‘ China able to defeat India’
Military relocating hospital blood supplies: sources
China is more than capable of defeating India in potential military conflict with its advanced weapons and air bases, analysts said on Wednesday.
According to a Reuters re- port on Wednesday, a source in New Delhi, who had been briefed on the military situation on the border, said soldiers foiled a bid by a group of Chinese troops to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, near Pangong Lake. Some of the Chi- nese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and troops on both sides suffered minor injuries in the melee.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Wednesday did not directly answer a question on whether the friction in Ladakh is connected to the Doklam standoff. She reaffirmed China’s position that the withdrawal of the Indian troops in Doklam is the precondition to solving the problem.
to have a closer look into the situation near North Korea by visiting the PLA Northern Theater Command, which is responsible for protecting the safety of Northeast China, Zhao Xiaozhuo, a research fellow at the Academy of Military Science of the People’s Liberation Army, told the Global Times.
However, the remarks from the military theater command on the North Korea issue sends a clear signal to the US that peaceful dialogue is the only effective approach, Zhao said.
Dunford “conveyed America’s readiness to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies and the US homeland,” when he met Monday with South Korea’s defense minister Song Young- moo, AFP reported.
US officials said Dunford’s visit aims to create a mechanism for improving communication between the sides, especially on sensitive issues like North Korea, and the two sides signed an agreement committing to that goal, with the details to be discussed during talks in Washington in November, the Associated Press reported.
“The meeting between top officials of the two militaries’ commanding body will have a more direct effect to mitigate crisis and avoid confrontation for the frontline troops when emergency occurs,” Zhao said.
“Although China and the US differ on several issues, and the conflict will remain since the two military powers have different social systems and values, it does not mean they are doomed to fighting and have no chance of further military- to- military ties,” Zhao said.
The two attach great importance to mitigating the crisis and expanding cooperation under their leaders’ pragmatic strategies, and the meeting builds mutual trust and reduces the possibility of miscalculations, he added.
Major concerns
The most pressing concern of both countries is the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, as tensions continue to rise from heated rhetoric from the US and North Korea, Jin Canrong, associate dean of the Department of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.
“We cannot rule out the possibility of a conflict, and when that occurs, China and the US need to make sure that they will not be involved in direct confrontations,” Jin added.
Experts noted that discussions on Taiwan were also timely and necessary after the US tried to “normalize” its weapons sale to the island and approved a bill authorizing the resumption of reciprocal naval port visits.
In June, the US said it planned to sell the island $ 1.42 billion in arms, the first such sale under the Trump administration. China said it strongly opposes the deal and lodged representations with the US.
“Unlike his predecessor Barack Obama, who never used Taiwan to counterbalance China’s influence because of his awareness of China’s bottom line, Trump intends to use Taiwan as leverage, which is very dangerous,” Jin noted.
Experts pointed out that the resumption of port visits in Taiwan, which is the first since the US established diplomatic ties with Chinese mainland, will bring foreseeable confrontation between the two countries.
“The resumption will allow the US the unbridled ability to dock its warships on the island, which is another form of its military presence on the island,” Zhao said.