the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor), which is one-tenth of the investment India is looking for. There are some 900 Japanese companies in India. And during Abe’s visit India and Japan will announce the launch of the Bangalore-Chennai highspeed railway. The trade gap with Japan is no where near as large as with China and whatever the deficit, Japan makes up by investments into India. With South Korea too, the story is similar (with that of Japan) in terms of investment and trade,” Kondapalli said.
China signals concerns over India being courted by Japan and South Korea - Livemint
