Among China’s Communist Party cadres, there seems no doubt that India is at fault for allowing the bilateral relationship to go down the tube. India is not only blamed for the Galwan clash standoff, there’s also annoyance and resentment over the manner in which Chinese investments into this country have been curtailed, or the delays in visas for Chinese specialists.
In that sense, the disengagement on the Line of Actual Control announced during the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, is seen as a welcome move although China would prefer to wait and watch how things move from now on, says Prof B R Deepak, who teaches and researches on Chinese literature, language and civilisation at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Just back from a visit to China, where he addressed cadres attending the Communist Party training school, apart from interactions with his academic counterparts in Tsinghua, Hainan and other universities, Prof Deepak was answering questions on The Gist programme.
He said there is some apprehension and expectation that the US under President-elect Donald Trump will come down heavily on China. Trump has threatened tariffs as high as 60% on import of Chinese-made electric vehicles with other products also likely to get hit.
There is a sense of gloom among ordinary Chinese, says Prof Deepak, the economy has slowed down, prices are high, real estate is in deep trouble and there is a sense that things will get worse before they get better.
But there is also confidence that China can overcome given its technological strengths, its enormous manufacturing capacities which give it the ability to scale up when the circumstances demand.
A word about Elon Musk, who has considerable investments in China. There’s a view that given the level of trust between him and Trump, the former could act as a conduit, facilitating contact between Washington and Beijing, helping to smooth over the many obstacles that litter the path to better relations.
Tune in for more in this chat with Prof B R Deepak of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
