CHINA CAN USE LINK FOR MILITARY PURPOSES TOO

BEIJING: A new strategic highway in Tibet will link the region to Nepal and can be used for military purposes, state media reported on Monday, adding the road can help open up South Asia to China .

Experts said the 25-metre wide highway can be used by armoured vehicles and serve as a runway for military aircraft.

India is likely to be “irritated” by the development, state media reported.

“The Tibet highway between Xigaze airport and Xigaze city centre officially opened to the public on Friday, a short section linking the national highway to the Nepal border which experts said will enable China to forge a route into South Asia in both economic and defence terms,” the Global Times tabloid said in a report.

The 40.4-km highway will shorten the journey between the dual-use civil and military airport and Tibet’s second-largest city from an hour to 30 minutes.

The highway is expected to be linked to the China-Nepal railway in future, experts said.

“As part of G318, the highway connects the border town of Zhangmu with Lhasa, the capital city of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. It can link with the future cross-border Sino-Nepali railway,” said Zhao Gancheng, director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, speaking on the development.