China Warns U.S. Not to Interfere in Ties With India

NEW DELHI (KI) - China has warned the United States to not interfere in its relationship with India following deadly border skirmishes between the Asian giants in 2020, the Pentagon said in a report.
Ties between India and China have nosedived since the worst border clashes between them in 45 years killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. Deployment of troops has remained high on their Himalayan border since then, though India’s imports from China have surged.
“Throughout the standoff, PRC officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing’s intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India,” the U.S. Department of Defense said in a report to Congress released on Tuesday, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“The PRC seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the United States. PRC officials have warned U.S. officials to not interfere with the PRC’s relationship with India.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian did not mention the Pentagon report during a daily news conference on Wednesday. He said, however, this month’s U.S.-Indian joint military exercises not very far from the Chinese border, in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, were “not conducive to the trust between India and China”.
Brahma Chellaney, a defense and strategic affairs analyst in New Delhi, said China was able to “advance its interests” by playing down its military stand on its Himalayan frontier while shielding other areas of its relationship with India.
“Downplaying its aggression, ironically, also aids India’s efforts to save face,” he said on Twitter, referring to criticism within India about its response to China.
U.S. Exaggerating ‘China Threat’
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the U.S. is hyping up a supposed “Chinese threat” as an excuse to expand its nuclear arsenal and maintain its military hegemony, and calling it a “go-to tactic of the U.S.”
China’s nuclear policy remains consistent and clear, the spokesman explained, noting that Beijing was sticking to its no-first-use policy in regard to nuclear weapons and has limited the development of its strategic arsenal to the minimum level required by national security. “We are never part of any form of an arms race,” he pointed out, stating that China does not pose a threat or challenge to other countries, with which it hopes to be a development partner.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world and openly devises first-strike deterrence policies against particular countries, Zhao noted.
“What the U.S. should do is to seriously reflect on its nuclear policy, abandon the Cold-War mentality and hegemonic logic,” the spokesman said. He called on Washington to “stop disrupting global strategic stability,” and cut down its nuclear arsenal in order to “create conditions for attaining the ultimate goal of complete and thorough nuclear disarmament.”
Zhao’s comments come after the U.S. Defense Department published on Tuesday the so-called 2022 China Military Power Report, which describes Beijing as “the most consequential and systemic challenge to our national security and to a free and open international system.” The report also suggests that China could step up the modernization of its nuclear forces in the next decade and produce about 1,500 tactical warheads by 2035.