CHINA IS CONTINUING TO BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE ALONG LAC, BORDER WITH BHUTAN: PENTAGON

Sun 22 October 2023:

New Delhi: China has continued to develop infrastructure along the Line of Actual Control with India, including new roads, helipads, a bridge and an airport, and new villages in disputed area in neighbouring Bhutan, stated the Pentagon’s annual report on Chinese military power.

Released last week, the 2023 Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China, said that China’s Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) “has maintained continuous force presence and continued infrastructure build up along the LAC” after the clash between the Indian and Chinese force at Galwan valley in June 2020.

Listing the Chinese developments on its borders in South Asia, the report noted that in 2022, “China continued to develop military infrastructure along the LAC. These improvements include underground storage facilities near Doklam, new roads in all three sectors of the LAC, new villages in disputed areas in neighboring Bhutan, a second bridge over Pangong Lake, a dual-purpose airport near the center sector, and multiple helipads.”

The Pentagon report also said that China had increased manpower deployment along the border. “In 2022, China deployed one border regiment, supported by two divisions of Xinjiang and Tibet Military Districts with four combined arms brigades (CAB) in reserve in the western sector of the LAC. China also deployed as many as three light-to-medium CABs in the eastern sector from other theater commands and an additional three CABs in the central sector of the LAC. Although some elements of a light CAB eventually withdrew, a majority of the deployed forces remain in place along the LAC,” it stated.

India and China have been at a stand-off since April-May 2020 at multiple points in eastern Ladakh along the LAC. The crisis escalated when Indian and Chinese troops clashed in a hand-to-hand fight in Galwan valley resulting in the death of at least 24 soldiers. This was the first fatal fight at the LAC in four decades.

Since then, both sides have met in multiple rounds of military-level and foreign office-led talks. There has been withdrawal of troops by both India and China at around four friction points, the latest being at Gogra-Hotsprings last year. However, the remaining points at Demchok and Depsang Springs are proving harder to reach a compromise on.

The report also said that China was overtaking previous projects on building up its nuclear weapons arsenal.

In 2020 report, the US defence department had estimated that China would double its nuclear warhead arsenal which was in the low-200s by 2030.

“However, Beijing has accelerated its nuclear expansion, and DoD estimates China’s stockpile had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023,” said the Pentagon. The latest projection is that China will have over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.

Besides, China has “almost certainly” learnt lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which “most applicable to the PRC’s goal of strengthening its whole-of-government approach to countering a perceived U.S.-led containment strategy”.

“Western sanctions against Russia almost certainly have amplified the PRC’s push for defense and technological self-sufficiency and financial resilience,” said the report.

The Pentagon observed that the Ukraine war was “a major, unexpected challenge” for China. “Despite multiple warnings of Russia’s intentions towards Kyiv, Beijing was caught completely off guard by the full scope and scale of Russia’s war on Ukraine,” the report stated.

It said that China has taken a “discreet, flexible, and cautious approach” in providing material support to Russia. “PRC leaders and officials have sought to deflect international criticism over Sino-Russian relations and protect its international reputation by using high-level diplomatic engagements and messaging emphasizing the PRC’s “neutral” role in the conflict,” said the Pentagon.

-The Wire

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