Keep Creeping Forward: The Chinese Territory-Grabbing Trick

NEW DELHI: It’s a Chinese ploy that’s six decades old but still in practice. And it has to do with deceit. Their creeping advances began in the mid- and late-1950s and, by the 1962 war, China had occupied major parts of Aksai Chin. If they had intruded a foot, they readily agreed to recede an inch as part of diplomatic negotiations. The ‘salami slicing’ tack that was replicated in the South China Sea as well in 2008-09 continues to date, even in times of the pandemic! In Ladakh, they did it with impunity for several years, inch by inch, till India ramped up its border infrastructure to keep an eye on their movements. The road extending up to Daulat Beg Oldie that was completed by India last year irked the Chinese no end. Does the history of China’s deception have a bearing on the current standoff in Ladakh that’s been on for over a month now? In this episode of ‘Simply Nitin’, StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief delves into China’s diversionary tactic and how it was applied this time around.