India and China have had a turbulent history of political upheavals and military confrontations.
In Red Fear: The China Threat, releasing November 1, author and award-winning TV producer Iqbal Chand Malhotra contextualises all that transpired between India and China from the 15th to the 21st century, leading to where the two nations stand today. Here, he answers a few questions.
How have the Chinese viewed India over the last 600 years?
We need to go back in history. The Chinese derived their view of the world based on the concept of the great united empire articulated around 700 BC, during the period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty.
All people outside China were viewed as barbarians who had to offer tribute to the Chinese emperor. But there was a problem: this couldn’t be put into practice.
Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan, each put this concept into place and ruled the world.
This made the Chinese envious and they had to wait another 300 years before they could put this into practice under one of the Ming emperors.
The Ming emperor dispatched six voyages to the Indian ocean, all led by Chinese admiral Zheng He. They were able to obtain tribute from the kingdoms of Cochin, and Sri Lanka, in addition to Bengal, and Jaunpur.
Jaunpur had a king called Raja Ganesh who was trying to invade Bengal. This fleet led by the eunuch Hou Xian threatened Ganesh and forced him to abandon his plans.
There was a power vacuum in Northern India. The Tughlaq dynasty had collapsed. You find that this was the first time Chinese could take over Delhi and changed the politics of the Indian heartland around 1425. Missionaries from Portugal were sent back with the message of a power vacuum. The Portuguese, the Spanish and the British navies began to build up. Then the Portuguese came to India. In many ways, the reason for the enslavement of India was due to a naval power vacuum left by the retreating Chinese.
When the British took over India, they found opium lucrative. They sold it to China in return for Chinese tea. They stole 28,000 tea plants from China and brought them to India along with Chinese coolies to cultivate it.
Why was the Indian Army in China from 1840 to 1940?
The East India Company was the first drug trader in the world. The Indian Army controlled the law and order and British trading routes along with coastal China. Soldiers and non-commissioned officers were all Indian. They also call the period from 1840-1950 as the century of humiliation. Seven cities in China were controlled by the Indian police. The government of India benefitted from all of this.
When and why did China invade Aksai Chin?
The invasion started in January 1950. It took place under the reign of Soviet dictator Stalin, who held Mao Zedong for two months in Moscow to conclude this deal. The Russians were looking for uranium, beryllium, thorium, molybdenum—all precious nuclear materials. These were available in Aksai Chin.
Why was the IAF not used in 1962?
The chief of the Intelligence Bureau of India, Bhola Nath Mullik, did not agree with Nehru’s pro-Soviet foreign policy. If the IAF had been used, China would have been defeated. They had no air power. They lodged 125 protests of air space violations by India over Tibet between April and July 1962, just before the war. If India had to defend itself, it had to align with the US. The US Ambassador back then, John K Galbraith, too overestimated the Chinese Air Force.
Could India have defeated China in 1962?
Yes, if there wasn’t a political failure and the IAF had been used. The Indian Army wasn’t even given woollen clothing or weapons. The army leadership of General Pran Nath Thapar, Chief of Army Staff, was weak.
Why is China so interested in Ladakh?
Earlier, it was for its abundant nuclear material. Now, it’s water. Four rivers—the Chang Chenmo, Shyok, Nubra, and the Galwan—are tributaries of the Indus and this mighty Indus flows into POK. Because of global warming, the river flow is heavy, which is being eyed by China as it needs water for its electronics industry. They’ve built two dams in POK to gain physical control.
Is the Wuhan virus man-made?
Absolutely. When the virus emerged, they said it originated from the Wuhan Seafood Market, saying that the intermediary host that carried it from bats to humans was the pangolin. That’s rubbish because there are no bats in Wuhan in winter. Also, it’s a seafood market where there are no bats. The Wuhan Institute of Virology had been conducting experimental studies on the bat coronavirus without following safety standards, and a technician got infected. He then went to the seafood market and infected the first victim of what we now call Covid-19. Both have vanished. Instead of being transparent about it, Chinese authorities scraped the market clean and wiped out evidence. They saw coronavirus as a weapon of opportunity to sell PPE kits, thermometers, etc to contain their economy.
Why is the Chinese economy being held to ransom by the US?
Because China and the US are logged in a technological supremacy race for 5G, Artificial Intelligence and robotics. The nation that controls these will control the world for the next 100 years. The US has got a lead for microchips that power these. As of 2020, it has banned the sale of microchips and the machinery used to make it to China. China is losing close to $500 billion in contracts, which is a huge blow.
Will India and China go to war?
Looks like it. The Indian government has finally realised it cannot trust China. The latter has been encroaching Indian territory and also dominates the Indian industry.
Will the quad become a formal military alliance?
It may not be a formal military alliance but it will get a more formal shape.