Tit for Tat: Indians give it to China on Taiwan Day in language it understands ?
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Oct 11, 2020, 06:15 pm IST
New Delhi: The refrains from lakhs of Indians on Twitter and other social network platforms were crystal clear. Beijing has always tried to instigate troublemakers in India, trained militants in the northeast including the Nagas and ULFA cadres gave them training and provided all logistic support. Thus, this was the time – 10th of October – Taiwan National Day and hence Indians should give Chinese the taste of its own pudding or the noodles!
“Congrats Taiwan National Day, Indians are always standing with our friends and keep flying high,” tweeted one Puneet Chaturvedi. Another missive from a netizen said things more emphatically – “Namaste. We are the world, we are the one.
Let’s fight against one evil. Let’s suppress the roaring evil and bring peace to the world. Happy Taiwan National Day”.
Another net savvy Neelav Kashyap describing himself as a proud Indian in the micro blogging site profile says: “We 1.3 billion Indians are always with you, God bless India and God bless Taiwan. Hope one day Taiwan becomes an independent country”.
Vice President of Taiwan Lai Ching-te in a missive said: “Proud to see our flag fly high and be recognized all over the world. We thank the people from so many countries who today expressed congratulations and support. Especially our Indian friends. Namaste!”
According to ‘Global Times’, Zhao Gancheng, director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said “India is playing with fire by challenging the one-China policy.”
In fact, a large number of posters complimenting Taiwan on its National Day on October 10 put up by Delhi BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga created waves across social network platforms and media.
A large number of such posters came up near the Chinese embassy in the high security zone in the capital.
Chinese embassy in Delhi earlier tried to issue diktats to indian media. In fact, a ‘letter’ to Indian media personnel counseled that they should not use terminology that indicated that the island state – Taiwan – as an independent existence.
“The Chinese Embassy in India would like to remind our media friends that there is only one China in the world… Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. These facts are recognised by the UN resolution and constitute the universal consensus of the international community,” China said in its advisory.
“We hope Indian media can stick to Indian government’s position on Taiwan, and do not violate the One-China principle. In particular, Taiwan shall not be referred to as a “country (nation)” or “Republic of China” or the leader of China’s Taiwan region as “President”, so as to not send wrong signals to the general public,” the Chinese Embassy statement read. (as reported by Organiser)
During the weekly briefing on Thursday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava was asked for a response on the instructions sent by the Chinese embassy.
“There is a free media that reports on issues as it sees fit,” replied Srivastava in a very brief response without going into India’s policy towards Taiwan.
In its missive, the Chinese embassy hoped that Indian media would “stick to Indian government’s position on the Taiwan question”. “In particular, Taiwan shall not be referred to as a “country(nation)” or “Republic of China” or the leader of China’s Taiwan region as “President”, so as not to send the wrong signals to the general public”.
In geo-political terms, the international community too has high stakes in Taiwan. China is seen as an expansionist and also an authoritarian and thus ‘losing a democratic Taiwan’ would signal a change of games in the Pacific. This could also appear detrimental to the US allies like Japan and South Korea.
For its part, China seems to be caring ‘little’ about reasons and international norms.
Pursuing what is seen as an ultranationalistic policy towards its minorities and pro-democratic citizens, President Xi Jinping’s regime has used strong hands to handle dissidence in Hong Kong, the Buddhist struggle in Tibet, and Uyghur Muslims’ clamor for religious freedom in Xinjiang province.
“With an iron fist, China locked horns with its neighbors over disputed islands in the South China Sea. On its Himalayan side of the border, the Chinese army has confronted Indian troops twice this year,” says a write up in UCANews.
Old timers among the security agency sleuths say in 1966-67, China not only had backed the Naxalites upsiring in parts of West Bengal, in the same year Naga rebel leader Thuingaleng Muivah and his other colleagues went to Yunnan province.
Another source in the ruling BJP said it is a matter of concern that the Chinese agencies are keeping a close watch on the process of Naga peace talks and latest developments since mid June.
Giving the contest, the source said even during the UPA regime in 2011-12, Chinese agents including a woman posing as a TV journalist reportedly visited the headquarters of the NSCN-IM near Dimapur and held a three-hour-long meeting with Muivah.
Around the same time, Muivah had told an Indian TV channel that: “I have great respect for Chinese leaders and Chinese people….They tried to understand our point of view”.
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