US diplomat’s comments on India-China border issue ‘nonsense’, says China

US diplomat’s comments on India-China border issue ‘nonsense’, says China

BEIJING: China on Thursday termed as ‘nonsense’ a senior US diplomat’s remarks blaming it for using constant aggression on the border with India to try to change the status quo and said consultations were going on through diplomatic channels between the two countries which has “nothing to do” with Washington.
Responding to a question on the flare-up of border tensions between India and China, Alice G Wells, the senior US diplomat for South and Central Asia, on Wednesday described Beijing’s aggression as “not always rhetorical” and accused it of continuing with its “provocative and disturbing behaviour” to try to shift the status quo.
“There’s a method here to Chinese operations, and it is that constant aggression, the constant attempt to shift the norms, to shift what is the status quo. It has to be resisted,” Wells told the Atlantic Council think-tank at an event on Wednesday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that China’s position on China-India boundary issue had been consistent and clear.
The US “diplomat’s remarks are just nonsense”, he said when asked about Wells’ comments.
“China’s border troops firmly safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and security, and firmly deals with the Indian side’s crossover and infringement activities,” Zhao said.
“Our troops firmly safeguard the peace and stability in the border region. We urge the Indian side to work together with us, abide by our leadership’s important consensus, comply with the agreements signed, refrain from unilateral actions complicating the situation,” he said.
“We hope they will make concrete efforts for peace and tranquillity in the border region. There are consultations and diplomatic channels between the two sides that has nothing to do with USA,” Zhao said.
On May 5, around 250 Indian and Chinese army personnel clashed with iron rods, sticks, and even resorted to stone-pelting in the Pangong Tso lake area in which soldiers on both sides sustained injuries.
In a separate incident, nearly 150 Indian and Chinese military personnel were engaged in a face-off near Naku La Pass in the Sikkim sector on May 9. At least 10 soldiers from both sides sustained injuries in the incident, according to sources.
The troops of India and China were engaged in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017 which even triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
—PTI

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