South Asia and Beyond

Xi Jinping Begins Appointing Loyalists To Key Posts

NEW DELHI: The political situation in China is becoming volatile as the 20th Party Congress draws near and rumours of imminent purges circulating in Beijing gain momentum. The absence of a ‘Revolutionary’ veteran founding leader with unchallenged authority to decide on leadership appointments has added to the uncertainty. Surviving leaders like Song Ping are over […]Read More

Lessons From Leaked Video of Chinese War Preparedness Exercise

NEW DELHI: Regardless of whether the video of a ‘War Preparedness Mobilisation Exercise’ convened by the Guangdong Province Communist Party Committee on May 14, 2022 was deliberately ‘leaked’ as part of psywar, or was an unauthorised recording of the meeting by a disgruntled People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officer, it reveals some interesting details. It will […]Read More

Implications Of Recent Developments In PLA’s Western Theatre Command

NEW DELHI: The Western Theatre Command (WTC) is the largest of China’s five Theatre Commands and exercises operational jurisdiction over the country’s currently ‘active’ borders with India and Afghanistan. Particularly since the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s military manoeuvre against India in early May 2020, which caught the Indian armed forces by surprise, and consequent onset […]Read More

Will China’s Ambitions With Iran Materialise?

NEW DELHI: Given rising bilateral tensions, Beijing and Washington are both trying to consolidate their relationship with other important countries. China receiving Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov just prior to the former’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, embarking on a tour to the Middle East exemplifies this. The efforts have gained momentum after the meeting between Chinese […]Read More