Sinophobia hits high in India, covers up poor domestic affairs
Although China- India border tensions have eased somewhat as the two sides are seeking a solution through negotiations, the anti- China sentiment and related actions within India have not eased but keep simmering with more biased and hostile voices from some Indian scholars and Indian journalists, proving that New Delhi has no intention to control such a dangerous atmosphere and fix bilateral ties, Chinese experts said on Tuesday.
The latest move made by the Indian government is “informally telling airlines not to fly Chinese nationals into the country” as “a retaliation” for China’s decision to refuse the entry of some Indian nationals into China for epidemic prevention, according to reports from some Indian media outlets on Monday. Unfortunately, such a hostile move of New Delhi against China’s reasonable decision was praised by many nationalist Indian web users on social media networks.
It’s not only nationalist web users who have been voicing aggressive comments online, some Indian politicians, scholars, journalists, NGO activists and religious figures are also embracing the sentiment of Sinopobia, pushing such sentiment into real action in order to harm China- India ties.
Offend China, for what?
Brahma Chellaney, a scholar on geopolitics at the New Delhi- based Center for Policy Research, is a representative among Indian scholars who holds extreme hostile views against China. For in
stance, he has groundlessly accused China’s hydropower project on the Yarlung Zangbo River of using data for a “water war against India.” He also wrote articles for international media to hype up China threats, accusing China of “exporting” COVID- 19.
Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, said that Indian researchers or commentators’ incitement of anti- China sentiment have reached fever pitch in 2020.
“The indulgence of the Indian government is behind this anti- China fever pitch with some officials continuing to lash at China to distract domestic attention away from the horrible epidemic situation and sluggish economic performance,” Qian said. Another reason is the ongoing talks on border issues have been followed with several stand- offs along the border.
Lin Minwang, a professor with the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University said that India’s anti- China “political correctness” renders Indian scholars who hold friendly or at least objective views on China very difficult to speak out because praising China or even saying something to balance the extreme anti- China sentiment will bring them trouble and criticism for being non- patriotic.
However, to what extent Indian scholars and politicians can still please the US in the future remains a profound question, because US President- elect Joe Biden is likely to abandon or at least adjust its so- called “Indo- Pacific strategy” made by Donald Trump’s administration, Chinese experts said.
No intention to fix ties
Hatred in India against China is multidimensional, not only originating just from geopolitical conflicts, but also the COIVD- 19 pandemic, affairs related to India’s neighbors like Nepal and Pakistan, as well as China’s normal business activities in the country.
Qian noted these moves would erode the foundation of mutual trust between China and India and “hurt people- to- people and trade exchanges, setting up hurdles for solving border issues.”
When the Modi administration wants to improve China- India ties, New Delhi will make efforts to contain anti- China forces or Tibetan separatists within the country to pave a way for visits by Chinese national leaders and further cooperation, but apparently now, the Modi administration has no intentions of fixing ties with China, Lin noted.
Too weak to get attention?
After the border tensions were eased before winter and the two sides seek solutions to the issue through negotiation, coverage of India among Chinese media is reducing, meaning China does not want to hype up anti- India sentiment to retaliate against what India does to China.
Lin said that “India’s negative perception towards China originates from its fear of China’s strength. Indian media, scholars and society have paid much more attention on China than what we have paid to them.”
“This is due to the gap in national strength between the two countries,” according to Li.
The Indian government is overly turning economic issue into security issue, as they have abandoned an opportunity to use China to assist with their own development though they might believe that this is not important compared to using anti- China sentiment to cover up their poor domestic governance, Lin said.